Romania

[RO] Protocol on Co-operation Between CNA and AJR

IRIS 2008-7:1/30

Mariana Stoican

Journalist, Bucharest

On 6 March 2008, the Consiliul Naţional al Audiovizualului (National Audiovisual Council – CNA) and the Asociaţia Jurnaliştilor din România (Romanian Association of Journalists – AJR) signed a protocol on co-operation with regard to the application of ethical standards in the audiovisual sector, that is to say international standards on which the professional ethics of broadcast journalists are based. These standards include the European Convention on Human Rights, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1003 (1993), the principles on guaranteeing the independence of journalists drawn up by the OSCE in 2001, the declaration on freedom of expression and the right to information adopted by the EC Council of Ministers in 1982, the UN and UNESCO recommendations on freedom of speech, and the rules on freedom of speech and freedom of the press contained in the Romanian constitution and the Legea Audiovizualului (Audiovisual Media Act).

According to the agreement reached, the CNA and the AJR intend to consult with one another on drawing up all standards and regulations relating to audiovisual programme content (section 1). The CNA will notify the AJR if professional ethics are breached, while the AJR undertakes to draw the CNA’s attention to all cases that might involve breaches of the Audiovisual Media Act or the Codul de reglementare a conţinutului (Regulatory Code for Audiovisual Content) drawn up by the CNA (section 2).

On the basis of this protocol, the CNA and the AJR will work together on all matters that the management boards of the two signatory bodies consider to be of common interest (section 3), and any conclusions drawn are to be communicated to the general public as and when necessary by means of joint press releases (section 4). The protocol does not rule out co-operation by the two sides in other areas of common interest (section 5).