Search results : 237

In May 2007, the extreme-right, anti-immigration party Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest - VB) started a lawsuit against all newspapers/publishing groups in the Flemish community in Belgium. The newspapers had all refused to publish the political advertisements of VB in the pre-election period, a few weeks and days before the federal elections of 10 June 2007. The newspapers did, however, publish advertisements from other political parties. Only one newspaper was not targeted by VB: the left-wing orientated De Morgen (the VB probably did not even consider the possibility of having an electorate amongst...

In a decision of 26 June 2007, the Vlaamse Regulator voor de Media (Flemish Regulator for the Media - VRM) is of the opinion that the public television broadcaster VRT has violated Article 111 bis § 1 and 2 of the Decreten betreffende de radio-omroep en de televisie- Mediadecreet (Broadcasting Act). This article obliges all broadcasters in the Flemish Community to observe ideological and philosophical impartiality in information programmes and provides that discrimination is to be avoided between ideological or philosophical ideas. Over and above this impartiality, the VRT is under an obligation...

On 14 June 2007, the Flemish Council for Journalism has made clear that an undercover operation by a journalist, with the risk of endangering him or herself and others, can only be accepted under very strict conditions. The Council for Journalism formulated its advisory opinion after the Association of Professional Journalists (VVJ) had raised four questions before the Council with regard to a TV programme broadcast on VTM, the commercial TV channel with the largest audience in the Flemish Community. On 27 March 2006, VTM broadcast a programme showing how a journalist had easily checked in at the...

In a decision of 3 April 2007, the Vlaamse Regulator voor de Media (Flemish Regulator for the Media) expresses the opinion that an episode of "Sex & the City", broadcast by Vijf TV SBS Belgium between 19:15h and 19:45h has violated Article 96 § 1 of the Broadcasting Act (Decreten betreffende de radio-omroep en de televisie, Mediadecreet). This article transposes Article 22 of the TVWF Directive into the Flemish Broadcasting Act, prohibiting the broadcasting of programmes that could harm the physical, mental or moral development of minors, unless the choice of the time of transmission, or technical...

On 8 February 2007, the Flemish Council for Journalism declared two complaints by the public prosecutor of Antwerp against two newspapers to be ill-founded. Referring to its Embargorichtlijn (Embargo directive) of 10 July 2003, the Council stated that the public prosecutor’s office cannot unilaterally impose restrictions on journalistic coverage of a judicial reconstruction of a murder case, unless such an embargo is pertinently motivated and the editors-in-chief of the media have been properly informed. The case concerns the judicial reconstruction of a triple murder case, which attracted massive...