APPENDIX 19
Memorandum submitted by the Press Council
of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The PCC have been instrumental in helping to
establish press self regulation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
As Special Adviser to the BiH Press Council, I thought the Committee
may be interested in my views.
I have taken the opportunity to enclose a short
brief on the BiH Press Council and self-regulation but more importantly
for the Committee, I have highlighted the crucial role that the
PCC played in the process. You will note from the brief that right
from the start, the PCC played a vital supportive role in bringing
true press self-regulation to war-torn Bosnia. Without the PCC's
advice, counselling and operational assistance, the BiH Press
Council would have never seen the light of day and the press would
have continued its slow but steady decline. The Press Council
now enjoys the support of the press, public, International Community
and the Governments and although it has a long way to go before
it can be described as a true success, we would never have got
this far without the help of the PCC.
PRESS SELF
REGULATION IN
BOSNIA AND
HERZEGOVINA AND
THE SUPPORT
OF THE
UK PRESS COMPLAINTS
COMMISSION
In 1998, three years after the end of the devastating
civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the guns had finally fallen
silent but ethnic tensions were still running high and, moreover,
were being perpetuated by both broadcasting and printed press.
The Office of the High Representative, the highest civil authority,
sponsored by the International Community, decided to deal with
the broadcast media by establishing a regulatory body which would
licence and regulate radio and TV. Consequently, in June of that
year the Independent Media Commission (IMC) was established. Its
mandate was similar to that of other European-style regulators
in that it regulated the broadcast media but had no jurisdiction
over the press. However, the success of the IMC in bringing order
to the chaotic broadcasting landscape (over 80 TV stations and
200 radio stations for a population of cthree million) and reducing
hate speech, led to murmurings that some sort of statutory controls
might be put into place to regulate the printed press in a similar
manner.
The IMC was keen to push press self-regulation
forward as quickly as possible. It was given the task by the High
Representative to investigate how systems of press self-regulation
worked throughout the rest of Europe and how best to promote the
ideas behind independent self-regulation of the press in Bosnia
and Herzegovina. It was important to bear in mind that although
self-regulation is instituted in some dozen or so European countries
there is no single model. If there was to be a self-regulatory
system in BiH it had to be relative and unique to the country
and its press.
In late 1998 and early 1999 the IMC worked with
the six journalists' associations to develop a voluntary Press
Code, which was appropriate to the local circumstances. The code
was adopted on 29 April 1999 and published in all the major publications.
It was at this time that the IMC approached the Press Complaints
Commission (PCC) in London to provide expert advice on how to
set up a Press Council and how to promote the concept to the press,
the governments and the public in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Armed
with this vital support work began to establish a European-style
Press Council.
During the discussions the journalists' associations
had gone some distance to deciding on what form their Press Council
would take. A stumbling block, however, emerged when discussions
centred on who would chair the Council. The associations decided
eventually that it would be advantageous to have an international
chairman who would have knowledge of European self-regulation
of the press but who is not caught up in the ethnic divisions
with which BiH is driven. Lord Wakeham (Chair of the UK PCC at
the time) accepted the invitation to become the first International
Chairman of the BiH Press Council. He has since been succeeded
by Professor Robert Pinker (acting Chair of UK PCC) with a two-year
mandate, which commenced in February 2001.
The BiH Press Council was constituted as a formal
body in September 2000 and on 22 September, Lord Wakeham chaired
the first meeting as International Chairman. Initial operational
funding was approved by the EC and the Swedish International Development
Agency (Sida). A small secretariat was established in early 2001.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of a number of
countries that suffers from limitations in the freedom of the
press and, indeed, any freedom cannot be taken for granted. Elsewhere
in the world, even in countries that had not been subject to a
devastating war, controlling powers and/or laws regulating the
press are common. Even in long established democracies press freedom
can never be taken for granted. The experiences imparted by the
PCC were crucial in helping to convince the press in BiH that
self regulation is an infinitely better prospect than any statutory
controls. To allay the fears of the sceptics, the PCC kindly sent
Commissioners to Sarajevo to speak at conferences, seminars and
meetings attended by editors, publishers, reporters and members
of the International Community. Without this type of support,
the whole process could have taken much longer and may have even
ground to a halt altogether.
The press in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been
brave to follow the road of self-regulation and much has been
achieved in a relatively short timeframe. It is without doubt
though, that Bosnia and Herzegovina is now ahead of its neighbouring
countries as far as press self regulation is concerned. This would
not have been possible without the advice, support and counselling
of the PCC.
Elsewhere in the Balkans and Eastern Europe
other countries are looking to BiH to see how self regulation
is working. Already the BiH Press Council has had enquiries from
Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Kosovo and Serbia, asking for information
on how to establish similar bodies.
The PCC's assistance is not only confined to
advice, it goes much further. To date the Council has received
some 32 complaints which, for a small country in transition, and
for a young body at the outset of self-regulation, is a reasonable
figure. The complaints are dealt with by the secretariat but before
they go to the Council for adjudication or other decisions they
are scrutinised by staff at the PCC who offer advice based on
their experiences and expertise in dealing with complaints in
the UK. This type of administrative support in the process is
invaluable because it allows the Council to make informed decisions
based on expert advice not currently available in this country
from local experts.
We can say without fear of contradiction that
had the PCC not offered its assistance in all aspects of establishing
a self regulatory regime for the press in Bosnia, journalistic
standards would have continued to erode to such an extent that
either the International Community or the Governments would have
had no choice but to bring in statutory controls, which would
have been a depressing option for a country that is trying very
hard to be accepted into the European family.
Indeed, the position of the UK as a pillar of
press freedom is, in itself, of enormous importance as it is looked
upon by Bosnians as a model to aspire to. Attacks on press freedom
and self-regulation in the UK would no doubt play into the hands
of those here who wish to suppress free speech and democracy.
It is hoped that the PCC will continue to support
the BiH Press Council and its operations until early 2004 when
a Bosnian will take over the chair and funding will be found through
domestic means.
27 January 2003
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