Considering the ongoing power of television on Bosnian public opinion, the TV series about former President of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Alija Izetbegovic and the movie about the former President of Republika Srpska Radovan Karadzic may contribute to an even more radical blurring and misunderstanding of conflicting images and experiences of the past.
A journalist who publish on Facebook the address of the leader of the Democratic Socialist Party; another journalist publishing an open letter addressed to the minor daughter of a journalist that criticized the leading party: in Romania journalism the lack professional ethics are daily occurrence, while more and more journalists are switching to political careers.
The 2016 local and parliamentary elections, as well as the mass protests in January-February 2017 have paved the way to massive misinformation and manipulation, propagated by mainstream media and various web-sites. On the other side, civil society protesters has developed a serious public countering to these manipulation, boycotting the products advertised by those TV stations which disseminated fake news.
Since the beginning of the year two cases of restriction of freedom of expression have generated a lot of debate in Romania. Cosmin Bîrsan, a young man from Odobesti, was fined because he posted on Facebook some critical remarks regarding the municipality’s activities. These posts were not an attack on the person, they were just ironic commentaries on the state of roads, questioning the controversial actions and affairs of Mayor's business. Another case with the same pattern took place at the beginning of the year. Following a Facebook posting in which a police car was filmed in a traffic slalom, seven people were summoned by the Târgu Jiu Police Force to be fined. One of them was the one who posted the video, the others were "guilty" of uploading comments. Although both video and comments were deleted, everyone in the end was fined.
According to the first report on media coverage of 2017 local elections realized by the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services (AACMU), Macedonian broadcasters generally respect professional journalistic standards, providing diverse views on political issues.
The Macedonian government has adopted the measure from Plan 3-6-9 which stops government advertisements in commercial broadcasters and print media, billboards, internet portals, with the exception of social media. From now on, communication with citizens will be granted through the public broadcasting service.
After almost seven years in prison, Velija Ramkovski, the owner of the former A1 television, has left the prison for treatment. It is uncertain when he will return to Idrizovo for serving his sentence of 13 years: for the moment the countdown of the penal days is stopped. Ramkovski was arrested in December 2010, after the spectacular police action entitled "Cobweb”. According to Ramkovski, the police intrusion into A1 headquarters was a political hike commissioned by VMRO-DPMNE and Nikola Gruevski.
"I think the attack is related to the articles I wrote as a journalist", said Parim Olluri after the aggression. In recent days "Insider" - the online magazine of which he is director - had published an investigation on the former Commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army who became enriched after the Nineties war. "If Adem Jashari was alive, he would be a millionaire and corrupt": that was the title, probably seen as a provocation, because Jashari, killed by Serbs, in Kosovo is considered to be a "hero". A violent reaction that after dozens of threats on social networks may be culminated in a physical assault.
A prominent Kosovar journalist, Parim Olluri, the executive director of the online newspaper “Insajderi”, was beaten by three people in front of his apartment in Pristina. The perpetrators and the motives of the attack remain unknown, while Kosovo Police has confirmed that the case is under investigation. The Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK) reacted by calling on state authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice as “such attacks damage in essence the freedom of expression and the media”.
In Bulgaria data shows signs of unauthorized eavesdropping of politicians, magistrates and journalists. It was announced by the director of the National Office for the Control of Special Intelligence Means (NOCSIM), Boyko Rashkov. According to him, this has been done for the purpose of intimidation, pressure or blackmail. "Until 2014 the State Agency for National Security (DANS) was one of the state authorities which wanted NOCSIM to act in absolute conflict with the law. Annually there has been unauthorized eavesdropping aimed at pressure and intimidation of politicians, magistrates and journalists”, said Rashkov.
