23072021BalkanFreeMediaInitiative.pdf - Kyle, Philip

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First of all, thank you for getting in touch with us with the letters you have already sent to the European Commission and to our shareholders. It would have been courteous to write to us first, and seek information from us before launching your campaign with our partners. This has unfortunately inevitably led us to question your motives. Nevertheless, in the spirit of transparency and cooperation that has been the hallmark of Euronews for the last three decades, we are happy to provide answers to your questions. 1. Euronews has always been recognised as an independent media We would like to start by reminding you that Euronews has consistently been recognised for its commitment to independence and impartiality in its news delivery. As part of our contract with the European Commission, we are regularly audited and these audits have never failed to show that our journalists comply with high levels of journalistic standards and produce news, which is both balanced and impartial. The last independent audit conducted a year ago concluded that: “Euronews has well established procedures to support editorial quality, balance, independence and impartiality, and these appear to be operating effectively.”1 We are most aware of the difficulties media face in various countries across Europe and beyond, and have paid the price for our steadfast commitment to independence, pluralism and impartiality on several occasions, including recently in Belarus where we have been banned since 12th April 2021. The aforementioned audit actually stressed the positive role that Euronews plays in countries where independence and press freedom can be under threat: “In particular, it is notable that audiences are consuming and engaging with Euronews content in countries where ‘European values’ may be at risk – for example through populism, or the erosion of democratic institutions and press freedom – or where national TV stations’ coverage is less likely to be trusted by the populace.” 2 We, like you, are firmly attached to defending press freedom and are convinced that our “branded affiliate” strategy is contributing to people having access to impartial, fair and balanced information in the countries in which we are developing these partnerships. 2. Euronews Albania and Euronews Serbia, recognised for their commitment to “fairness, accuracy and impartiality” Three of our branded affiliates (Euronews Albania, Euronews Georgia and Euronews Serbia) have started broadcasting; Euronews Serbia only very recently (in June). We were very satisfied to read the conclusions of the independent reports drafted by world-renowned consultancy firm Osservatorio di Pavia both for Euronews Albania and for Euronews Serbia. The report issued by the Osservatorio di Pavia regarding Euronews Albania in December 2020 recognised its commitment “to fairness, accuracy and impartiality, with no evidence suggesting biased reporting” and further added “Independence and editorial freedom from external interests informed the news coverage”.3 1 Performance Audit of Actions Funded Across the Multimedia Actions Budget Line, BDO, 23rd June 2020, p. 9 2 Ibid, p.9 3 Report on Main Professional Standards and Principles of Ethics – Euronews Albania, Osservatorio di Pavia, delivered in December 2020, p.7 1 Their report on Euronews Serbia issued just last week gave us great satisfaction as the Osservatorio concluded that Euronews Serbia displayed “a commitment to fairness, accuracy and impartiality. In the 40 news stories randomly selected for the monitoring there was no evidence suggesting biased reporting.” One of the stories reviewed by the Osservatorio was an interview of Serbia’s President Alexander Vucic, which according to the report “proved to be professionally conducted. The news anchor posed several crucial questions, without being deferential nor confrontational, which resulted beneficial for the audience"4 The report states further that:  “There were no cases where the independence of the journalists appeared undermined.”5  “Opinions and conjectures were clearly distinguished from facts, abiding to the benchmarks of the Euronews editorial policy on news reporting and to broader recognised good practices in journalism.”6  “The Independence Index reached the maximum score at level 1, meaning that all the stories fulfilled the related principles of professional standards. The journalists managed to put a distance between themselves and possible influences on them and presented facts and stories with proportional emotion, without excessive sensationalism that could overshadow critical analysis.”7 Both these reports are further evidence that the mechanisms we have put in place to guarantee that the principles of impartiality, editorial freedom and independence are upheld are working, and we have no reason to believe that they will not work when our two latest branded affiliates Euronews Romania and Euronews Bulgaria start broadcasting later this year. 3. Preserving editorial independence, a make or break principle in any Euronews partnership We take note of your concerns about our partners in Serbia and Bulgaria. Rest assured that the decisions to work with these partners, as with all our partners, were not taken lightly. Once these decisions were made, all safeguards were put in place to ensure that our brand and our values may not be compromised and that journalists may work freely, in line with our very high standards of journalism. First of all, we take all appropriate steps prior to signing any partnership, as soon as a potential partner has been identified or gets in touch with us. We run an in-depth “risk and compliance” procedure to ensure that the partner is reliable. To double-check, we often ask an economic intelligence company to run a second thorough assessment; this was the case in particular for the Euronews Bulgaria project. The project is abandoned at this stage if the results are not satisfactory. We also work with business providers for each of these projects; for any partner presented, the business provider is required, as part of its essential contractual obligations, to take all necessary measures so that Euronews can work in complete editorial independence. Once this stage is over, the essential principle governing contracts with our branded affiliates is editorial freedom. The various provisions of the contract allow for continuous monitoring of this and a clear possibility of termination of the contract in case of infringement: 4 Report on Main Professional Standards and Principles of Ethics – Euronews Serbia, Osservatorio di Pavia, delivered in July 2021, p.7 5 Ibid, p. 7 6 Ibid, p. 7 7 Ibid, p. 10 2  Euronews hires an editor-in-chief who works locally with the partner's staff, leading the editorial team. This editor-in-chief is a Euronews employee who reports directly to the Euronews editorial management.  The Chairman of the Editorial Board is appointed by Euronews - any decision is taken by simple majority. In the event of a tie, the Chairman's vote prevails.  The partner is obliged to follow the editorial charter, with Euronews reserving the right to verify annually (via an audit) the partner's compliance with the editorial guidelines.  The termination clause in our contracts specifically provides for the possibility for Euronews to terminate in the event of an infringement of editorial freedom. 4. Euronews Serbia: a diverse newsroom with a proven commitment to impartiality The partnership with HD WIN Doo led to a successful launch of the channel on 3rd June, after 18 months of seamless project management and collaboration. The teams are witnessing strong editorial collaboration every day, led by Belgrade-based editor Bojan Brkic, who was recruited directly by Euronews, independently and is now an employee of Euronews headquarters. The local editorial and technical teams are highly skilled and experienced and come from a variety of media (over 130 employees to date). It should be noted that the Serbian Commission for Protection of Competition has approved the franchise agreement between Euronews and HD Win Doo by granting an individual exemption for a five-year period. The President of the REM, the Serbian Regulatory Body for Electronic Media was also present at the launch ceremony on 9 May. As already mentioned above, the Osservatorio di Pavia did an in-depth audit of both Euronews Serbia’s TV and digital outputs in the first few weeks of its broadcast and concluded that Euronews Serbia showed “a commitment to fairness, accuracy and impartiality. In the 40 news stories randomly selected for the monitoring there was no evidence suggesting biased reporting.” We will continue to closely monitor Euronews Serbia’s activity, as we do with all our other branded affiliates. 5. Euronews Bulgaria The project was launched very recently. As already explained here above, we ran all the “risk and compliance” checks we do ahead of signing any partnership, including through hiring an external company to do in-depth economic intelligence work. We were specifically interested, as ever, to find out if there was a risk that the potential partner could exert undue influence on the future newsroom and if Euronews Bulgaria journalists would be able to work freely and deliver fair, balanced and impartial news to local audiences. We were satisfied that the results did not give cause to concern on these important issues. The letters you sent the European Commission and our shareholders mention the owner of TV Europa and Mr. Georgi Harizanov, CEO of Euronews Bulgaria. Please note that while Mr. Ivanov, as owner of TV Europa, is our partner in setting up Euronews Bulgaria, Mr. Harizanov is not. He was appointed by our partner to the position of Managing Director of Euronews Bulgaria. He is an employee of TV Europa, the contracting company under the Euronews Bulgaria franchise agreement. 3 Neither the owner of TV Europa nor the CEO of Euronews Bulgaria should have any influence whatsoever on the editorial content of Euronews Bulgaria. This is a red line which is clear to all. The Editor-in-Chief appointed by Euronews HQ and who will report directly to Euronews editorial management will lead the newsroom, without undue influence or pressure. Euronews HQ is currently interviewing candidates for this position. Many candidates applied for the job opening. We are taking great care to select the candidate who will best uphold our high standards of journalism. Put simply, we will expect from Euronews Bulgaria, as with all our branded affiliates, nothing less than the standards by which Euronews delivers news: impartiality, independence, pluralism are at the heart of our news output, as was evidenced by our coverage of the recent Bulgarian elections, where candidates from various different parties were interviewed, including for instance opposition leader Mr. Hristo Ivanov (Democratic Bulgaria). We hope that, with integrity and honesty, you will acknowledge, from the evidence we submitted to you herein, that whatever concerns you may have about our partners, you can trust Euronews to defend its brand and more importantly the fundamental principles of press freedom, independence, impartiality and pluralism that have been and still are at the core of its news delivery. Should they be compromised by any of our partners, we would not hesitate to cease all cooperation with them. 4