What are some of the ways in which the media council has power and impact?
| Council | What are some of the ways in which the media council has power and impact? |
|---|---|
| Albania | Main impact is that the awareness about self-regulation among the public and within the media sector itself has increased. |
| Austria | Via its decisions, the press council is able to spark some public debate. A negative decision for media is taken seriously – other media report about these and the debate resonates on social media as well. Guidelines and advice that the Press Council publishes is implemented by the media. |
| Belgium - Dutch | Journalists are more aware of the principles and abide by them to a higher degree. This is true for principles like the right of reply and respect for privacy (especially for vulnerable people) |
| Belgium - French & German | There is a learning effect in the sector – new issues are tackled by statements, explanations, and decisions from the Council; the Council receives many questions from journalists about deontology (before publishing); complainants seem to be learning as their questions seem to get more sophisticated |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | The fact that the Press Council’s decisions are published and cited, and that representatives of the press councils have been called on as expert witness in trials |
| Bulgaria | People submit complaints, which shows that they trust the Council’s activities; the electronic media regulator forwards cases to the Council; and media/journalists react to unfavourable decisions, which shows that they do care about them |
| Canada - Québec | The press council has been an integral part of the media landscape in Québec for 50 years and – in stark contrast to the region – trust in media is high (80%) |
| Croatia | Journalists that do genuine reporting take time to answer the complaints and do their best to defend their choices |
| Cyprus | Representatives of the media council are invited by media to comment on issues about media ethics; journalists ask the council for advice; council has a voice in the public debate |
| Denmark | Media see it as a quality label when they can put the Council’s logo on their website to show that they are covered. Editors and journalist’s organizations ask representatives of the council to speak and explain the latest jurisprudence. The Ethical Code is used by media outlets as a basis to formulate their own set of guidelines |
| Estonia | Increasingly, people from the public reach out to the press council to ask questions; all media channels publish decisions of the council; journalists ask questions about ethics. Specifically, by including one local newspaper in the system, their quality of reporting has been improved |
| Finland | The Council is often contacted when issues around media ethics are in the news; its decisions are covered in the media |
| Georgia | Among journalists, the recognition is increasing. Journalists are asking the Charter questions about ethical matters, and the membership is increasing over time. Among the public, the number of complaints is increasing, which shows an increased awareness. |
| Germany | One is that self-regulation is well-accepted, both by the public. The (increasing) number of complaints attests to that. Two is that the majority of the media companies accept the system by contributing (financially) and cooperating with the complaints procedures. The vast majority of editors and journalists replies when the Press Council presents them with a complaint from the public. |
| Hungary | Media who have joined are more aware of ethical considerations in reporting, and getting media and complainants to talk about their dissatisfaction with the coverage has always been an educational experience for journalists and editors. |
| Iceland | Surveys show that journalists take the Code of Ethics seriously and abide by the guidelines in their daily work, and the surveys also shows that journalists respect the work of the Ethical Council. The number of upheld complaints has declined over time, which suggests a learning effect in the sector. |
| Ireland | We see that the media accept our decisions and publish them, as we require, with due prominence. The publication of an upheld complaint is seen to inflict reputational damage on a newspaper and is regarded as a significant deterrent to breaches of the Code of Practice. Additionally, the Office of the Press Ombudsman and the Press Council are seen as authoritative voices on the subject of ethics and professionalism in practicing journalism, and representatives are called upon by the wider media (including broadcasting) to discuss these topics. |
| Kosovo | Press council has become a forum for media to meet and discuss (whereas there was hostility between media before). Decisions have impacted media coverage and led to a sensibilization about best practices to report. |
| Luxembourg | The Council’s advice in ethical matters is requested, and its opinion is heard in matters relating to press freedom and media ethics |
| Netherlands | Media perceive upheld complaints as something bad; decisions lead to debate in newsrooms and in the media in general, showing that they do care; most of the complaints are published in a faithful way by the media, even though there are no ways of forcing them to |
| North Macedonia | Media cooperate with and appreciate the activities of the Council; press releases and statements are regularly covered in the media; media appearances happen on a daily level, civil society organizations invites us to take part in their activities; international organizations quote the Press Council’s findings in their analyses. |
| Norway | Decisions of the Council are actively used by media outlets for internal education, decisions are covered in the media |
| Slovakia | Press Council is respected with regards to their explanation of what ‘good professional journalism ethics’ means; Press Council representatives are invited for (public) debates about ethical journalism |
| Slovenia | Journalists respond to complaints, cooperate with the procedures, and are unhappy when council rules against them, which shows that they care. The number of complaints has been consistent over time, which is a sign that the council is transparent in its workings and respected by the public. |
| Sweden | The fact that media cooperate shows that the institution is well-respected and that complaint handling procedures are taken seriously |
| Switzerland | The Council is known among the public and the number of complaints is substantial. The decisions and opinions of the Council are respected and function as guidance for journalists. |
| UK Impress | Existence of independent regulatory body in itself already shows the power and impact, it shows that there’s more awareness of the importance of ethics. First time that there are proper, front-page corrections done by media outlets, and the requirement to publish the decisions on social media are also being followed by the media. Whistleblowers have reached out to Impress to report wrongdoings in media companies. By including left-wing partisan media, Impress has succeeded to improve their standards |
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Councils who did not respond to this question have been omitted from the displayed results. User-set filters may also cause some data to be left out.
What future challenges does the media council foresee?
| Council | What future challenges does the media council foresee? |
|---|---|
| Albania | An upcoming law that regulates online news coverage, which is a threat to press freedom; no structural financing, meaning a dependence on project-funding and international donors |
| Austria | A big challenge for print media is that the advertisement market is declining. For the Council, it is a challenge to adapt to the online environment and get online-only media, as well as tv and radio, on board. Also, the complaints procedure should be simplified. |
| Belgium - Dutch | One challenge is to adapt the ethical guidelines for topics like AI (Artificial Intelligence) and the use of algorithmically constructed data, such as Twitter trending topics. Another future challenge is to promote the model of press councils as alternative for regulation/certification of media. For the Flemish media, there is the danger that commercial pressures might lead to a less clearly demarcation between journalism and advertisement (for example, native advertising). |
| Belgium - French & German | One, teaching the public about journalistic rights (not just about the duties that journalists have); Two, the Council could be misused to put pressure on journalists, media, and legal system; Three, is the challenge to have a voice at the European table |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | The proliferation of hate speech in the media, huge political influence on editorial content, limited amount of ‘serious’ journalism and investigative journalism, divided audiences without common narrative about common topics. |
| Bulgaria | Four challenges: from government, there are attempts at regulating media; rise of internet media and un-institutional actors, raising the question what ‘media’ are; economically, legacy media are dying; specifically for tv: a bigger importance of entertainment over ethics. |
| Canada - Québec | The main challenge is financial – since the media that finance the Council are struggling in terms of business, it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to contribute to the Council; a second challenge is to increase the awareness of the Council and its workings, both among journalists and towards the public; third challenge is how to draw borders around ‘journalism’ when any individual can start their own publication (outside of the traditional media companies) |
| Croatia | The association is being slapped with lawsuits; enormous amount of political pressure on journalism |
| Denmark | AI and algorithmic serving of custom-tailored content to readers, which makes it difficult to establish afterwards what actually was the content of the article. |
| Estonia | Challenge is whether the Code and practices of the Council should be updated because of online media. More generally, should the Code remain general in nature, or should it stipulate specific guidelines? |
| Finland | Press Council may become irrelevant for new media forms such as independent vloggers (unclear whether they will be interested in joining self-regulation system); funding of Press Council in light of financial difficulties for legacy media; potential decline of trust from public in the media which further increases financial difficulties |
| Georgia | There is a difficulty to find structural funding for this organization. Also, it is challenging to increase the awareness about the Charter and media self-regulation in general. |
| Germany | The German media system is generally stable. One challenge is that the increasing number of complaints that the Presserat receives may necessitate more resources. Another concern is that the content on social media is not being evaluated by any independent institution. Big internet companies do their moderation themselves, but are inherently biased (for financial reasons), so this leaves a lot of content for which there is no impartial arbiter. Because of their limited capacity, press councils cannot deal with this, either. |
| Hungary | Keeping the Council afloat with a limited budget and limited resources is the main challenge for the future. Increasing public awareness of the Council is another goal. |
| Iceland | The Icelandic media market is very small and faces declining advertisements (revenues that are now scooped up by Facebook and Google). In addition, the number of subscribers to traditional media outlets is declining. |
| Ireland | Readership and revenues of legacy media outlets (print) are in decline. The most difficult challenge for media and the press council alike is to stay relevant in this environment. |
| Kosovo | Financial sustainability is a big issue, since the council is dependent on grants and donors for their day-to-day functioning. Another is that there may be initiatives from the government to regulate online media, which may harm journalistic freedom. |
| Luxembourg | For the media sector: Convergence of media and its implications for plurality of content; to what extent the independence of the press can be guaranteed when the media are dependent on the state for a large chunk of their revenues. For press council: brand recognition among the general public should be enhanced; the structure of the press council (devised around legacy media) makes it hard to adapt to developments in the media sector |
| Netherlands | For the Council, one challenge is to have a higher proportion of decisions published in the media outlets. Another challenge is to persuade those editors / journalists who currently refuse to cooperate with complaints procedure. For the Dutch media landscape, challenges are the possible consequences of the COVID-19-crisis, as well as a decline in advertising revenues. |
| North Macedonia | No structural funding, so continuation of funding is an issue; certain media distancing themselves from the press council with own, politically-motivated initiatives; overrepresentation of internet portals in the complaints, which might give the impression that the press council exists only for these media |
| Norway | For the press council, its capacity to handle complaints could be an issue (a new complaints officer has just been hired for this reason). Another challenge is to recruit digital media for the self- |
| Slovakia | Spread of disinformation; financial sustainability of the print press (in the light of declining advertisement income); potentially having to bring broadcast media into the system of self-regulation |
| Slovenia | The membership of the association is declining; the increasing work pressure in newsrooms makes it difficult for journalists to do media council work on a voluntary basis; there is the question of whether or not publishers should be included in the system of self-regulation |
| Sweden | To get new, digital-only media involved in the self-regulatory mechanism |
| Switzerland | The biggest challenge is the precarious financial situation of the organization |
| UK Impress | Political climate in the UK undermines fact-based journalism; UK Government wants to regulate online forms of journalism. Also, Impress does currently not include the media outlets that would benefit from regulation the most (such as the tabloids) |
Please Note:
Councils who did not respond to this question have been omitted from the displayed results. User-set filters may also cause some data to be left out.
