Actual moment of the Press Council of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sarajevo Independent of any political party or special interests' influence, Press Council of Bosnia-Herzegovina stands to serve citizens and press of B&H. It is a self-regulatory organization, it has the remit to protect and maintain standards in the press of B&H. Primarily, Press Council deals with complaints from members of the public about newspapers and magazines, following professional standards described in the Press Code of B&H. But, BH Press Council also another, a very important role: to raise public awareness of possibilities to have a right to complain, to have a right to express their own opinion. Because of that, a constant public promotion of Press Council in the media of Bosnia Herzegovina is very important. From 2001 till October 2005, BH PC had 120 cases. At present moment, after four years of its existence, The Press Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) starts a new life with reorganisation and registration at the state level, which will commence by the end of the year. For the time being, the registration of BH PC is on the level of one entity (Federation of B&H). Proposal of the new Statute is being prepared. The new structure of the Council will be included in the Statute, among other things. The current structure is closed and non-transparent, including fifteen members of the Council and operational Secretariat. The proposed new structure is following examples of the European PCs: - Assembly (composed of BH publishers, representatives of all journalistic Associations and representatives of public), as the leading body of the Press Council.
- Steering Board, for which the Assembly should delegate 5 representatives (2 publishers, 2 journalists and one member of public), as the steering body, assigned to administer all activities in accordance with a program, financial plan and decisions of the Assembly.
- Complaints Commission, composed of representatives of public and representatives of the BH journalistic Associations, 8-10 members. Their responsibility would only include adjudicating on complaints, and monitoring of the print media.
- Operational Secretariat, with three full-time employees (Director of the Secretariat, Complaints Officer and Secretary/Economist), as the link between all bodies of the Press Council, as well as of the Council with media and public.
Background: Press Council of Bosnia-Herzegovina was established in summer of 2000, by electing first twelve members, representatives of both the press and the public. BH Press Council became operational at the beginning of 2001, by establishment of its Secretariat. This professionally extremely important step has followed after journalists' Associations in B&H adopted unique Press Code, in April 1999. It is the first country in Southeast Europe that has successfully established Press Council, by accepting basic principles of self-regulation in journalism. More information you can find on the web site: www.vzs.ba |
