The conference was organised by the Croatian Journalists' Association (HND), the Croatian Media Council, and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
Among those in attendance were Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, Member of the European Parliament Doris Pack, and representatives of the German Media Council and the Alliance of Independent Press Councils of Europe.
Josipovic said self-regulation of the press was the most acceptable method in democracies as a way of controlling professional work, adding that the media without high professional standards had not succeeded on the market.
He underlined the importance of promoting public interest in both public and private media, saying that promoting it through public media had an additional dimension and that profit must not be their main feature, including on Croatian Radio-Television (HRT).
Josipovic pointed to a lack of programmes which promoted democracy and human rights more clearly, and said there were also programmes featuring what might be called hate speech.
He warned about the importance of transparent media ownership, saying that all postulates about professionalism and quality were an illusion without that.
"There is no freedom of the press or fair and quality journalism without transparency of ownership," he said, adding that some circles did not approve of such views.
Pack highlighted the importance of freedom and regulation in the media, warning about abuse of freedom of thought and ethics in journalism in many countries, notably new democracies.
Journalists must self-regulate because only one black sheep is enough to ruin the reputation of the profession, she said.
Croatian Media Council president Sanja Mikleusevic Pavic highlighted the importance of media ownership, saying that for journalists to be free, the owners of the media should be known.
"Croatia has experience not only with non-transparent ownership but also with control of the public space through media trading," she said.
HND president Zdenko Duka said the state of affairs in public and private media in Croatia was poor, adding that the Croatian Media Council should improve media ethics and contribute to improving the situation in the media.
"We are not happy with the public television service, which is primarily an issue of the personnel policy issue and poor organisation on the HRT," he said.