Conference paper
There Are No Free Journalists
Jasmina Popović
; predsjednica Sindikata novinara Hrvatske
Abstract
Confusion prevails in the Croatian media space, both from the perspective of the owners
and of the employees. There are state-owned and mixed media companies (owned
partly by the state and partly by private and privatized banks), as well as the private
media about which nobody quite knows how they were established and how they became
foreign-owned. On the other hand we have full-time journalists, part-time (protected)
correspondents, and finally junior journalists who enjoy no protection and have
no rights. This situation is caused by the absence of the appropriate legislation (for which the state is to blame) and the lack of good will on the part of the employers to
change this. This state of affairs has led to the situation in which journalists no longer
fear politicians, as they did in the early nineties, but they do fear the media owners and
their power and unlimited influence on the survival of their employees. Journalists
agree to work without a contract or with an illegitimate contract. Not even full-time
employees are fully protected. The Croatian journalists’ trade union, therefore, is
fighting for the collective agreement which will guarantee existential security to journalists.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
26310
URI
Publication date:
12.12.2000.
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