Ethics and Self-Regulation in Bulgaria (background document of the seminar, Sofia, March 2001)

Sofia 1-2 March 2001

Background

The Union of Journalists of Bulgaria - Podkrepa and the Union of Bulgarian Journalists jointly organized the seminar on Ethics and Self- regulation in Sofia 1-2 March. The seminar launched the Media Observatory, an office established to monitor both breaches of the journalists' ethical codes and attacks against media freedom. The seminar was organized as part of the IFJ's Media For Democracy in South Eastern Europe work programme.

Summary

The seminar was attended by over 30 participants from the UJB- Podkrepa and the UBJ, with further participants from the Centre for Independent Journalism, the Bulgarian Media Coalition, journalist representatives from the Bulgarian National Radio and Svetlana Bozhilova, member of the National Council for Radio and Television. The seminar debated examples of ethical problems in the Bulgarian media, existing structures for regulating journalists' ethics and other on-going initiatives. It launched the Media Observatory and established a working group to develop a joint code of ethics and a structure for implementing the code within the media observatory. The crisis at the Bulgarian National Radio was also debated with a final declaration issued at the end expressing support for the protesters and calling for the transformation of BNR into a full public service broadcaster.

Ethics and existing models of self-regulation

The UJB - PODKREPA and the UBJ both have established codes of ethics and their own ethics councils, which are already engaged in monitoring ethical conduct. Their declarations, however, are rarely reported beyond the unions' journals and they lack the capacity to fully involve the Bulgarian journalists community. The Center for Independent Journalism has also developed a code for the electronic media. However, they lack the mechanism for promoting the code and gaining recognition of the code among journalists. The CIJ also has a media monitoring programme. In order to avoid duplication of effort the media observatory should cooperate with this and build on other existing initiatives. The details of cooperation should be worked out within the Bulgarian Media Coalition, a coalition of media professionals, NGO's, associations and trade unions.

Conclusions

The UBJ and UJB-Podkrepa agreed to establish a working group to elaborate a joint ethics code for Bulgarian journalists that each organization could adopt. It will also agree a mechanism for monitoring and implementing the code within the media observatory. The adoption of a joint code of ethics and the establishment of a high profile media observatory will enable the unions to promote, monitor and implement a self-regulatory system at the same time as defending journalists' rights. In time the publishers and editors will need to be brought into the ethics council structure before a fully-fledged press council can be realized. The monitoring of media will start immediately. There is a general election set for June, which will provide the perfect test of the professionalism of the Bulgarian media. It will also highlight the pressures applied to journalists by political interest groups. Following the election, concrete examples of ethical breaches will be available to illustrate the problem and engage journalists in the debate. Discussions should take place throughout the union structures and draft codes circulated. All journalists should be encouraged to contribute to the elaboration of the new code. The Bulgarian Media Coalition should also be closely involved in the process. A national seminar will be organized in September to debate and finalise the codes for adoption.