Category: Video Organizations: KoSSev , UNMIK Tags:
A journalist protects the right of citizens to be fully, timely, and above all, truthfully informed. In order to fulfill this role, a journalist is obliged to establish and convey the truth, to review and criticize those who run the institutions. If a journalist does not do this, then they are not a journalist.
The World Media Freedom Day was celebrated yesterday. Insajder journalist, Senka Vlatkovic-Odavic spoke about the media’s role in society in the latest episode of OpisMEDIJavanje (Media Literacy project).
„The one who has the information is the one who rules. And if the states are really there to serve the citizens, then the citizens need to have the information to be able to decide who will rule their country,“ she said.
According to Vlatkovic-Odavic, the responsibility of journalists is important because “when they publish news they often seem unaware of their responsibility.“
On the other hand, she described the claims that questioning the decisions made by the authorities is propaganda or hate speech as unacceptable.
“It is clear that without information the citizens cannot make the right decision about anything in their lives. The public interest is certainly above the individual, above the private interest of any individual or group. Another important thing when it comes to protecting the public interest is for a journalist not only to detect abuse, but also influence the change in the system that legalized those abuses, therefore, causing a change in the law,“ she added, citing as an example Insajder’s series „Abuse of Official Duties“ from 2009, which brought about a change of law.
