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Doc. 11391
1 October 2007
“Professional education and training of journalists”
Recommendation 1789 (2007)
Reply from the Committee of Ministers
adopted at the 1005th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies
(26 September 2007)
1. The Committee of Ministers welcomes Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1789 (2007) on the “Professional education and training of journalists”. It has brought the recommendation to the attention of the governments of the member states and forwarded it to the Steering Committee on the Media and New Communication Services (CDMC) and to the Steering Committee for Higher Education and Research (CDESR), for information and possible comments. The comments received are appended to the present reply.
2. The Committee of Ministers shares the view of the Parliamentary Assembly that sound education and continuing training of journalists is a major precondition for the existence of professional media and underlines the crucial role of free and independent media as a backbone of democratic societies. It considers the contribution of higher education to be essential inasmuch as it transmits democratic values to young journalist trainees and plays a primordial role in updating the skills and knowledge of journalists through lifelong and targeted training.
3. The Committee of Ministers notes with satisfaction the positive comments of the Parliamentary Assembly on the assistance provided to member states in the area of media legislation and media training. It considers that such work, which has contributed to enhancing media independence in certain countries, should continue, notably aiming to raise awareness of the relevant Council of Europe standards among media professionals and to encourage them to apply these standards in practice in their work. The Committee of Ministers will pursue the Council of Europe’s co-operation with the European Union in this field through joint programmes. In this context, it may also consider the possibility of organising pan-European exchanges of journalists with educational institutions and media companies as proposed by the Assembly (paragraph 11.4). The Committee of Ministers also notes that the CDESR has recently agreed upon the creation of a European platform for the promotion of intercultural dialogue in higher education with a view to generating a compendium of good practices to be published and disseminated to all member states.
4. With respect to paragraph 11.1 of the Assembly’s recommendation, the Committee of Ministers, with due respect to the independence of the media and to the education institutions concerned, encourages higher education institutions to include in their curricula courses dealing with media ethics as well as with human rights for media professionals. In this context, it also recalls the work of the CDMC on proposals aiming to promote the specialised training of media professionals covering crisis situations, with an emphasis on the journalists’ physical safety and independent work in zones of conflict and tension. The documents prepared in this context could serve as an important element in the training of journalists both on an educational and practical level. The CDMC is also elaborating standards and principles of media education reflecting technological development, including the opportunities offered by Internet.
5. Concerning paragraph 11.2, the Committee of Ministers believes that the establishment of Council of Europe chairs for media training is an interesting idea which would require further consideration, having regard in particular to the resources required. In this connection, the Committee of Ministers notes that precedents exist among other intergovernmental organisations, e.g. UNESCO supports a network of chairs at universities and the European Commission ad personam Jean Monnet Chairs in European integration studies. The issue could be discussed further within the framework of Council of Europe intergovernmental co-operation on higher education, together with media professionals and experts.
6. Finally, as concerns paragraph 11.3, the Committee of Ministers recalls that networks of training centres for journalists (or related associations) already exist. Two notable examples are the European Journalism Training Association (EJTA) and the South-East European Network for the Professionalisation of the Media (SEENPM) with whom the Council of Europe has often co-operated.
Appendix 1 to the reply
Comments of the Steering Committee on the Media and New Communication Services (CDMC)
The Steering Committee on the Media and New Communication Services (CDMC) welcomes Recommendation 1789 (2007) of the Parliamentary Assembly on the “Professional training and education of journalists”. The CDMC shares the view of the Parliamentary Assembly that sound education and continuing training of journalists is a major precondition for the existence of professional media.
At the same time, the CDMC recalls that, in its standard-setting and targeted assistance work, the Council of Europe has always emphasised the editorial independence of the media as one of the fundamental prerequisites for the free flow of information in a democratic society. In order to promote such independence and to create a favourable environment for the existence of free, professional journalism, the state should not be directly involved in the education and training of future and acting journalists. This is a task best left to a higher education system based on the relevant Council of Europe standards and to the media professionals themselves. The role of the state, in the CDMC’s view, is to create, where relevant, an enabling legal and material base (including via tax incentives) for the education and training of journalists.
Globalisation and its effects on media and journalists and the development of communication and information technologies and services, however, call for a broader discussion among all interested parties of the professional media sectors in order to respond adequately to the complex ensuing challenges. In the new media situation these parties should also follow technological developments and benefit from them by establishing an educational and training system in journalism based on the active use of the new information and communications services.
As concerns the Council of Europe’s contribution, the CDMC notes with satisfaction the positive comments of the Parliamentary Assembly on the assistance provided to member states in the area of media legislation and media training. The CDMC considers that such work, which has contributed to enhancing media independence in certain countries, should continue, notably aiming to raise awareness of the relevant Council of Europe standards among media professionals and to encourage them to apply these standards in practice in their work. The Committee of Ministers might consider encouraging higher education institutions to include in their curricula courses dealing with media ethics as well as with human rights for media professionals, with due respect to the independence of the media and of the education institutions concerned.
The CDMC has examined with interest the specific recommendations made by the Parliamentary Assembly in paragraph 11 of its text. The CDMC would in particular support the proposals made in point 11.4 (pan-European exchanges) and 11.5 (conference on professional education and training of journalists) provided that the appropriate resources for such events can be secured (e.g. in the form of extra-budgetary funding). These events could be very good vehicles for increasing the visibility of and promoting the implementation of Council of Europe standards in the area of human rights and notably of freedom of expression and information.
Establishing Council of Europe chairs for media training is an interesting idea which would require further consideration having regard, in particular, to the resources required. In this connection, the CDMC understands that precedents exist among other intergovernmental organisations, e.g. the UNESCO supports a network of chairs at universities and the European Commission – ad personam Jean Monnet Chairs in European integration studies. The issue could be discussed further within the framework of Council of Europe intergovernmental co-operation on higher education, together with media professionals and experts; the CDMC would be ready to contribute to such an initiative.
As concerns point 11.3, the CDMC recalls that networks of training centres for journalists (or related associations) already exist. Two notable examples are the European Journalism Training Association (EJTA) and the South-East European Network for the Professionalisation of the Media (SEENPM) with whom the Council of Europe has often co-operated.
The CDMC would recall the work of its subordinate body, the Group of Specialists on freedom of expression and information in times of crisis (MC-S-IC), on proposals aiming to promote the specialised training of media professionals covering crisis situations, with an emphasis on the journalists’ physical safety and independent work in zones of conflict and tension. The documents prepared by the group could serve as an important element in the training of journalists both at an educational and practical level.
Reference should also be made to the Committee of Ministers’ Declaration on freedom of expression and information in the media in the context of the fight against terrorism (2 March 2005). The Declaration calls on public authorities in member states to encourage the training of journalists and other media professionals regarding their protection and safety. It also invites the media and journalists to consider (among others) the suggestion to set up training courses, in collaboration with their professional organisations, for journalists and other media professionals who report on terrorism, on their safety and the historical, cultural, religious and geopolitical context of the scenes they cover.
As a committee specialised in the field of the media and new communications services, the CDMC would like to draw attention to the professional training and education of journalists in the new media environment taking stock of the opportunities offered by Internet. In this respect, the CDMC would like to underline the important work done by its Group of Specialists on human rights in the information society (MC-S-IS) for the elaboration of standards and principles of media education reflecting technological development.
Appendix 2 to the reply
Opinion by the CDSER Bureau adopted at the meeting of the CDESR Bureau on 30 and 31 May 2007
The CDESR Bureau welcomes the Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1789 (2007) on the “Professional education and training of journalists”. It expresses its full support to strengthening responsibility and professionalism in the outmost dynamic media sector and underlines the crucial role of free and independent media as a backbone of democratic societies.
The Bureau is aware of the challenges faced by media and journalists in Europe with regard to democratic transition. It considers the contribution of higher education to be essential inasmuch as it transmits democratic values to young journalist trainees and plays a primordial role in updating the skills and knowledge of journalists through lifelong and targeted training.
The Bureau wishes to highlight four major issues:
• while it is desirable that universities should provide “specialised courses […] to provide vocational training and continuing education for journalists” (paragraph 9 of the recommendation), the funding structure of European higher education institutions does not always allow for the organisation of extra-curricular study programmes;
• furthermore, the Bureau wishes to underline the issue of university autonomy with regard to curricula development. Many study programmes at higher education institutions may not be labelled as professional training programmes for journalists but may nevertheless be highly relevant for prospective journalists as well as for those preparing for other careers. A narrow definition of study programmes suitable for journalists should be avoided and could lead to unsound conclusions as concerns the role of higher education institutions in training journalists;
• the CDESR Bureau strongly supports the idea of establishing, together with media companies and in co-operation with institutions of higher education in Europe, common training networks. It is, nonetheless, important to critically assess the organisational framework in which professional training is taking place, as such a framework might have an impact on the training content, i.e. on the professional values which are transmitted. The academic mission can best be performed “when universities are morally and intellectually independent of all political or religious authority and economic power” (paragraph 7 of Recommendation 1762 (2006)). The Bureau would like to point out that academic freedom and university autonomy were at the core of the Forum on the Responsibility of Higher Education for Democratic Culture that the CDESR organised at the Council of Europe Headquarters in June 2006, which led to the launching of the global network through an interactive web site;1
• the Bureau acknowledges the need for further co-operation with non-European countries and to organise pan-European exchanges of journalists with educational institutions and media companies as outlined in paragraphs 7 and 11.4 of the recommendation. With regard to this project, the Bureau wishes to underline the crucial need of sensitising junior and senior journalists to the values of intercultural dialogue. The CDESR has recently agreed upon the creation of a European platform for the promotion of intercultural dialogue in higher education in view of generating a compendium of good practices published and disseminated to all member states.