Tabloids far and away the greatest violators of the Code of Journalists of Serbia

Eight national newspapers in Serbia violated the Code of Journalists as many as 3,615 times during the period from August to the end of December 2018, according to monitoring conducted by experts of the Press Council, journalists Tamara Skrozza and Petar Jeremić.

The highest number of violations of the Code (929) were committed by tabloid Alo, while the next three places are also held by tabloids – Srpski telegraf (769 violations), Kurir (701) and Informer (600). Some 307 violations were committed by daily newspaper Blic and 206 by Večernje novosti, while the fewest recorded violations were found in newspaper Politika – just 36.

The monitoring project also included reporting on children, i.e. young people aged under 18, and in this respect the most violations were recorded of Chapter 7, Clause 4 of the Code, which instructs that journalists take care to ensure the safety and privacy of children.

Tabloid newspaper Alo was also the top violator in this category – violating the rights of the child in 80 cases, followed by Kurir (70), with Informer third (28), followed by Večernje novosti (21), Srpski telegraf (13) and Blic (8).