Proactive approach by journalists and institutions is required to efficiently deal with hate speech and discrimination

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A proactive approach by journalists and institutions is required to efficiently deal with hate speech and discrimination Journalists and individuals who use the media for delivering hate speech and discrimination, should be legally accountable and editors should encourage journalists to adhere to professional work free of hate speech. In addition, self-regulation should be used more frequently as a reacting mechanism in cases of hate speech in the media.

Competent institutions such as the Commission for Prevention against Discrimination or the Public Prosecutor should demonstrate a proactive approach to the problem, whereas the cooperation between the Council of Media Ethics of Macedonia, the Regulatory Body and other stakeholders should be intensified in order to efficiently deal with hate speech and discrimination in the media.

These are some of the recommendations deriving from the round table on the role and impact of editors in preventing hate speech and discrimination in the media, organized by the Delegation of the European Union, the Macedonian Institute for Media and the Council of Media Ethics. The event was attended by editors and journalists from the electronic, print and online media outlets, representatives of civil society organizations, regulatory bodies, government institutions and international organizations.

Пред присутните гости се обрати Шефот на Делегацијата на ЕУ, Аиво Орав, кој ја потенцираше одговорноста на новинарите и медиумите секогаш да нудат балансирани информации базирани на факти. Според него, без слобода на изразување и слободно новинарство невозможно е постоењето на информирано, активно и ангажирано граѓанство.

The Head of the Delegation of the EU, Aivo Orav, addressed the participants by emphasizing the responsibility of the journalists and the media outlets to always offer balanced information based on facts. According to him, it is impossible to have an informed, active and engaged citizenry without freedom of expression and free journalism.
In his address, the President of the Press Complaints Commission within the Council of Media Ethics, Mirce Adamcevski addressed the role and the previous experience of the self-regulatory body, in terms of dealing with hate speech and discrimination in the media. Members of the Press Complaints Commission, Sefer Tahiri and Filip Gjurcinovski, focused on key issues and challenges in dealing with hate speech and discrimination in the media, the role of editors in the prevention of hate speech and the previous experience of the application of the legal regulations.

Conclusions and recommendations of the round table will serve as basis for drafting of an action plan for dealing with hate speech and discrimination in the media, with the involvement of all stakeholders in the media.

This round table is part of the regional project „South East European Media Observatory“, financed by the European Union.

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