17 September 2009, Skopje – On its last session, the Broadcasting Council of the Republic of Macedonia (BC) has decided to initiate a misdemeanour procedure against Sitel Television due to the broadcasting of an interview with an abused minor and the description of explicit scenes of violence as well as an undignified representation of the victim which might have a negative influence on the audience that is consisted of minors.
Besides the fact that it represents an unprofessional journalistic approach, which understands fostering and development of humane and moral values and protection of the privacy and dignity of the person, the members of the BC consider that this type of content might seriously harm the physical, mental and moral development of children and youth.
„Our monitoring and the detail analysis of the broadcasted material have also determined a serious violation of article 70 of the Law on Broadcasting Activity which foresees protection of the minor, emotionally vulnerable and mentally less stable, audience.” – emphasized the members of the BC.
The national and European media regulation that deals with public, media presentation of this type of stories, unambiguously recommends – increased ethical awareness by the chief editor, the features editor and the journalists. As an addition, in order to avoid showing and interviewing of minors, this type of regulation understands precise selection of an adequate media genre where the social, social-psychological and criminal-legal balance of the traumatic confession shall be obtained through the credibility, trustworthiness and the competency of number of social factors, relevant for envisaging the cause and effect environment of this type of social pathology.