ONLINE MEDIA SELF-REGULATION

The rapid progress of technology has shaken the roots of different aspects of social life. The journalism was not an exception. A lot of well-known international newspaper outlets switched to online versions. In Kosovo too, the newspapers such as Gazeta Express, Tribuna and a couple of other newspaper outlets switched to online-only editions.

Press Code of Kosovo sets forth conceivable dispositions generally applicable for all types, of media setting out most probable situations of potential violations. However, the specifics of online media demand eventual amendments or supplements of elements in this Code, which aims to be comprehensive for all its signatories and for all other written media in Kosovo.

The aim of this workshop was to address the specifics of online media self-regulation and to discuss the provisions of Press Code of Kosovo against these specifics.
The workshop on online media self-regulation in Kosovo brought together journalists, representative of civil society, international representatives and students of journalism. The workshop was organized with the support of UNESCO.

Imer Mushkolaj, chairman of Press Council of Kosovo emphasized the fact that ethical principles of journalism are the main foundation of professional journalists. Those principles should be applied also in online journalism. Mushkolaj said that we have to adapt press code of Kosovo in regard to online media.

Besnik Batusha, editor in chief of Indeksonline news portal proposed some dispositions on how to adapt the guidelines of Press Council of Kosovo for online media.

Besa Luci, editor in chief of Kosovo 2.0 news portal focused on the credibility of news portals as basis of a successful journalism. Luci said that legislation should regulate ethical issues, and according to her, there are lots of rules that journalists should create in order to respect the issues of trustworthiness in their work.

Leonrad Kerquki, editor in chief of Gazeta Express news portal said that their portal gets more than 700 thousand clicks a day. He also said that there are numerous portals in Kosovo; however, we can only distinguish 10 of them regarding the number of visits those have per day.

Kerquki also discussed on the ethical problems of journalism, by saying that there are fundamental principles in journalism, however, the assessments are often made in specific circumstances.

Furtuna Sheremeti from Jeta në Kosovë news portal said that the respect of ethical principles is the basis of journalism, and that the time has come to adapt the statute and press code of Kosovo to the specificities of online journalism. This should happen based on the fact that during this time, we have seen a rapid growth of online portals.