ROUND-TABLE CONFERENCE ON FREEDOM OF MEDIA HELD IN OSIJEK

OSIJEK, May 27 (Hina) - President of the Croatian Journalists' Society (HND) Dragutin Lucic said at a round-table conference on the freedom of the media in Osijek on Tuesday that freedom of the press was a precondition for other liberties. However, he added, the media must not take freedom to mean anarchy or the power to do what they wanted, but realise that freedom also entailed responsibility. #L# At a round-table entitled "Freedom of and Manipulation of the Media" that was organised by several Osijek non-government organisations, Lucic said that a dispute between the public's right to information and the right to protect one's privacy still existed in Croatia. "The biggest problem in Croatian media is the lack of adequate self- regulation and the issue of professional ethics. Efforts are being invested in this regard, but changes are occurring slowly," Lucic said. He assessed that Croatia was still lagging behind most developed countries as far as freedom of the press was concerned, but was ahead of other countries in transition with the exception of Slovenia. (hina) sp lml