The Code of Journalists of Serbia has recently prohibited reporting on funerals, unless they are public figures. But few hope that this will stop the tabloids, which have developed the bizarre genre of cemetery reporting
If you type “funeral lelek” into Google, you will quickly get to the report tabloid from the cemetery. There he writes about the “moans” and “screams” of grieving mothers, about the “agony” in the whole street or village, about “cries” and the small white coffins in which children are buried.
Reportage from the mounds became in Serbia a genre unto itself, she screams and screams for damned clicks and circulation, and additionally makes families miserable.
Now, the Serbian Code of Journalists has been amended so that journalists are prohibited from reporting on funerals, unless it is about very well-known public figures.
However, for many “media” in Serbia, that code is optional anyway, so the question is whether the reports about “the sobs of the family tore the sky while the earth swallowed the youth” will disappear from the tabloids and their televisions.
“Race” through the cemetery
Our newsletter Medjuvreme tried to inquire with the editors of numerous tabloids in Serbia, but we only managed to get a statement from the editor-in-chief of “Kurir” Rajko Nedić.
“We have not reported on the funerals of people who are not public figures for several years. When it comes to public figures, only the commemoration and those who come to the funeral are photographed and, if the family allows, the funeral, but the grave site is not photographed. We take care of that,” Nedic tells us.
He says that they used to report on other people’s funerals if their deaths caused public concern, but “incidents happened”.
“We avoid that, because it really doesn’t make sense, and before it was a race… so when one newsroom sent journalists to funerals, all the others followed her. We cut it off,” adds the “Kurira” editor.
No public interest whatsoever.
NUNS General Secretary Tamara Filipović says that the working group that worked on the changes to the code was “disappointed” that they had to write down something that should be taken for granted as a rule.
The tabloids, she says, justify the reports from private funerals with the indication “PHOTO/VIDEO” by the audience’s interest.
“But in such cases there is no public interest, and the dignity of the family of the deceased is violated,” says Filipović for Medjuvreme.
“A journalist should not simply follow what the audience wants, but evaluate what is in the public interest, because people are very often voyeurs and want to know things that are not important for making decisions in their lives. No business, political interest or pandering to the lowest passions can justify this kind of reporting.”
What if the journalist refuses?
The Press Council, a body founded by journalists themselves, is responsible for monitoring the code. However, some media openly do not accept it. Thus, even when they violate the code, the Council’s decision will not be found on their portals or pages in the press at all.
And what should journalists do who like some dishonorable task such as reporting on the “moaning” and “pain” from a funeral?
“Every journalist who abides by the code can count on the support of journalist associations,” says Filipović, adding that Serbia is one of the few countries where the law allows a journalist to refuse to fulfill a task that violates professional norms.
But here, too, theory is far from practice. Instead of “funeral lamentation”, try using Google to find a case of a tabloid journalist who refused to do what he was asked to do. There are almost no such ones.
Source: Vreme
