The presence of “fake news” and potentially manipulative content in the media is nothing new, but this area has largely expanded with the emergence of the Internet and digital media, thus opening itself up to anyone who has online access. As a result, there is an increasing amount of such content in the media, especially in digital media. This paper deals with the perception of fake news and potentially manipulative content by various generations—in particular, the perceptions of the young and the middle-aged generations, with the focus being on their ability to recognise, verify, and relate to such content. The results of this study were gained by means of a qualitative methodology applied to focus groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The results are presented through a thematic analysis of the differences in perception of “fake news” between these generations, firstly in terms of their apprehension and interpretation of it, and secondly in terms of their relation to it. The authors conclude that both generations lack competence concerning media literacy, and that providing education in the field of digital media might offer a long-term solution for building resistance to “fake news” for future generations.

Izvještavanje o osobama sa invaliditetom može kod novinara izazvati etičku i profesionalnu dilemu u kontekstu pristupa događaju ili temi. To je uglavnom determinisano predrasudama da osobe sa invaliditetom u medijskom prostoru treba tretirati na drugačiji način. Međutim, izvještavanje o osobama sa invaliditetom podrazumijeva poštovanje etičkih i profesionalnih standarda u novinarstvu, odnosno jednak pristup kao i drugim akterima događaja ili priče. Ne treba da invaliditet bude tema sam po sebi i da se osobe sa invaliditetom predstavljaju kao „jadne“ ili „superheroji“. Cilj rada je da se ukaže na to da osobe sa invaliditetom u medijima treba prikazivati na osnovu socijalnog modela invaliditeta koji fokus stavlja na društvo i aktivnosti koje su preduzete kako bi osobe sa invaliditetom bile ravnopravne. Kvantitativnom i kvalitativnom analizom sadržaja digitalnih medija u Bosni i Hercegovini (BiH) razmatrana je prisutnost osoba sa invaliditetom i zastupljenost socijalnog modela kao primjera inkluzivnih medijskih sadržaja. Uzorak za analizu sadržaja su digitalni formati vodećih javnih i komercijalnih, elektronskih i štampanih medija u BiH. Zaključuje se da proaktivno i konstruktivno medijsko izvještavanje, uz uvažavanje normativno utemeljenih etičkih i profesionalnih standarda o osobama sa invaliditetom, predstavlja jedan od primarnih preduslova za percepciju javnosti osoba sa invaliditetom kao jednakih i ravnopravnih članova društva.

Commercial instrumentalisation of the media presents one of inevitable dimensions with regard to studying contemporary media systems. Researching into the level of commercial instrumentalisation of the media within a certain media system implies researching into the nature of relationship, that is, interaction of the media, professional communicators, and certain external information agents, such as advertisers and owners of capital. Instrumentalisation of the media for commercial purposes determines, to a great extent, the professional stance of communicators and their autonomy while performing the task of satisfying public interests in relation to the exclusively material orientation of media production, which is reflected on the quality of media contents and media pluralism. The paper examines the intensity and nature of interaction between the media and advertisers in the media system in the Republic of Srpska and implications of this interaction with regard to the journalist profession and media practice, from the point of view of journalists, editors, and media managers. As for the working hypothesis of the paper, the author claims that there are various forms of commercial instrumentalisation of the media in the aforementioned system that jeopardise, either directly or indirectly, the autonomy of professional communicators and meeting the necessary professional standards. For these purposes, the gathering of empirical material is realised by means of a survey poll engaging 150 journalists and 65 editors employed with 27 respective media companies in the Republic of Srpska, as well as by means of interviewing 10 media managers. The paper aims at identifying the forms and intensity of commercial instrumentalisation of the media in the media system of the Republic of Srpska which, apart from being of significance for the autonomy and professionalism of the media and communicators, are major indicators of the nature of the media system on the whole and which primarily determine the course of its transformation.