Sarajevo, July 13, 2023 – The Association of BH Journalists recognizes transparent, impartial and truthful reporting as key journalistic values and elements of strengthening
democracy and the rule of law, and therefore gives full support to the Centers of Civil Initiatives (CCI) in the fight against manipulation of information and more active participation of citizens in these processes.

Today, the Centers of Civil Initiatives organized a closed briefing entitled “Manipulation of information in the BiH media”, organized with the aim of reducing the influence of manipulation and misinformation in the media, and promoting the responsibility of advertisers in supporting reliable and impartial media content.

On this occasion, a report was presented on the methods of information manipulation in the media, and the main narratives and the most frequent manipulations of information related to facts and were identified.

RTRS was mentioned as an example of a media that creates media content and manipulates facts in this way, the public service of Republika Srpska. The spread of misinformation and manipulation of it through media content and/or via social networks in the most direct way endangers professional and contractual journalism as an integral part of freedom of expression and the media. That is why the joint engagement of the media, civil society and all other interested individuals and institutions is extremely important in dealing with manipulations, and at the same time strengthening the responsibility of journalism and media literacy, it was said at today’s meeting.

One of the proposals presented at the briefing was to punish the media through financial measures. It was proposed to contact advertisers and inform them not to place advertisements on their products during a certain period or after political broadcasts. A similar approach has already been applied in Serbia, where organizations have expressed dissatisfaction with Pink TV and Happy TV because of political shows that show misinformation. In particular, an example of a Lidl advertisement was highlighted, which was broadcast immediately after the disinformation that the German foreign minister was a prostitute three years ago and that she gained her position by providing sexual services.

One of the proposals presented at the briefing was to punish the media through financial measures. It is proposed to contact advertisers and inform them not to place advertisements on their products during a certain period or after political broadcasts in the media that spread misinformation or manipulate information. A similar approach has already been applied in Serbia, where organizations have expressed dissatisfaction with Pink TV and Happy TV because of political shows that show misinformation.

With the representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina civil society organizations, regulators and the media, today’s briefing was attended by representatives of the Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA) from Serbia and the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD).