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Press Code of Kosovo

Preamble

This Code, drawn from existing international standards of journalistic practice, serves as the foundation of system of self-regulation that shall be considered morally and professionally binding on reporters, editors, owners and publishers of newspapers, online media (news portals) and news agencies, hereinafter the print media.

Journalists and editors shall adhere to the following ethical principles and protect the professional integrity of journalism.

Editors and publishers will ensure that all staff are informed of this code. They shall further ensure that the provisions of this Code are fully observed.

These rules shall also apply to the video-stories produced/published in the print media.



I. General provisions

1. It is the duty of journalists and publishers to respect the rights of citizens for timely and relevant information. Journalists and publishers shall defend the principles of freedom of information, the right of fair comment and critical journalism.

2. The print media shall observe international standards of conduct and ethnic, national, racial, gender, sexual, cultural and religious diversity.

3. Journalists and editors shall not, deliberately or inadvertently, encourage discrimination and intolerance. Moreover, they must collect all information ethically.

4. Journalists shall not act as representative of public opinion. Media cannot replace the specific functions of the public authorities or institutions.

5. Journalists must carefully follow the rules of the language in which they write.

6. Critical observation of the implementation of political and economic power shall be among the main obligation of the print media.

7. News organizations shall demonstrate transparency in matters of media ownership and management, enabling citizens to ascertain clearly the identity of proprietors and the extent of their economic interest in the media.



II. Reporting the Truth

1. Journalists and editors shall ensure in all their work a respect for factual truth and the right of the public to know the truth.

2. Journalists and editors shall rely, as a general rule, on identified sources of information.

3. A clear distinction must be drawn between news and opinions. News is information on facts and data, while opinions convey thoughts, ideas, beliefs or value judgments on the part of publishers, journalists and editors.

4. Freedom of the press excludes defamation and insult, incitement of hatred or violence based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, civil status, disability, illness, age, ethnicity or nationality. Journalists and editors have an obligation to prevent promotion of defamation and insult or incitement of hatred and violence of any kind. This prohibition also applies to opinions and comments to the stories.

5. Journalists and editors have a professional obligation to promptly correct any published information that is found to be inaccurate.

6. Forgery of photographs, images, audio or video and documents is prohibited, including their used for misinformation purposes.

7. Plagiarism is prohibited to all journalists and media. The source of the information, when published elsewhere, must always be stated.

8. The media should not distort or misuse statements made in certain contexts.



II.1. Fake News

1. The print media should verify the information before publication, to ensure that the information is true, fact-based and reliable.

2. If the print media have unconfirmed information and present it to the public, it should be made clear to the public that such information is not confirmed. It is encouraged not to publish such information until verification.

3. The print media must not use, display or publish in any form manipulated (tampered) texts, audio, video or documents.



III. Incitement and Hate Speech

1. Under no circumstances will the print media incite and promote criminal or violent acts through edited writings, photographs, videos or other images.

2. The print media shall do everything in their power not to incite or feed hatred and inequality, in their writing, opinions or comments, by:

a.Treating with bias an individual or a group on the basis of ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex, race, color, marital status, sexual orientation, illness, age or disability;

b. Using derogatory terms likely to hurt and intimidate an individual or a group on the basis of ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex, race, color, marital status, sexual orientation, illness, age or disability.

3. References to a person’s ethnic group, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or physical or mental illness or disability shall be made only when directly relevant to the event being reported.



IV. Right of Reply

1. It is the obligation of journalists, editors and newspapers, portals and news agencies to publish reactions and/or rebuttals when media present inaccurate information about an individual or organization.

2. The right of reply shall be extended to relevant persons if the publication concerned determines that fairness and impartiality merit such a step. There shall be an opportunity for immediate response/reply with the same media outlet.

3. When reporting and commenting on a controversial event, the print media should always listen to and represent all parties involved. The journalist, editor and media should take every possible action to contact the parties, including but not limited to phone calls, text messages, social media messages, emails, mail, meeting requests.

4. If a party refuses to respond to the journalist, the publication should state this refusal in the reporting, as well as the efforts made by the media and journalist to secure his/her response.

5. The print media shall inform the person being interviewed which media outlet the journalist represents and in what context will his/her statement be used.



V. Persons involved in incidents, accidents, arrested or charged with criminal offenses

1. Print media shall not treat any individual as a guilty of a crime prior to a court decision to that effect. The print media, when reporting on incidents, accidents or criminal offenses, should take into account the presumption of innocence of each involved and should show this in their writings/reporting.

2. Journalists and editors have a duty not to prejudge the guilt of an accused person.

3. Journalists and editors are obliged to respect the court order not to publish the basic information of the accused. Court reporting must be done in full compliance with the points above.



VI. Protection of Children and Minors

1. Journalists will not interview or photograph children under the age of 18 on matters related to their family, themselves or their loved ones, without the consent of the parent or the adult responsible for the child.

2. The print media should never publish the name, paternity/maternity and surname, photographs, videos or other images of children under the age of 18 who are involved in or related to accidents, incidents, violence, criminal offenses , natural disasters or other actions.

3. In cases where the media publishes photos, videos or other images of children or other persons with children appearing, they are obliged to cover the faces, and distinctive mark of the child, or other circumstances that may identify the child (e.g.: the house where they live, the school attended, the neighborhood where they live, etc.).

4. The print media will in no way identify children under the age of 18 who are involved in criminal offenses, whether as witnesses or defendants.

5. Treatment of stories involving personal tragedy shall be handled sensitively, and only when there is a high public interest on the matter. If the public interest is high, children affected by the tragedy should be approached with an understanding, protection of privacy, distortion of face, and with discretion.



VII. Privacy and protection of sources

1. The press shall avoid intrusions and enquiries into an individual’s private life, unless such intrusions or enquiries are necessary due to the public interest.

2. Journalists, editors and print media should respect the dignity of victims and their families by not showing photographs, videos or other recordings of the injured, raped, killed, suicide victims or related persons, in particular children who are part of an accident, incident, natural disaster or criminal offense. When reporting, the print media shall allow people to mourn privately, handling such events with great care.

3. The print media should not publish photos or videos from the crime scene without covering the identity or body of the victims after the accident, incident, violence, natural disaster, or crime. Publication of such photos or videos will be considered an insult to the feelings of the victims’ relatives and sensitive to the public.

4. The print media should not publish news with photos or videos where the victims or missing persons are presented and are identified in the report by name. Exceptions from the publication of the name are cases with a public interest for the victims or missing persons.

5. Newspapers and their publications have an obligation to protect the identity of those who provide information in confidence, whether or not they explicitly request confidentiality.



VIII. Whistleblowers

1. The print media shall take special care in any whistleblowing case, so that the whistleblower is treated fairly and given equal opportunities with the other persons involved in the article.

2. The print media will have committed a serious violations of the code if a lynching campaign or degradation campaign in favor and against the whistleblower or related persons begins.

3. The print media should ensure care that in each whistleblowing case, persons against whom the whistle is being blown are treated innocent until a final court decision.



IX. Corruption and Bribes

1. Journalists shall not accept posts, bribes or other inducements which cause a conflict of interest with their profession, and which compromise their professional and moral credibility.

2. Journalists, editors and print media shall not accept specific acts of benevolence that affect their professional independence.



X. Conflict of interest

1. Conflicts of interest arises from a circumstance in which the journalist, editor or media as a whole has a private interest which affects, may affect or give appearance of affecting the impartiality and objectivity of the task.

2. Throughout the work of the media, editors and journalists have a duty to prevent and resolve, in the most effective way possible, any situation of conflict between their public and private interests.



XI. Copyrights

1. Journalists and print media must respect copyright in any field of reporting (writing, research, reporting, news, photographs, images, videos, translations, etc.). Plagiarism is prohibited and considered a violation of the code.

2. If print media/journalists take quotes from stories of other media outlets, they must quote it correctly and describe it as it was said in the primary media, without distortion.

3. Publications can make reasonable use, with limited quotations of material from another publication or holder of copyright without express permission to do so, after at least 6 hours from the publication of the material. . Nevertheless, publishing of complete material concerned shall be possible only through the prior consent by the copyright holder.

4. Translation and adaptation of world media materials and their subsequent publication in the print media will also be considered copyright and should be respected as per the above.



XII. Advertising and Sponsorship

1. Commercial and political advertisements and sponsored material, including articles and supplements, must be distinguished from editorial content and clearly identified as such.

2. The source of sponsorship must be clearly indicated in the sponsored material.