The freedom of expression and media freedom are fundamental principles of democracy, but recent media reports often emphasize the online threats that journalists receive on forums and portals, which include death threats. In addition to the evident safety issues, the political structure in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and increasing financial pressures make the situation more difficult for journalists working in the country. This has all led to a major problem for journalism in BiH – censorship and self-censorship.
Balkan Diskurs is proud to announce the finalization of the research project “Real Voice of Journalism (RVJ)”, implemented by PCRC in cooperation with Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) BiH and the WARM Foundation Sarajevo.
the Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC) in Sarajevo has published an official research report on the state of media freedom in 17 local BiH communities that reveals the real-life, everyday struggles that journalist and reporters face in their efforts to produce unbiased, objective, and relevant content.
Some key questions to ask when analyzing the role of the objective local media in BiH is: How marginalized are those outlets that are reporting to the public and do they serve any other purpose than that of marketing and political promotion?
“If you gave me the choice to decide whether we should have a government without the press, or the press without a government, I wouldn't hesitate for a single moment to choose the latter.”