A large number of news reports in the media in the Western Balkans are unsourced, leaving room for fabrication of false news, the Serbia-based Crta NGO said in its regional media report covering the period from May 14 to June 10 this year.

More than a third of media reports on Serbia in international affairs, the European Union, the United States, and Russia, do not have a source, and that leaves room for possible misinformation, Crta warned.  

Crta, an NGO advocating accountability, transparency, integrity and participation in society, established the (“Truth-O-Meter”), the first fact-checking web portal in the region.  

Macedonian media had the most unattributed reports, 43 percent, Crta’s analysis said, and added that the media in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina have a significantly lower percentage in comparison.  

Between 19 and 25 percent of reports on the European Union analysed by Crta were either neutral or deliberately positive in Bosnia, Macedonia, and Montenegro. Serbian media had 27 percent of neutral media reports on the EU, with 15 percent positive reporting, and 14 percent positive in reporting on Russia.  

Crta Director, Vukosava Crnjanski, said journalists have to check their information rather than just pass it on, in order to prevent the spread of misinformation and false news. “Reports have to be read, and their sources checked, before publishing them on social networks,” she added.

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