With an aim to enhance professional standards of online media, the OSCE Mission to Skopje supported the Council of Media Ethics (CMEM) in developing ethical guidelines for online media, which were publicized in Skopje today.
The Guidelines, drafted after a broad consultation with the media community in North Macedonia, will help in developing a solid and credible online media self-regulation system, and strengthen independent, professional and accountable reporting online, OSCE Mission to Skopje said in a press release.
“Ethical standards need to be applied across all media platforms as ethical challenges of journalism are valid both offline and online,” said Clemens Koja, Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje.
The Executive Director of the Council of Media Ethics, Marina Tuneva, said that in all democratic societies, self-regulation is the best way to increase accountability of online media and prevent unnecessary media legislation. The fast-changing circumstances in which both traditional and online media work requires continuous upgrade of an ethical framework.
“We hope that this self-regulatory instrument will motivate online media to embrace the value of professional and accountable journalism in their work,” said Tuneva. “The Guidelines are intended to serve as a tool helping to resolve dilemmas on how to deal with aspects related to journalistic content published online. These aspects are not included or explained in detail in the current ethical framework.”
“A crucial task of our Council is to foster and restore public trust in journalism. In this regard, we will continue advocating for the application of ethical standards across all media platforms,” concluded Tuneva.
The Guidelines, available at https://semm.mk/en/pravna-
