The European Commission proposed today the Act on Media Freedom with the aim of protecting media pluralism and independence and in order to prevent excessive ownership concentration, ensure transparency of ownership and stable financing of public media, which must not become propaganda channels.
The commission, as reported by the Hina agency, proposed a regulation containing a set of rules for the protection of pluralism and media independence in the European Union.
The proposed regulation includes, among others, safeguards against political interference in editorial decisions and against surveillance. It emphasizes the independence and stable financing of media public services, as well as the transparency of media ownership and distribution of state advertising.
Measures are also proposed to protect the editor's independence and reveal conflicts of interest.
The draft regulation also deals with the issue of media concentrations, and it is proposed to establish a new independent European Board for Media Services, which would consist of national media bodies.
Media freedoms and pluralism
"In recent years, we have seen various forms of pressure on the media and now is the time to act. We must establish clear principles: no journalist may be spied on because of his work, no public media may turn into a propaganda channel," said European Commission Vice President Vera Jurova.
"What we are proposing today for the first time are common protective measures for the protection of media freedom and pluralism in the EU," Jurova pointed out.
The European Act on Media Freedom should ensure that public and private media can more easily operate across borders in the EU internal market without undue pressure and taking into account the digital transformation of the media space.
The law covers the following areas: protection of editorial independence, prohibition of the use of spyware against the media, independence of public media, tests of media pluralism, transparent state advertising, protection of media content on the Internet and the right of new users to adjust their media offer.
The regulation will require member states to respect the editorial freedom of media service providers and to improve the protection of journalistic sources.
In addition, media service providers will have to publicly publish such information to ensure ownership transparency and take measures to guarantee the independence of individual editorial decisions. The regulation prohibits the use of spyware against journalists and their families.
The proposed regulation provides for a small number of exceptions to the rule banning spyware based on national security provisions in cases of investigating crimes such as terrorism, child abuse or murder.
Financing, advertising, control of the protection of journalists
A journalist who is subject to monitoring must have the right to effective judicial protection by an independent court in his country. Member States will have to establish an independent body to deal with complaints from journalists regarding the use of such software against them. Those bodies will have to publish an opinion within three months from the submission of the complaint on whether the measure was taken in accordance with the provisions of the Act on Freedom of the Media.
Where there are public media services, their funding must be adequate and stable, in order to ensure editorial independence. Leaders and the board of directors of public services will have to be appointed in a transparent, open and non-discriminatory manner.
Providers of public media services are obliged to provide a wealth of information and opinions, in an impartial manner, in accordance with their public service mission, the Commission states.
The commission does not go into how the member states will ensure stable funding, with a mandatory subscription that citizens pay directly or from the budget, it should be their choice, and what is important is that the funding is stable and sustainable, says Jurova.
Member states will have to assess the impact of media concentration on pluralism and editorial independence.
"Transparent and non-discriminatory" distribution of state advertisements in the media is also requested. State advertising is a large source of income for the media sector, so it is necessary to ensure that all participants in the media market are treated fairly when distributing those ads. Authorities will have to publish the amounts spent on advertising and which media received the ads.
The final decision on this proposal rests with the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament.
Once adopted, the regulation will be directly applicable in the member states.
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