Project announcement
CEDEM is launching the implementation of the project “Media Watchdog: Monitoring for Ethical Reporting on Human Rights Violations”, in partnership with the Sociological Center of Montenegro (SOCEN), with financial support from the European Union and co-financing from the Ministry of Public Administration.
How does reporting shape our reality? Who is responsible for the accuracy of information? This project strengthens media ethics through:
✅ Monitoring the accuracy of reporting on human rights
✅ Educating journalists on ethical and professional reporting
✅ Strengthening media-judiciary cooperation for greater accountability
The proposed Action is developed within the context of Montenegro, a country facing key challenges in the areas of media freedom, human rights, and access to justice. Montenegro has been striving to strengthen democratic institutions, promote good governance, and protect human rights. However, there are still significant issues related to the quality of media reporting, the accountability of media outlets, and the effectiveness of legal mechanisms in addressing media ethics violations.
To inform the design of the Action, a comprehensive context analysis was conducted. This analysis involved a review of existing reports, studies, and assessments on the media landscape, human rights situation, and access to justice in Montenegro. The analysis revealed the pressing need to address inaccurate reporting, unethical practices, and human rights violations in media, as well as the importance of strengthening the capacity of media professionals in terms of reporting on human rights violations, and promoting collaboration between the media and judiciary. Therefore, the Action is developed with the overall objective to promote and foster accurate and ethical reporting on human rights violations in the media by exposing dis- and misinformation, holding media outlets accountable for inaccurate reporting, and providing training and support to media professionals. This overall objective will be reached through two specific objectives being: 1) to establish a monitoring and evaluation system to track the accuracy and ethics of media reporting on human rights violations, as well as processing cases of inaccurate and unethical reporting, and to use this data to hold media outlets accountable and advocate for improved reporting practices; and 2) to improve skills, knowledge and capacities of media professionals in terms of reporting on human rights violations, through developing and implementing a comprehensive training program, as well as establishing and promoting cooperation between media professionals and judiciary representatives.
The key stakeholder groups involved in the Action include media professionals, media outlets, judiciary representatives, students of journalism and legal sciences, and the general public in Montenegro. Consultations were held with these stakeholder groups to gather their perspectives, insights, and needs related to media reporting, human rights, and access to justice.
The expected outputs of the Action are as follows: O1) Monitoring of the accuracy and ethics of media reporting on human rights violations, as well as processing cases of inaccurate and unethical reporting conducted; O2) A training program for media professionals on reporting on human rights violations developed and implemented, and 03) A culture of collaboration and mutual support between media professionals and judiciary representatives in terms of reporting accurately and ethically on human rights violations fostered. Accordingly, the main risks towards achieving the desired outputs include potential resistance or reluctance from some media outlets or media professionals to change their reporting practices, limited resources for sustained implementation of activities beyond the project period, and potential backlash or pressure from powerful interests that may resist transparency and accountability in media reporting.
