Russian language channel TV Rain becomes the first media in exile to obtain the Journalism Trust Initiative. This channel has proven its independence from the Kremlin for years. This certification proves the utility of JTI in front of despotic regimes.
The Russian independent channel forced into exile TV Rain just obtained the Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI) certification mark, a token of trustworthiness based on a thorough review by a professional auditor of its transparency report, focusing, among other indicators, on transparency of ownership and a review of its newsroom practices. TV Rain’s certified questionnaire is accessible here.
The Journalism Trust Initiative, initiated by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), has been developed by a panel of international experts under the aegis of the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and published as Workshop Agreement CWA 17493 in December 2019. Currently, 500+ media outlets are implementing this instrument along the different stages, including RTÉ News, Exit News Albania, SWI swissinfo.ch, Studio Kalangou in Niger, France Télévisions or Les Surligneurs. Compliance is verified by the independent certification body Deloitte.
“The Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI), a self-regulation mechanism, proves efficient to reward trustworthy journalism in dire contexts such as the information war waged by the Kremlin and we are happy to count TV Rain among the media outlets providing proof of their alignment with the JTI. We invite large tech platforms, advertisers and regulators to take this signal into account.” – Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of Reporters Without Borders
“Transparency and openness were the core values of TV Rain in Russia. Stepping into the life of Dozhd, as a European TV station, we strive to preserve these principles. We have achieved the first TV channel in Russian language that has passed the JTI Certification. It is important for us to build our future relations with potential partners and audience on the principles of transparency.” – Natalia Sindeeva, CEO of TV Rain
The support of media forced to exile from Russia is a priority to RSF which launched last year the JX Fund alongside with the Rudolf Augstein Foundation and the Schöpflin Foundation. The Fund is intended to help media workers quickly and flexibly, to enable them to continue their work immediately after they have fled war and crisis zones. TV Rain is a beneficiary of the JX Fund.
The obtention of the Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI) certification mark is particularly important for TV Rain in a context of suspicion after the decision of Latvia’s electronic media regulator to rescind TV Rain broadcasting license. The channel has recently obtained a broadcasting license from the Netherlands and is relocating most of its staff and operations to Amsterdam.
More about the Journalism Trust Initiative on journalismtrustinitiative.org
Getting started with the JTI on jti-app.com
Source: https://rsf.org/en/independent-russian-tv-channel-dozdh-tv-rain-obtains-journalism-trust-initiative-certification
