October 31, 2017
Of the 15 members of the Working Group for the Media Strategy – a document that defines the state media policy for a five-year period – four members have quit this working group only a few months after the working group’s formation, the majority of them representatives of the largest journalists’ associations.
The group was left by three journalists who represent seven journalists’ and media associations, mostly citing their dissatisfaction with the way the working group functions, as well as the selection of a new state secretary for the media who is remembered for making the sexist statement that a woman should not lead the country. Some of them are calling on the Ministry to form a new working group.
The working group was then subsequently abandoned by an independent media expert who considers it meaningless to write a five-year media strategy without the participation of journalists.
The Ministry of Information, however, states that the working group will continue working with this composition and that the strategy document, which was due to be completed by December last year, will be adopted by the end of this year.
