ROUNT-TABLE ON RELATIONS BETWEEN UNIONS AND MEDIA TAKES PLACE

ZAGREB, June 18 (Hina) - The media mostly do not have clear and recognisable criteria for presenting unions, and often they do not even have intelligence about the union and social scene. On the other hand, the media cannot present unions better than they are, participants of a round-table conference "Unions and the Media" said today. The conference was organised by the Alliance of Croatian Independent Unions (SSSH) with the cooperation of the Fridrich Ebert foundation and the American centre for international labour solidarity. Speaking at the conference were representatives of the media, Croatian unions and media experts. The discussion included criticism on the way unions were being presented in the media, and some suggested that reporters should "take an oath to always tell the truth". SSSH secretary-general Vitomir Begovic suggested a code on mutual respect among unions, so their media wars could be avoided. SSSH president Davor Juric holds that the media pay too much attention to "marginal" unions which are cheating and manipulating workers. Unions must impose themselves to the media, Tomislav Jantol of the Political Sciences Faculty, said, criticising unions for lacking modern marketing. Jantol holds that a union, like everybody else, "is forced to sell itself on the communications market". President of the Croatian Journalists' Society, Dragutin Lucic, said unions do not have a modern and transparent approach towards the media, and hold the media "utterly inappropriate" for union activities. (hina) lml