Welcome to our Part 2! if you are interested to read Part 1, click HERE. 

Second set of documents we analyse are the Code of Honour of Croatian Journalists, and the Croatian Code of Advertisement.

CODE OF HONOUR OF CROATIAN JOURNALISTS

The Code of Honour of Croatian journalists states that all journalists are obliged to defend human rights, dignity, freedom and values, consider pluralism of ideas and beliefs, resist any shapes of censorship, contribute to strengthening of the legal state and participate in democratic control of power and governing. Any journalist should respect the Constitution and Acts of the Republic of Croatia, culture and the ethics of the public word.

Journalists should not enter into any activities which could damage their independence, objectivity and independence of judgement or dignity. They should avoid conflict of interest, and should not accept gifts, services, awards, travels, political activities or other benefits which might question their credibility. They should not acquire any personal material benefits.

CROATIAN CODE OF ADVERTISEMENT

Croatian code of advertisement is the minimum standard of ethics which is required in advertising practices in Croatia, for all individuals and organisations. It is an addition to the already existing legal documents of the Republic of Croatia which regulate advertising activities.It is intertwining with the National Act. 

Come of the general provisions of the Code include the following: 

• Advertising should not contain any messages that offend public in any way
• Advertising should not abuse the trust of consumers or use their lack of experience and knowledge
• Descriptions, claims and comparisons promoted in advertising should be proven
• Comparison is allowed only when there is a justified cause, and if that comparison does not trick the consumers
• Advertising should be shaped in an aesthetic way of cultural environment, and they should not irritate the users with aggression, and inappropriate scenes or expressions
• Message should be shaped in a clear way so it is immediately clear its meaning
• Messages should not include people who did not allow to be filmed or photographed
• Messages should not encourage dangerous acts and neglect safety, especially those aimed at children and youth
• Messages should not contain plagiarism of illustrations, videos, photos, slogans, packaging or labels or unjustified use of other’s ideas in creating advertisements

Apart from the general content, the Code also dedicated one whole article to children and youth (Article 14), and it considers the following:

• Special attention needs to be given to creating and spreading messages aimed at minors or those where minors are represented as actors or models
• Advertising messages should not misuse the naivety of children or lack of life experience
• There should not be any direct calls for shopping in advertising messages, unless those are products interesting to buyers
• Messages should not influence children directly so that they push the purchase on their parents or guardians
• Messages should not create a feeling of inferiority of children who buy a specific product in relationship to those who don’t
• Messages should not show children alone, without protection on a high-traffic road if they are not old enough to take care of their safety; also should not show children playing on open road, crossing the road without paying attention to the traffic; they should be shown crossing the road across the pedestrian crossing.
• Children should not be shown doing dangerous things or using any tools or devices which might cause them harm
• Children should not be shown driving any vehicles

WHAT CAN WE DO? 

The above mentioned Codes help professionals navigate the complex media landscape. However, even though journalists and advertisers are trying to comply with these standards, sometimes it can happen that they do the opposite. Therefore, if you are a parent, we suggest talking with your children about these topics. If you are a youth worker or a teacher in school, in your regular work include the topics dealing with the Code of Conduct and Advertising, so young people can learn more about these important documents. In this way, we are creating future citizens that are understanding what are the ethical obligations of different actors in the media field.