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Arhiva priopćenjaIFJ osuðuje poteze vodstava medijskih kuæa27.01.2006.
Media release 27January2006 IFJ in Davos Condemns Media “Blockheads” for Failing to Back QualityJournalism Mediamanagements who are making ruthless cuts in editorial budgets that underminequality in journalism contribute to an erosion of public trust in media andweaken the economic prospects of the industry, warned the InternationalFederation of Journalists at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Speaking at a panel session on the crisis facing mainstream media, which is being challengedby new and increasingly independent voices, many of them through the Internet,the General Secretary of the IFJ, Aidan White, said that business-drivenjournalism was increasingly incapable of upholding public interest. “Blurringthe lines between commercial and editorial interests together with cuts inspending on jobs and journalistic work is killing public confidence intraditional media and creating low morale in journalism,” he said. While someemployers were still committed to the proper balance between good journalism andeconomic imperatives, in much of the industry a form of paralysis had taken overin the face of future challenges. “But as recent scandals have shown, cuttingcorners is not working, we have to get back to quality journalism,” he said. In a debatewith Arthur Sulzberger Jr. Chairman and Publisher of theNew York Times, James Kelly, ManagingEditor ofTime Magazine, and HuShuli, Editor ofCaijing MagazineinChina, White called for a restorationof values in journalism – “the communication of good, reliable information, asnear the truth as it can be and collected by principled people.” Sulzbergersupported this view of journalism, but disagreed over the impact of the currenteconomic models of media organisation. “Capitalism is a self-correcting mechanism,” he said, rejecting White’scharge that the current business model was not working. Whitewelcomed the commitment expressed by Sulzberger and Kelly to keep the faith withtop quality journalism as a key to success in an uncertain future, but he saidmore media owners and managers needed to change their ways. “We must convincethese industry blockheads that cuts which damage quality also accelerate thedecline of the traditional industry,” he said. “That will be disastrous foreveryone – for journalists, for people who invest in media, and for the publicat large.”
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