Lyon, France, 26 July 2021 – World-renowned media analysis consultancy firm Osservatorio di Pavia has recently issued an independent report recognising Euronews Serbia for its “commitment to fairness, accuracy and impartiality”.
Euronews Serbia is a Euronews branded affiliate delivering local, national, regional and international news to Serbian-speaking audiences. The report was commissioned by the Euronews group to analyse the first few weeks of broadcasting, after the channel started airing on 3rd June.
Through an analysis of various stories produced by Euronews Serbia in the last few weeks, the Osservatorio di Pavia concluded in particular that:
- “In the 40 news stories randomly selected for the monitoring there was no evidence suggesting biased reporting.”
- “The news stories under scrutiny adhered to the commitments of truth and accuracy. First-hand and second-hand sources were always distinguished, the reports were based on credible sources and on verifiable facts, opinions were reported accurately and put in the correct context.”
- “There were no cases where the independence of the journalists appeared undermined. Reporters managed to put a distance between themselves and possible external influences and presented facts with moderate tones, without excessive sensationalism that could potentially overshadow impartiality and critical analysis of the events.”
- “Journalists abided by the commitment of independence, avoiding situations that could raise the perception of a conflict of interest or personal engagement.”
- “Opinions and conjectures were clearly distinguished from facts, abiding to the benchmarks of the Euronews editorial policy on news reporting and to broader recognised good practices in journalism.”
- “The news stories adhered to the principles of clarity, promptness, and relevance, bringing to the attention of the audience reasonably recent events and relevant information. However, few reports omitted important information that could have shed more light in complex issues.”
- “The five analytic indices of news quality[1], based on the items of professional standards and journalistic principles of ethics, ranged from 0.88 to 1, with value 1 being the highest possible score and 0 the minimum.”
- “The Euronews Serbia interview with President Vucic (aired on 29/06/2021) – added to the sample of the 40 news stories – proved to be professionally conducted. The news anchor posed several crucial questions, without being deferential nor confrontational, which resulted beneficial for the audience.”
François Chignac, Editorial Manager Branded Affiliates at the Euronews group said: “We were very satisfied to read the Osservatorio di Pavia’s conclusions on Euronews Serbia’s news coverage. Our branded affiliate in Belgrade was launched with the specific aim of providing a strong independent and impartial media with a European perspective, just as Euronews has always done. Euronews Serbia’s newsroom has worked and continues to work tirelessly to put together a news offer that lives up to this ambitious goal. We are proud to see that they are undoubtedly off to a great start, after only a few weeks of broadcasting.”
Bojan Brkic, Editor-in-Chief, Euronews Serbia said: “We were very pleased to read the conclusions of the Osservatorio di Pavia about Euronews Serbia’s news coverage. We have started to deliver on the promise of offering high quality, independent and impartial news to Serbian audiences. This is an encouragement to continue with this imperative mission.”
Euronews Serbia was the third of Euronews’ branded affiliates to start broadcasting in June 2021, after Euronews Albania in November 2019, Euronews Georgia in September 2020. Euronews Romania and Euronews Bulgaria should start airing before the end of the year. These franchises have already enriched Euronews’ global editorial offering, thanks to the expertise provided by the editorial teams in these countries.
Euronews is a leading international news channel and one of the best known and most trusted news brands operating across Europe. Worldwide, Euronews is broadcast in 160 countries and distributed in almost 400 million homes – including 67% of homes in the European Union + UK. Every month, Euronews reaches 145 million people, both on TV and digital platforms, according to the Global Web Index.
[1] Balance index (0.90/1), truth and accuracy index (0.99/1), independence index (1/1), fairness and impartiality index (0.88/1), completeness index (0.90/1).
Euronews is a leading international news channel and one of the best known and most trusted news brands operating across Europe. Worldwide, Euronews is broadcast in 160 countries and distributed in almost 400 million homes – including 67% of homes in the European Union + UK. Every month, Euronews reaches over 140 million people, both on TV and digital platforms, according to the Global Web Index (2020).