REACTIONS TO JOURNALISTS' UNION SURVEY INAPPROPRIATE - HELSINKI COMMITTEE

ZAGREB, Jan 23(Hina) - The Croatian Helsinki Committee on Human Rights (HHO) Media Council feels the reactions of the Feral Tribune and Globus weeklies to a Journalists Trade Union (SNH) survey on journalistic freedoms were inappropriate.#L# The HHO Media Council issued a statement on Friday claiming the survey, which a Slobodna Dalmacija daily journalist cited when writing a piece on its results earlier this month, was not finished, which made "the article neither an authentic presentation of the survey's results nor a faithful reflection of the situation in editorial boards as the article claims". Responsibility for the article lies solely with its author and his editors. The HHO voiced concern over what it said was the strong and inappropriate reactions of both Feral, which has announced a lawsuit against the SNH, and of Globus, which has asked for a public apology. "The fact that their editorial staff focused in their criticisms on the Journalists Trade Union is puzzling, as is the negative attitude to the very idea that professional and union freedoms in editorial boards should be researched," read the statement. According to the aforementioned Slobodna Dalmacija article, about 80 percent of journalists working for Feral and Globus do not feel free in their work. (Hina) ha sb