Safety of media workers must not cost 150 eur

According to the Standard portal, an uninvited person entered the editorial office, pounded on the table, threatened and intimidated journalists, forcing them out of their workspace. Regardless of the fact that, according to available information, the cause was a dispute of a private nature and not journalistic work, the fact remains that someone deliberately entered the professional media space and intimidated people at their workplace - to the extent that they had to leave it.

The question arises about this - what kind of message does the fine of 150 euros send? Is that the price of breaking into a newsroom and intimidating those who work there? We are concerned that such a low sanction does not have a deterrent effect, but rather sends a message that an attack on media workers can pass almost without consequences. This lowers the threshold for anyone who, for any reason, would want to physically or verbally attack journalists, including those who do not tolerate them precisely because of what they write. The precedent that is established in this way is more dangerous than the individual case itself.

Another, broader question opens up: are media workers safe in their workplaces and does the state provide them with protection commensurate with the severity of the attacks they are exposed to? The inviolability of the workplace and the personal safety of employees must not be reduced to a symbolic punishment.

The Media Council for Self-Regulation provides full support to the entire editorial staff of the Standard portal, and reminds that an attack on one editorial office is a warning to the entire media community.

We call on the competent institutions to treat attacks and intimidation of media workers with the seriousness that these acts require, and that the sanctions reflect their real gravity, and not to trivialize them.

Media Council for Self-Regulation