The most important purpose of this process is to help the public more easily identify which media meet the membership criteria (https://semm.mk/chlenstvo/pravila-za-chlenstvo) and adhere to ethical reporting standards in their work.
Given the crisis situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), both nationally and globally, our two organizations will continue to urge the media to behave professionally and ethically and not contribute to spreading of lies and causing panic in the public. The spread of COVID – 19 is a cause for great public concern, but reporting in some media outlets has increased anxiety in a way that is not ethically justified, while the spread of misinformation can have serious consequences.
Therefore, the call for membership in the Registry is part of the commitments to foster the important role of the media in properly understanding the occurrence of coronavirus, its consequences and ways of effective prevention.
It is our common interest to increase the membership of the media in this Registry, and thus the media’s commitment to work professionally, responsibly and ethically by respecting the process of self-regulation and the criteria based on practices in democratic societies and the Council of Europe. These criteria and practices have also been consulted with the journalistic and media community. This process has been supported by a number of media, the Economic Chamber of Macedonia and the international community, while the Registry currently has 102 members.
CMEM is already receiving complaints about unethical reporting about the coronavirus, and in this regard we urge the public to continue to respond to cases of unprofessionalism and contribute to preventing misinformation in the media.