ZAGREB, Sept 24 (Hina) - The final bill on the media constitutes a reasonable balance between various interests and regulates significant issues in the media field, Croatian Culture Minister Antun Vujic said in parliament on
Wednesday.
ZAGREB, Sept 24 (Hina) - The final bill on the media constitutes a
reasonable balance between various interests and regulates
significant issues in the media field, Croatian Culture Minister
Antun Vujic said in parliament on Wednesday. #L#
Presenting the government's bill, Vujic said it had been endorsed
by the Croatian Journalists' Association. He announced the
government would adopt their amendments.
The final media bill ensures the internal and external independence
of the media as well as the protection of journalists' rights,
sources of information, and citizens' privacy.
Under the bill, ownership of a medium will have to be publicly
known, and once a year publishers will have to reveal the full names
of all with part-ownership in a medium.
The bill stipulates that media statutes should contain a conscience
clause, i.e. define terms and the procedure under which editors and
journalists would be entitled to resign and receive just severance
if a change in the ownership structure were to bring about a
significant change in the medium's orientation.
The bill also regulates the right to release corrections of
incorrect information.
Vesna Skare-Ozbolt of the Democratic Centre presented her media
bill, which also highlights the publisher's obligation to report
its owners and orientation once a year so that the public could
judge about the value of published information.
Skare-Ozbolt's bill too includes the conscience clause. She
suggested Croatia should define its public interest in the media
field and encourage media pluralism.
Before debating the two bills, parliament appointed Ljubica
Matijevic-Vrljasko ombudsman for children.
(hina) ha