Building Trust in Journalism

'Building Trust in Journalism – Poland' conference and workshop, September 2019. Photo: David Sypniewski

The Evens Foundation has partnered with the Ethical Journalism Network (EJN) and the Fritt Ord Foundation to launch the 'Building Trust in Journalism' project. Its purpose is to explore the conditions and identify the needs of the media communities in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine and Georgia. With this initiative we aim to raise awareness of the importance of ethical professional journalism in building trust in the media and in facilitating the crucial role journalism can play in fostering democracies.

Looking at important questions such as ‘What role does the media play in enabling democracy?’, ‘How can we maintain ethical standards in the race for increasing views and clicks?’, ‘How can the media regain public trust?’ and ‘What are the strengths and struggles of the media communities in CEE?’, the partner organisations decided to carry out a series of reports, looking at the particular situation and media landscape in each of the focus countries.

For each report, we begin with research in order to develop an empirically-led needs assessment – conducting study visits, meetings and interviews with media stakeholders. We engage with representatives from traditional media outlets – print, TV, radio – but also online media and start-up owners. We are also interested in the academic perspective, as well as in NGOs dedicated to media development and media freedom. We aim to reach to the widest possible group and to hear voices coming from different, sometimes very polarised, sides of the public discourse, including academia and civil society. This allows us to understand the full spectrum and complexity of the media situation in each country and to identify core issues regarding professional ethics.

Following the development of each report, we had initially planned to organise a conference and dedicated workshop in each of the focus countries but, in the event, this was only possible in Poland before the pandemic forced a change in strategy. We focused energies on expanding the series, including Ukraine and Georgia, which had not been a part of the original scope, and are now in the process of exploring alternative strategies for disseminating and creating dialogue around the project’s research outcomes.

Our project has drawn the attention of several institutions and organisations working in the field of Central and Eastern European Media. These organisations are interested in joining forces to take our series findings and recommendations further, and exploring ways of collaborating to secure translation of the work done into practice. Follow our social media channels in order to stay up-to-date with upcoming project announcements.

If you are a journalist, media stakeholder, expert or activist interested in participation in the project and/or cooperation – please contact us.

The Evens Foundation has partnered with the Ethical Journalism Network (EJN) and the Fritt Ord Foundation to launch the 'Building Trust in Journalism' project. Its purpose is to explore the conditions and identify the needs of the media communities in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine and Georgia. With this initiative we aim to raise awareness of the importance of ethical professional journalism in building trust in the media and in facilitating the crucial role journalism can play in fostering democracies.

Looking at important questions such as ‘What role does the media play in enabling democracy?’, ‘How can we maintain ethical standards in the race for increasing views and clicks?’, ‘How can the media regain public trust?’ and ‘What are the strengths and struggles of the media communities in CEE?’, the partner organisations decided to carry out a series of reports, looking at the particular situation and media landscape in each of the focus countries.

For each report, we begin with research in order to develop an empirically-led needs assessment – conducting study visits, meetings and interviews with media stakeholders. We engage with representatives from traditional media outlets – print, TV, radio – but also online media and start-up owners. We are also interested in the academic perspective, as well as in NGOs dedicated to media development and media freedom. We aim to reach to the widest possible group and to hear voices coming from different, sometimes very polarised, sides of the public discourse, including academia and civil society. This allows us to understand the full spectrum and complexity of the media situation in each country and to identify core issues regarding professional ethics.

Following the development of each report, we had initially planned to organise a conference and dedicated workshop in each of the focus countries but, in the event, this was only possible in Poland before the pandemic forced a change in strategy. We focused energies on expanding the series, including Ukraine and Georgia, which had not been a part of the original scope, and are now in the process of exploring alternative strategies for disseminating and creating dialogue around the project’s research outcomes.

Our project has drawn the attention of several institutions and organisations working in the field of Central and Eastern European Media. These organisations are interested in joining forces to take our series findings and recommendations further, and exploring ways of collaborating to secure translation of the work done into practice. Follow our social media channels in order to stay up-to-date with upcoming project announcements.

If you are a journalist, media stakeholder, expert or activist interested in participation in the project and/or cooperation – please contact us.

News

"Ukraine media: defiance and truth-telling" is the final Building Trust in Journalism report and explores how the war has transformed the country's media landscape. It calls on the global community and the Ukrainian government to provide more support for journalists working within the country.

The report is produced by the Ethical Journalism Network in partnership with Evens Foundation and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Read more about the launch of the report here.

This publication completes the series, following the reports on Georgia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria. Upcoming publications will investigate the media landscape in Ukraine.

News

Building Trust in Journalism — Georgia’ policy report has been produced by the Ethical Journalism Network in partnership with Evens Foundation and the Fritt Ord Foundation.

This report looks at the challenges that the media faces in Georgia and explores how politicisation and polarisation have created ethical issues for journalists and consumers.

It follows the publication of reports on Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria. Upcoming publications will investigate the media landscape in Ukraine.

News

The Ethical Journalism Network, the Evens Foundation and the Fritt Ord Foundation, have produced the following report which looks at the challenges that the media are facing in Slovakia. The report is part of the series of reports that have been published on the media situations in Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Czech Republic. Reports on Georgia and Ukraine will follow. 

Based on a number of interviews conducted with media practitioners, activists and experts in Slovakia, the report finds that the Slovak media landscape is the most free of the Visegrad countries. There are some concerns in relation to mainstream media ownership which appears to remain firmly in the grip of a select number of financial groups and oligarchs. However, there are a number of interesting and successful attempts at developing independent platforms and the tradition for investigative journalism is strong in Slovakia and is having an impact on policy and tackling corruption. The report includes a set of clear recommendations for the media and policy communities to take forward. 

News

Building Trust in Journalism — Czech Republic’ policy report has been produced by the Ethical Journalism Network in partnership with Evens Foundation and the Fritt Ord Foundation.

This report looks at the challenges that the media faces in the Czech Republic and follows the publication of reports on Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria. Upcoming publications will investigate the media landscapes in Slovakia, Ukraine and Georgia.

News

Building Trust in Journalism — Bulgaria’ policy report has been produced by the Ethical Journalism Network in partnership with Evens Foundation and the Fritt Ord Foundation.

This report looks at the challenges that the media faces in Bulgaria and follows the publication of reports on Poland and Hungary. Upcoming publications will investigate the media landscapes in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine and Georgia.

News

Aida Kaisy, from partner organisation Ethical Journalism Network, spoke to ‘Visegrad Insight’ about our recent investigations into the media of the region and how trust in journalism can be (re)built. The podcast is available here.

News

Building Trust in Journalism — Hungary’ policy report has been produced by the Ethical Journalism Network in partnership with Evens Foundation and the Fritt Ord Foundation.

This report looks at the challenges that the media faces in Hungary and follows the publication of a report on Poland. Upcoming publications will investigate the media landscapes in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine and Georgia.

News

We are very happy to share the ‘Building Trust in Journalism — Poland’ policy report, the first in series of reports that will be produced by the Ethical Journalism Network in partnership with Evens Foundation and the Fritt Ord Foundation.

This report looks at the challenges that the media faces in Poland and will be followed by publications on the media landscapes of Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine and Georgia.

News

An panel discussion, 'Building Trust in Journalism: The Challenges to Media in Central Eastern Europe' was hosted in Oslo (5 December 2019).

Our project concerns were a central part of the debate organised by EJN in Oslo, by invitation from the Fritt Ord Foundation. This resulted in gathering all research work of EJN under the common umbrella of 'Building Trust in Journalism in CEE'.

News

How can the media support both democratic processes and the public interest in Poland? The Evens Foundation and the Ethical Journalism Network will host 'Building Trust in Journalism – Poland', a one-day conference on 17 September 2019 in Warsaw. This conference seeks to enable the media to identify main challenges to their practice and constructive role, develop innovative content ideas and platforms, and ultimately contribute to improving the quality and impact of the media and journalism in Poland. We will present a policy report that gathers key conclusions of the research conducted by EJN.

We will also host a ‘Reporting Elections Ethically’ workshop for journalists, focusing on building practical skills and capacity, on the following day 18 September 2019. This event will be hosted by Aida Kaisy and Chris Elliott (EJN) and Jacky Rowland (internationally recognised journalist who has reported for the Guardian, Aljazeera, The Economist, BBC and other well-known media).