“The confluence of a difficult regulatory environment, deteriorating economic conditions, technological change and convergence in media, and a lack of unity and solidarity within the professional community has created a perfect storm that threatens the future of independent journalism in Hungary,” said Aidan White, head of the mission and an expert with the Media Diversity Institute.

Since the legislation was passed in December of last year, it has received widespread criticism from the international community, including the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the Media Representative of the OSCE, the United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of expression, and all leading press freedom and human rights organizations.

Key findings of the partnership mission include:

• The media regulation, particularly with regard to protection of sources, is incompatible with European and international law;
• The legislation provides limited possibilities for judicial review of the decisions of the media authority and the media council;
• The forms of co-regulation that have been developed in response to the legislation are not substitutes for self-regulation and are effectively outsourcing censorship with the co-operation of national and international media owners alike;
• The licensing regime in Hungary has the potential to undermine the promotion of diversity and pluralism, which is an obligation under European and international treaties; and
• Questions remain over the capacity of the reorganized system of public service media to provide pluralist, diverse and quality information as a public good.

“We believe that the concerns expressed by the international community remain valid and we commit ourselves to continue to monitor the impact of the legislation in the coming months,” continued Mr. White.

“We further call on the Hungarian government to openly engage in further dialogue with these experts and to consider changes to remedy the significant failings of the current legislation.”

The International Partnership Mission of freedom of expression and media development groups consisted of:

Article 19, Freedom House, Index on Censorship, Independent Journalism Centre Moldova, International Press Institute, International Media Support, European Federation of Journalists, Media Diversity Institute, Open Society Media Programme, the Network for Reporting on Eastern Europe, South East Europe Media Organisation and South East European Network for Professionalisation of Media.

16 November 2011, Budapest

Press release in Hungarian.

The aim of the program is to provide updated information on migration trends in Hungary and globally and also to discuss how media portrays migrant communities and how to accurately and effectively cover migration issues. Guest trainer will be Richard Cookson, MediaWise Trust (UK).

Mr. Cookson has delivered effective training courses in for a wide range of organisations ranging fromUNICEF and the UNDP to Oxfam and the International Federation of Journalists. He specializes in humanrights, diversity and investigative journalism and has trained journalists in Kosovo, Latvia, Macedonia, Moldova Morocco and the UK. As a journalist, he has reported from more than 30 countries, mostly inEurope, Africa and the CIS. He currently works as an Associate Producer for Channel 4’s award winning foreign affairs series Unreported World and writes for several national newspapers Migration trends in Hungary and the Central Eastern European region will be presented by Balint Dora (IOM).

Please, find the draft program for students here, for journalists here.

English-Hungarian translation will be provided. Please signup for the workshop as early as possible, but till 17 October at the latest at cij@cij.hu. For further detailsplease call +36-1-317-5448.

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INVITATION

Women, Journalism and a Changing Society
- roundtable discussion at the Center for Independent Journalism
Date: Wednesday, 21 September, 2011 from 10 to 12 a.m.

Guest speaker: Nelofer Pazira
Afghan-Canadian documentary film maker, journalist and author

Venue: Center for Independent Journalism / Független Médiaközpont
1088 Budapest, Vas utca 6. 1/5. (dial code: 22)

We kindly invite you to meet visiting Afghan-Canadian journalist Nelofer Pazira at a roundtable discussion exploring the relationship between journalism and gender – does “feminine” journalism exist, are certain topics gender specific? How are – for instance – female conflict zone reporters regarded? How is the assignment of certain topics by editors influenced by gender?

Invited by the Embassy of Canada to Hungary, Nelofer Pazira of Afghan origin will share her experiences as a journalist in Canada and an activist for social change working with women in Afghanistan and discuss related issues with colleagues from the Hungarian media. The discussion will be moderated by Eszter Zalán, reporter of Népszabadság.

We expect journalists, filmmakers, media students and representatives of women organizations to attend. The language of the discussion will be English, no translation will be provided. Interviews with Ms. Pazira can be arranged at the discussion.

If you wish to attend, please register at the Center for Independent Journalism till Tuesday, 20 September – cij@cij.hu – and for further information please call Máté Stiglincz:+36-1-317-5448

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Nelofer Pazira is an advocate of ‘responsible cinema’. Drawing from her experiences of growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan, through 10 years of Soviet occupation, her family’s escape to Pakistan in 1989, and their migration to New Brunswick, Canada, she argues that, as an agent of social change, arts must question definitions of ‘cultural norms’, while promoting our common humanity.

Through her work, Ms. Pazira encourages critical thinking, tolerance and diversity. She tries to show the complexity of human experiences irrespective of geographical and cultural boundaries. She starred in the acclaimed film, Kandahar, which was based on her own personal story. Her other film work includes Return to Kandahar, The Giant Buddhas, and Audition. Her feature drama, Act of Dishonour, to be first presented in Hungary at Urania National Film Theatre on September 21, 2011 at 19.00, is about honour killings.

Nelofer has worked for CBC TV and Radio and has written for a number of publications. In 2006, her book, A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of My Afghanistan, won the Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize. In 2002, she assisted UNESCO in their cultural work in Afghanistan. In 2003, she founded the Dyana Afghan Women’s Fund, which provides education for women in Afghanistan. A past president of PEN Canada, Nelofer holds degrees in journalism and English literature from Carleton University (Ottawa), and master’s in anthropology, sociology and religion from Concordia University (Montréal). She also received an honorary doctorate of law from Carleton University.

The history of media self-regulation goes back to 2001 when the first self-regulatory organization – the Association of Content Providers in Hungary (www.mte.hu) was established. In 2007 the Center for Independent Journalism launched an initiative with leading journalists and numerous major news organizations to adopt ethical guidelines and based on this agreement to establish a national media self-regulatory body for all media in Hungary. Since then workshops, expert meetings and numerous in-depth consultations with key stakeholders were held about the possible working models of the self-regulation association.

After the adopting of the new media law by the Parliament in 2010, the Center for Independent Journalism  – re-launched regular negotiations with media companies, lawyers, editors-in-chief in January 2011 to finalize the documents elaborated in 2007-2009 as a result of media self-regulatory efforts. Most of the negotiators have been convinced about good chances of a final agreement to set up a media self-regulatory association in Hungary.

As a consequence of the new media legislation, there have been important changes in the regulatory framework in Hungary which have raised additional questions about the distinctive scopes of regulation, emerging co-regulation and self-regulation in media. The international conference gathered more than 60 participants – mostly journalists and industry leaders. Presentations from international and Hungarian speakers focused on key issues of media self-regulation: benefits of self-regulation for media organizations and consumers, good practices of media self-regulation in Western Europe and in Hungary and also, how the latest changes in the regulatory system may impact self-regulation.

The program of the conference:

Media self-regulation: ethics and quality –

international conference, 23 June, 2011 – Budapest

Venue: Kossuth Klub (1088 Budapest, Múzeum utca 7)

9:00-9:30 – Registration

9:30 – 9:40 – Opening remarks – Ilona Móricz director, Center for Independent Journalism

9:40 – 10:00 The Hungarian initiative of media self-regulation

Balázs Weyer editor-in-chief,  origo.hu
10:00-11:30 – Media self-regulation in Europe – good practices and models

Moderator: János Horvát, president of the Board, Center for Independent Journalism

After more than 50 years of self-regulation in Germany – what is the impact of the Presserat on media, what are the challenges today?

Manfred Protze, German Press Council

Towards a more simple complaints procedure and new services

Daphne Koene, the Netherlands Press Council

Accountability and quality – what do media gain from self-regulation?

Prof. Robert Pinker, Press Complaints Commission, UK

Q & A

11:30 – 11:45 Coffee break
11:45-12:30 – Self-regulation’s impact on the media system

Moderator: Dr. Zsuzsa Szilágyi, media lawyer

Benefits of media self-regulation for press freedom
Adeline Hulin, OSCE – Office of the representative of Freedom of the Media

Self- and co-regulation – complementary components of the media system

Tibor Kovács, president of the Hungarian Publishers Association and Péter Nádori, president of the Association of Content Providers in Hungary

Specific experiences with existing self-regulatory mechanisms in Hungary

and dr. Ildikó Fazekas, Self-regulatory Advertising Council

12:30 – 13:30 – What do we expect from media self-regulation in Hungary? – roundtable discussion of editors-in-chief

Moderator: János Horvát, president of the Board, Center for Independent Journalism

Guest speakers: Gábor Borókai (Heti Válasz), Bence György (TV2), Péter Vass (HVG), András Radetzky (Katolikus Rádió), István Győrffy (Pannon Lapok Társasága)

13:30 – Wrap-up, closing

14:00-15:00 – Reception

Sponsors:

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Embassy of the Royal Netherlands

Further information: ilona.moricz@cij.hu

Related articles (in Hungarian):

http://www.emasa.hu/cikk.php?id=8585

http://www.fn.hu/belfold/20110705/kihuztak_mediatorveny_meregfogat/

http://www.zalaihirlap.hu/kozelet/20110624_onszabaolyozasra_keszulve

Partner organizations from Bosnia-Herzegovina are: Media Plan Institute Sarajevo, Center for Mental Health Zenica and Association for Cooperation between Parents and Schools Sarajevo. The project is financially supported by the Brussels-based European Commission Directorate General for Enlargement. The main goal of the project is battling sexual violence against children. The network members will implement a number of different activities aimed at raising the awareness of teachers, parents, children, authorities and general public on the globally growing problem. In the next period centers for social protection and mental health, journalism research centers and parent teacher associations will implement detailed research projects, each in their respective field, in order to obtain precise data on sexual violence against children in each country where the project is implemented.

At the event Borbála Tóth presented her paper on the image of minorities and immigrants in the Hungarian media. The paper titled “Minorities in the Hungarian Media — Campaigns, projects and programmes for integration” describes the existing legal framework regarding minorities’ and immigrants’ representation, sums up the related data and researches, and outlines the programming and ethical policies used by Hungarian editorial boards concerning minorities. Recent NGO projects to shape the media portrayal of migrants and ethnic minorities are also presented in the study. (Copies of the study are available at the Center for Independent Journalism, or it can be found on our website in English and in Hungarian.)

Journalist Gergely Fahidi (HVG) moderated the roundtable discussion and in his presentation he quoted several cases and examples of the manifestation of racism in Hungary and in Europe. Csilla Herzog, lecturer at Eszterházy Károly College, emphasized the need of special classes for students and their meetings with experts and journalists during college and university journalism studies. Marcell Lőrincz (Foundation of Subjective Values) drew attention to the difference between multiculturalism and interculturalism. Milan Pukancik (Society of Goodwill, Slovakia) talked about how immigrants and minorities are represented in Slovak media. József Tengely of HírTV also joined in the lively discussion on attitudes of journalists to handle situations and Ágnes Rajacic, who reported from Cairo during the recent demonstrations for democracy, shared her experiences and her dilemma of how to select the events for news reporting.

After the roundtable discussion producers Ferenc Papinot and Györgyi Rétfalvi presented ten short documentaries made by groups of Roma and non-Roma journalists in 2010 and 2011 about issues related to Roma communities in Central and Eastern Europe. Some of these videos are available on sosinet.hu (Carnival Mood, The Applause Compensates for Everything). They explained the production methodology and the selection criteria of these stories, including five films produced as a part of the project Colorful but Colorblind (After the Water Receded, A Society Free of Prejudice, Education in Play Through Football, Embracing Roma Culture) in Hungary.

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The event’s program:

9:30-10:00 – Opening – Ilona Móricz, Center for Independent Journalism in Budapest
10:00-10:30 – Presentation of the study „Minorities in the Hungarian media – Campaigns, projects and programmes for integration” by author BorbálaTóth

Both the Hungarian and the English version of the study will be available at the event in print and eletronic forms.

10:30-12:00 – Shades of the dark – ethnic discrimination in Europe and what we can do against it? – panel discussion and Q & A

Speakers:
Marcell Lőrincz Marcell, Foundation of Subjective Values
Gergely Fahidi Gergely, HVG
Csilla Herzog, Eszterházy Károly College in Eger
Milan Pukancik, Society of Goodwill, Slovakia

12:00-12:15 Coffee break
12:15-13:15 Film show – short video documentaries on the Roma communities in Hungary
presented by Ferenc Papinot and Györgyi Rétfalvi

13:15 – 13:30 – Closing remarks
13:30 – Reception

Location: DocuArt Film Center
1092 Budapest, Ráday u. 18. (entrance from Erkel Street 15. )
Date:  Thursday 9:30 – 13:30 on 24 February 2011
Registration deadline: Monday, 21 February 2011

The stories were produced as part of an 18 month-long project aimed at remedying anti-Roma stereotyping through the creative use of multimedia in reporting minority issues. The project, which involves 50 journalists from Roma and majority communities in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, features both training and production components.

Leading specialists in multimedia storytelling and production from the School of Communication at the University of Miami took part in the project as trainers and producers.

The need to encourage fair and balanced media coverage of the situation of Europe’s Roma communities is pressing. By focusing on media training and collaboration between Roma and non-Roma journalists on specific stories, this project aimed to simultaneously encourage a more nuanced coverage of Roma issues in Central and Eastern Europe, greater participation of Roma journalists in mainstream media operations, and inter-cultural dialogue and mutual understanding. By engaging top specialists in multimedia storytelling, the project sought to contribute to the transfer of specialist skills needed to produce high-quality multimedia content on minority issues.

In May and June 2010, five week-long training workshops were held, one in each country.The training concentrated on developing the skills and techniques needed to produce professional quality audio-driven video stories, covering equipment and best practices for content gathering and editing. The training included practical exercises, conducted both in classroom and in the field, and discussions of specific considerations regarding the coverage of under-reported peoples and cultures.

Following the training, the participants were divided into groups of two–most comprising one Roma journalist and one majority-community journalist–to work on a Roma-related story. In July 2010, each team was joined by a graduate student from the School of Communication at the University of Miami. The twenty-five stories featured here are the result of that collaborative effort.

For more information contact project director Tihomir Loza (tihomir.loza@virgin.net)