Media Indicators Report Launched on World Press Freedom Day

On 3 May, World Press Freedom Day, Civil Rights Defenders’ partners Kosovo 2.0, COHU and the Press Council of Kosovo presented the first Media Indicators report on Kosovo. The report focuses on journalists’ perception of key media issues in Kosovo, and is based on indicators of the European Council.

“Although a majority of journalists think that the legal framework guarantees freedom of expression, they believe that it is not implemented. As the main reasons for this, they listed interventions from politicians, media owners and the government. Free media is bedrock of democracy, and needs to be protected from all pressures”, said Sarah Maliqi, Programme Officer for Kosovo at Civil Rights Defenders.

Amongst other results, journalists in Kosovo think that media sources are protected while legal journalists are occasionally threatened for their professional work by physical violence, although they claim police protection is effective. Concerning media bias, almost half of the journalists interviewed believe that Kosovo media are unbiased while 38% disagree with this and think there are no unbiased media.

The report was made through in depth interviews with 175 journalists from Kosovo during February and March 2015. It is focused on six areas: legal perspective and applicability for freedom of expression and information, self-regulatory media mechanisms, media bias and professionalism, institution transparency with regard to media, interference in media and safety in journalism. The published document is only the first part of the research, while the full version will be published in October. The research will result in the establishment of “Index of indicators” which will measure how media representatives themselves view the environment, performance and challenges to their profession.

The report can be found here: Media Indicators Report.