The official, independent supervisor of the Flemish audiovisual media is the Vlaamse Regulator voor de Media (VRM). Its main assignments consist of verifying the enforcement of the media decree and assigning admissions and licences. Furthermore, VRM maps media concentration and publishes an annual report on the issue. Another important task is supervising the compliance of VRT with its Management Agreement [Beheersovereenkomst]. VRM has the power to sanction against media organisations, for instance, if they go against commercial communication rules. It can impose fines, even if they are usually not very high, ranging from EUR 5,000 to 15,000, depending on the repeated nature of infringements.
The Council for Journalism [Raad voor de Journalistiek] (RvdJ) is the independent body for self-regulation of the Flemish press. It is a non-governmental organisation, responding to questions and handling complaints from the public about the journalistic conduct of the press. RvdJ was formed in 2002 by Flemish journalist unions, publishers, and media companies, and it is funded, in two equal halves, by the publishers and the audiovisual media companies, and by the journalist union (VVJ). Filing a complaint is possible for every citizen and is free of charge, although the majority of the Flemish people are unaware of its existence. The council aims to provide the public with a free and fast way of redressing possible mistakes by the media. Its decisions are meant to underline the rules of good journalistic practice and to encourage ethical and professional standards of journalism. It also provides a Code of Practice. (RvdJ, 2010a–b; see also Indicator E9 – Participation).
Another independent body for self-regulation is the Jury voor Ethische Praktijken inzake reclame [Jury for Ethical Practices on Advertising] (JEP). Its main purpose is monitoring whether the content of advertisements is in line with the regulations concerning advertisement ethics. Everyone is able to file a complaint free of charge. JEP also works pro-actively by advising advertisers (JEP, n.d.).
Self-regulation is also common for the individual news media brands themselves, and especially the mainstream newspapers have a tradition in publishing rectifications of articles. Via reader letters and social media, the public is able to criticise media content. The Flemish public broadcaster VRT and the quality daily newspaper De Standaard even installed a designated journalist whose main job is scrutinising published media content. These ombudspersons publicly critique and elaborate on mistakes in articles – this way, they explicitly hold up a mirror for their own media organisations.
The Fonds Pascal Decroos,[i] now part of Journalismfund.eu, is a non-profit organisation investing in quality and investigative journalism, but also trying to hold the media organisations to a standard of qualitative, nuanced, and critical journalism. It challenges journalists to think outside the box and facilitates independent (cross-border) investigative journalism in Europe (Journalismfund.eu, n.d.)
Although several different regulatory bodies are installed, the public is rarely aware of their existence and core tasks. Regarding civil media criticism, not many platforms exist. There are some underground and anonymous blogs, but none of them are popular or enjoy widespread reach and appeal.
[i] https://www.fondspascaldecroos.org/nl/over-ons
