Milica StojanovicBelgradeBIRNMay 5, 202311:27Serbian media’s ethics are under question after tabloids rushed to spread unconfirmed and sometimes sensitive information about Wednesday’s mass shooting in Belgrade elementary school.
People leave flowers and light candles for the victims in front of the Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school in Belgrade, Serbia, May 4 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/ANDREJ CUKIC
Two days after a 13-year-old boy killed eight fellow pupils in the Belgrade school Vladimir Ribnikar, and one security worker, questions are being asked about whether media leaks of sensitive information violated media ethics.
Two mainstream tabloids, Informer and Kurir, published the teen killer’s alleged statement from the investigation, saying that he was “sorry because I did not kill them all”, and, “it was not difficult for me to kill them”.
Both newspapers leaked other details from the investigation, including that the boy “rushed to kill them [his fellow pupils] before July 30, when he turns 14” – the age of criminal responsibility – but also that “social workers felt sick listening to the killer’s cold-blooded testimony”.
Some of them published “confessions” of members of the victims’ families and some have continued to print photos of the victims.
On Wednesday morning, the seventh grade pupil entered his school premises bearing two guns and shot dead the school security worker first and then eight pupils, all born between 2009 and 2011. He injured six more pupils and history teacher.
Jovana Gligorijevic, from Vreme weekly and a member of group “[Female] Journalists against Violence” [Novinarke protiv nasilja] group, said while the crime had no precedent in Serbia, “our media covered it according to their established pattern, as if it was not a precedent, as if it were any other case of crime…, and that is where the biggest mistakes happened“.
Even before some of the parents of the victims were notified that the massacre had happened, Serbian media published unconfirmed information about the number of dead people. Many of them reported that the wounded history teacher had died, which was later denied.
All the media quoted minors from the school or from the nearby Third Belgrade Gymnasium.
According to Gligorijevic, when dealing with the Serbian media Code of Ethics, each guideline should be approached with the public interest in mind.
Ambulances stand ready as police block a street near the Vladislav Ribnikar school in Belgrade, May 3 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/ANDREJ CUKIC
“In that sense, it was absolutely in the public interest to publish the statements of parents who still did not know where their children were, because only after those people gave statements to the media did the police in Vracar react and say ‘Come to the station, contact us,’” Gligorijevic told BIRN.
“As for taking the statements of minors, they may be taken with the approval or presence of the parents, but I must emphasize that both parents and children were in a state of heightened emotion,” she added.
Gligorijevic said that in situations like this, violations of the ethical code depend on the question that is being asked.
Another issue was leaking information about the health of the victims in hospital, which, besides violating the media code also violates two laws in Serbia.
“Disclosing information about the health status of someone who has not given their consent violates their personal dignity,“ Gligorijevic said.
Most sensitive information, however, came to the media through official channels.
On Wednesday, the chief of the Belgrade police, Veselin Milic, disclosed the perpetrator’s full identity and an alleged list of all the pupils the perpetrator wanted to kill. This list was later circulated online uncensored.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic also told the media many details about the perpetrator and his life as well as about his family members, even including their salaries.
“Criticizing the media now is pointless when the head of the Belgrade Police and the President of the state do the same [leak information], because we cannot influence them,“ Gligorijevic said.
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