Abstract

Since the end of the Balkan conflict of the 1990s, Croatia has been in the process of becoming a new society. As part of this transition, the Croatian news media are aspiring to practice a more democratic and professional journalism promoting an open forum. As Croatia looks forward to joining the European Union, nationalism remains a challenge for objective news reporting. How can the Croatian news media help toward this new society and its need for more unity? The news media play a central role in presenting the debates, remembering there is no room for biased reporting or hate speech, and that all should be treated equally regardless of nationality, race, class or gender. This essay draws on John Stuart Mill's concepts of freedom of the press, character building and tolerance, and concludes that open-minded Croatian students who study and are trained in Western-style journalism that stresses independence and freedom of expression are the country's best hope for transforming Croatian media via truthful, fair, and balanced news reporting in the future.