МЕДИЈСКА НЕЗАВИСНОСТ И ЉУДСКА ПРАВА
Media Independence And Human Rights

Summary/Abstract: In the modern world, there is a constant growth of mass communication options and potentials. In such circumstances, there are many overlapping challenges in the area of exercising the corpus of universal human rights (which is most frequently marginalized if not misrepresented by the media) as well as in exercising the right to be informed and the right to express one’s opinion, as specific human rights. The contemporary society has endeavored (both at international and national level) to encourage a permanent debate on the attained level of exercising human rights; such a debate is only possible through democratically oriented and independent media, which would be the proponents of socially responsible reporting practices. Their active approach to the subject matter of human rights can contribute to assessing the current state of affairs and organizing an institutionalized as well as civil sector action for the protection of these human rights. However, there are many examples where particular individual or group interests overshadow and suppress the general interest. In the media sphere, it is not rare for the media to be influenced by various centers of power whose interests prevail over the common well-being and human rights. The proclaimed media independence, as one of the most important attainments of the European media policy and many national media policies and legal systems, often remains just a general normative framework which is inadequately applied in practice. Instead of providing for the citizens’ broadest communication needs and ultimately for their human rights, such circumstances proliferate a public sphere thriving on selfish interests, narrow-minded aspirations and claims. The principal objective of this paper is to point to the importance of media independence as well as the independence of the regulatory bodies and other authorities in this area, with specific reference to the European regulatory framework, the Serbian media regulations and the national jurisprudence in this area.

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