Council presents new provision for the protection of victims, and case statistics for 2018

New provision for the protection of victims

The Association of the press Council took in its meeting yesterday, a new point 5.4 in the code of ethics for the Austrian press, reads as follows: „On the anonymity interests of accident and crime victims. The identity of a victim can be disclosed if there is an official reason, if the victim is a well-known Person or the victim or close relatives in the disclosure consent.“ Just in terms of the series of murders of women since the beginning of the year, the Council sends a clear Signal to the media, the protection of victims to take seriously.

Case statistics 2018

The press Council was, at today’s annual press conference balance sheet for the year 2018. The Senate of the press Council dealt with in the previous year, a total of 302 cases, in 30 cases, found violations of the code of ethics for the Austrian press. Three ethics were classified violations as minor and, therefore, merely „hints“. The following are the case numbers in 2018 for individual media and, in parenthesis, to each of the media ethical violations: „Kronen Zeitung“, 75 cases (15), „Austria“, 34 (5), „week-view“ 8 (2), „Today“, 19 (2), followed by „everything roger?“ and „To time“, each with a case and a violation. In six cases, the Senate have been independently active; three ethics infringements were identified.

Media ethical decisions in the year 2018

Most of the ethics violations related to breaches of privacy (item 5 of the code of honor), and some discrimination of groups of persons (item 7 of the code of ethics).

Among the breaches of privacy including a doctored image of the greens MEP Michel Reimon during a Demo in Salzburg („crown.at“); an article of an alleged „network“ of George Soros („everything roger?“); the false accusation of an Afghan apprentice, to be an Islamist („Kronen Zeitung). Moreover, disapproved of the press Council, that the several Newspapers published in a number of cases, portraits of murder victims.

As to discrimination, the press Council evaluated, e.g., Senate a series of articles on „the week view.at“ the refugee situation in Sweden, exaggerated arbitrary and has been distorted; the term „vermin“ is for burglar („crown Extra“); the mere speculation that a group of rapists could be like Roma and Sinti („at the moment.eu“).

A further important decision concerned the suicide of DJ Avicii. The press Council noted that on the Online sites „today.at“, „krone.at“ and „oe24.at“ the suicidal course of events was much described exactly. In the decision, it was noted that the reporting of suicide requires great restraint, not only for privacy protection reasons, but also because of the risk of other suicidal people to commit in a similar way, suicide.

In addition, the publication of a video image of „Ikea“, which has been incorporated into the Online reporting and are not marked to separate against the principle of advertising from editorial content (was“news.at“, „trend.at“).

No ethics breach of the press Council, noted at the conclusion of the Butterflies-editor-in-chief, Florian Klenk, a request of the Secretary-General of the BMI could be motivated in BAT investigations in the fraternity milieu of party politics. A scathing restaurant review about an Inn in Vienna, it was not regarded as an ethical violation („The Standard“).

In the framework of the press conference, attention was also drawn to two new members of the Senate: Anita Kattinger („courier“, Senate 2) and Christian Uchann (the“district leaves Burgenland“, Senate 1).

The activity report in 2018, in which some of the above-mentioned cases will be described in more detail, as well as a detailed case statistics, see www.presserat.at.

Alexander Warzilek, welded business Manager of the press Council, Tel.: 01-2369984-01