The planned “political neutrality” audit of the LRT newsroom has raised concerns among Lithuania’s journalist community. Several professional unions have joined LRT journalists in demanding explanations of why the measure is necessary and whether it will not threaten editorial independence.
The LRT Council, the 12-member body that oversees the Lithuanian national public broadcaster, has decided to commission an audit to check how journalists comply with the principles of political neutrality in their reporting.
The LRT Council is a supervisory body appointed by the president (four members), the parliament (two members by the ruling majority and two by the opposition), as well as the Research Council of Lithuania, the Lithuanian Council of Education, the Lithuanian Artists Association, and the Lithuanian Bishops Conference (one member each).
News of the planned audit has caused concern among LRT journalists who have appealed to the LRT Council to explain the reasons for it. Around 60 LRT journalists from TV, radio and online news services have signed a letter asking for a meeting with the LRT Council.
Journalist unions have also reacted to the news. Dainius Radzevičius, chairman of the Lithuanian Union of Journalists, notes that editorial independence is of paramount importance for the public broadcaster as for any newsroom.
“I would like to address the LRT Council publicly and ask it to give a clear and reasoned explanation of what is going on here. Because ‘auditing’ and evaluating media content is not a simple matter. And any use of such an instrument in a non-transparent, opaque way, or with the intention of influencing editorial independence, poses a serious threat to the freedoms of journalists at the public broadcaster. And it certainly should not be the function of the LRT Council to intimidate journalists,” Radzevičius stressed.
On Monday, another media union, the Association of Journalism Professionals, also penned an open letter to the LRT Council.
“It is very important to understand that the public service broadcaster is very important for the whole journalistic community and that LRT journalists are not alone and will not be alone in this situation; this situation is of concern to all of us,” the Association said.
The Code of Ethics for Public Information states that “journalists, producers and disseminators of public information must be free and independent”, the Association of Journalism Professionals pointed out.
LRT chief warns of self-censorship
LRT Director General Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė has said she is sceptical about the audit initiated by the LRT Council on the application of the principle of political neutrality of journalists.
According to her, the measure is excessive and may threaten editorial independence.
“In recent years, LRT has made many steps towards higher ethical standards and impartiality: a comprehensive editorial policy has been developed and presented to the LRT Council, the LRT self-regulatory journalistic ethics commission is actively functioning, journalists’ discussions and training sessions are organised,” the head of LRT said in a comment to Elta.
She noted that, in 2023, LRT became a member of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) and was granted the status of a signatory of the IFCN Code, which confirms that LRT complies with the IFCN’s ethical and transparency principles.
“Therefore, I consider such an audit commissioned by the LRT Council as redundant and ambiguous, also because it lacks tools, objective methodology, qualified data collection and interpretation may be subjective, and there is still a question of interpretation and use of audit results. I have expressed these concerns to the LRT Council,” said Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė.
“I see a risk that audits of this kind could lead to violations of editorial independence and self-censorship of journalists,” she added.
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