A N A LYS I S Nataša Tešanović Sarajevo, 2026 REPORT AND ANALYSIS Survey of media freedoms in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2026 Bosnia and Herzegovina

Imprint Publisher Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung(FES) Office located in Bosnia and Herzegovina Kupreška 20, 71 000 Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina bih@fes.de For the publisher Sarah Hees-Kalyani Contact Tanja Topić tanja.topic@fes.de Design/Layout Renato Juričev The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the author. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.(FES). Commercial use of the media published by the FES is not permitted without the written consent of the FES. FES publications may not be used for election campaign purposes. Sarajevo, 18. 5. 2026. ©Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V. ISBN 978-9926-576-32-5 CIP record available in the COBISS system of the National and University 69841414 Further publications of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung can be found here: www.fes.de/publikationen

Nataša Tešanović REPORT AND ANALYSIS Survey of media freedoms in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2026 Sarajevo, 2026

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ..................................................  3 SURVEY RESULTS .................................................  4 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .......................... 11

INTRODUCTION The 2026 Survey of Media Freedoms in Bosnia and Herze govina continues the tradition of quantitative surveys under the same title, first established in 2009. This conti nuity enables the monitoring and comparison of data, findings and trends, while providing a sufficient basis for defining guidelines for action, primarily for journalists and the wider media community. Published in April, this year’s survey places a special focus on the state of media freedoms in Bosnia and Herzegovina, specifically in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, while also presenting comparative data for the period from 2018 to 2026. The survey was conducted by PRIME Communications Agency, based in Banja Luka, between 22 March and 7 April 2025. The CATI(computer-assisted telephone inter viewing) method was used with a sample of 502 respondents, compared to 509 in the previous year. Of these, 332 respondents were from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 160 from Republika Srpska(six fewer than in the previous survey), and 10 from Brčko District. The respondents were all over the age of 18, and additional demographic data were also provided, including gender, age, education, employment status, ethnicity, and geographical distribution, with the exception of data on the ratio between urban and rural population. As in previous surveys, interviewers asked to speak with the adult household member whose birthday had occurred most recently. The standard sampling error is ±4,4%. Survey of media freedoms in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2026 3

SURVEY RESULTS Although the socio-political context in which this year’s survey was conducted has not changed significantly compared with the previous period- primarily in terms of economic stagnation, demographic decline, the impact of global developments, the weakening of institutions and, in particular, political influence and control over almost all spheres of life, the survey findings also point to several new trends, which will be addressed in this report. What has remained unchanged compared with previous surveys are the differences in responses to most questions between respondents from Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is already evident in the responses to the first question:“Who do citizens of BiH find most trustworthy?” In 2026, citizens of BiH expressed the highest level of trust in the media, followed almost equally by government institutions and religious communities, which is similar to the 2025 data. These were followed by the international com munity and the NGO sector. Political parties and politicians enjoy the lowest level of trust among citizens of BiH. Compared with 2025, there was a general increase in trust, particularly in the NGO sector and in government institutions. In the FBiH, the media enjoy the highest level of trust, followed by government institutions and religious communities. In the RS, religious communities are trusted the most, followed by government institutions and the media. Trust in these institutions is generally higher among residents of the FBiH than among those in the RS. Trust in political parties and politicians, however, is higher in the RS than in the FBiH. Compared with 2025, trust among citi zens of the RS in NGOs and the international community has increased, which can be attributed to the weakening of the campaign led by part of the political and media establishment against the OHR, certain embassies and non-governmental organizations in 2025. This is also likely connected to this year’s increase in trust in the media compared with the previous year, when as many as 80% of respondents in the RS were completely dissatisfied with their work. In the FBiH, the share of respondents dissatisfied with the work of the media increased by 10% compared with last year, but this entity still shows a higher level of trust in media outlets and journalists than is the case among respondents in the RS. According to two thirds of respondents in BiH, or 68,9%, media freedom in the FBiH is partially present; 9,4% believe it is fully present, while 12,2% believe it is not present at all. Regarding media freedom in Republika Srpska, 31,1% of respondents at the BiH level believe it is partially present, while 37,2% believe it is not present at all. In the Federation of BiH, 44,1% of respondents believe that media freedom in the RS is not present at all, while 24,5% of respondents in the RS share this view. In the RS, slightly more than half of the respondents believe that media freedom is partially present. The main obstacles to the free work of the media in BiH are political dependence, the overall political climate in the country, financial dependence, and insufficient professionalism. Compared with last year, the only notable increase recorded was in relation to the overall political climate, where there was a 7% rise, largely because the share of respondents in the FBiH who believe that this factor negatively affects the work of the media also increased by around 8%. In Republika Srpska, there has also been an increase in the share of respondents who see the overall political climate in BiH as a more significant factor affecting media freedom in 2026 than in 2025, as well as in the share of those who consider an inadequate legal framework to be a serious factor negatively affecting the work of the media, at 20%. Politicians and political parties are perceived as having the greatest influence of the options given on the media, a view shared by 74,1% of citizens of BiH. The share of respondents who believe that the OHR and the international community influence the media has decreased, primarily due to the results in Republika Srpska, where citizens in the previous period had identified the OHR and the international community as the main factors influencing the media. In both entities, the perceived influence of politicians and political parties has increased, while in the FBiH the perceived influence of media owners has declined. Two thirds of citizens of BiH believe that the criminalization of defamation and the possibility of criminal prosecution of journalists and editors have affected media freedom in the RS, while one quarter of residents of Republika Srpska believe that they have had no effect at all. A constant finding in last year’s survey, as well as in earlier surveys on media freedoms in BiH, is the belief among citizens that politicians and political parties are the leading violators of journalists’ rights and freedom of the media. 4 Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.

This year, almost three quarters of citizens of BiH hold this view. Only 7.8% of citizens of BiH believe that the OHR and the international community violate journalists’ rights and media freedoms. Despite a downward trend compared with the previous year, this view persists among some residents of the RS, 20,8% of whom share it. In the FBiH, politicians and political parties are perceived as the main violators of journalists’ and media rights and freedoms. In BiH, 79,4% of respondents believe that the work of jour nalists is politically motivated. Compared with 2025, there was a decrease of around 9% among respondents from Republika Srpska in the share of those who believe that the work of some journalists is politically motivated. As a reminder, in 2025 this share was as high as 96,4%. This year, 5,2% of respondents in BiH consider attacks (verbal and physical) on journalists to be justified, including 4,2% of respondents from the Federation of BiH and 7.6% from the RS. When it comes to improving journalistic work and the quality of reporting, the majority of respondents consider almost all the proposed measures important, although differences between the entities are again evident. Respondents in the FBiH believe that the criteria for entering the journalism profession should be stricter, that the credential system for educating journalists should be improved, and that better material conditions should be provided to the profession. Respondents in the RS believe that, first and foremost, journalists’ working conditions should be improved, followed by better implementation of laws protecting journalists’ rights, and succeeded only then by improvements to their educational process. This survey also sought to examine the media through which citizens of BiH obtain information. The results are comparable to those from last year, although some ambiguity may arise from the fact that the Internet, as in previous years, was treated as a separate medium, rather than as a platform through which so-called traditional media distribute their content, including the websites and portals of television and radio stations, newspapers and magazines. At the same time, the survey lists social networks separately, although they also exist exclusively online. According to the survey, 37,3% of citizens of BiH obtain information via the Internet. If social networks, at 30,5%, are added to this figure, it appears that so-called traditional media platforms have lost the battle for primacy in informing citizens. According to this classification, television shows the greatest resilience and stability among these traditional media platforms, serving as the first source of information for 26,7% of citizens of BiH. Respondents in both entities agree on this issue: the Internet is the first choice for information in both entities, followed by social networks, while television ranks third. Respondents assess the quality of information they receive through different media in a similar way. The Internet also dominates in this regard across BiH, with 48,3% consider ing it the highest quality source, while television ranks second, at 35,9%. Interestingly, in the FBiH, television and the Internet are equally valued in this respect, while in the RS the Internet holds the leading position. Social networks are not recognized as a dominant source of reliable information. Trust in the work of the institutions At the beginning of this analysis, we provided a brief overview of the institutions that citizens trust, or do not trust. At the BiH level, citizens express the highest degree of trust in the media, followed by religious communities and government institutions. These are followed by the international community and non-government organizations, while political parties and politicians are at the bottom of the scale. In Republika Srpska, trust in the international community and non-governmental organizations is extremely low, at 1,8%, while in the Federation of BiH politicians, at 2,6%, and political parties, at 6%, enjoy the lowest levels of trust. The international community is still rated relatively highly among residents of the FBiH, although the level of trust is slightly lower than in 2025. At the same time, trust in non-governmental organizations has increased. When it comes to government institutions, approximately half of respondents in the FBiH trust them. In the RS, this figure stood at only 16,8% last year, while this year it increased to 46,5%. Unlike last year, when religious communities enjoyed almost equal support in both entities, this year the ratio has changed: in Republika Srpska, as many as 66,7% of respondents trust religious communities, compared with 45% in the Federation of BiH. Despite the relatively high position of government institutions on the trust scale in 2026, it is noticeable that citizens’ trust in institutions in BiH has declined over the past nine years: that is, in the period from 2017 to 2026. At the same time, politicians recorded their lowest level of trust in 2025, at 7,3%. It should be recalled that politicians and political parties enjoyed the highest level of public trust of citizens in 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, with politicians at 34% and political parties at 39%. On the other hand, the non-governmental sector rose from 17,3% last year, the lowest level of trust recorded since 2017, to 34,5%, primarily due to an increase in Republika Srpska. The international community, with an overall trust level of 32,9%, remained at last year’s level, equivalent to the level recorded in 2017, but it is unlikely to again reach the record level from the pandemic period, when it was trusted by 63% of respondents in BiH. Government institutions have been in a period of continuous mild recovery since 2021, with trust reaching 45,8% in 2025 and 54,2% in 2026. As a reminder, in 2017 they stood at only 24%. The media still Survey of media freedoms in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2026 5

enjoy the highest level of trust, although slightly less than in the period from 2018 to 2022, when more than 70% of citizens of BiH trusted them. Satisfaction with the work of the media and journalists When assessing satisfaction with the work of the media and journalists, respondents were offered the following options: completely satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, completely dissatisfied, and do not know. On this scale, the largest share of respondents, 49%, said they were somewhat satisfied, while 22,9% said they were somewhat dissatisfied. A total of 17,3% of respondents were completely dissatisfied with the work of the media and journalists, which is almost half the share recorded last year, when it stood at 31,4%. The share of respondents who were completely satisfied remained the same as last year. In the RS, 63,5% of citizens were either completely or somewhat dissatisfied with the work of the media and journalists, although this is still far lower than last year’s 96,2%. Compared with 2025, the share of citizens of BiH satisfied with the work of the media in the RS increased from 9,9% to 16,7%. The share of respondents in the RS who are satisfied with the work of the media in their own entity is also increasing, reaching 25,8%, although the share of those dissatisfied remains high, at 70%. In the FBiH, the share of respondents dissatisfied with the work of the media in the RS stands at 54,3%. The analysis of comparative data for the period from 2017 to the present shows a continuous increase in satisfaction with the work of journalists and the media in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and at the national level. This satisfaction peaked in 2025, largely due to responses from residents of the larger entity. In the same year, residents of Republika Srpska expressed extremely high dissatisfaction with the work of the media in the FBiH. In 2025, media outlets from Republika Srpska received the lowest rating from residents of the Federation in the observed eight-year period, while residents of Republika Srpska themselves were also dissatisfied with the media in their own entity at that time. This has been somewhat mitigated this year. Media freedom The survey results on the level of media freedom are also related to the previous findings. When asked to what extent media freedom is present in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 78,8% of respondents at the BiH level assessed that it is either partially or fully present, which represents a decrease of around 13% compared with the previous year. In the FBiH, 85,3% of respondents believe that media freedom is fully or partially present in their entity. Respondents from the RS also rate the state of media freedom in the FBiH relatively highly: 64,5% believe that it is partially or fully present, although this is still a decline compared with last year’s 83,2%. As regards the state of media freedom in Republika Srpska, respondents continue to express a more negative view. In the perception of its residents, the lowest levels of media freedom were recorded in 2021 and 2025, while a continu ous decline has been recorded since 2018. In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as many as 35,6% of respond ents do not know what the state of media freedom is like in Republika Srpska. Obstacles to the free work of the media For the majority of citizens of BiH, the greatest obstacle to the free work of the media is political dependence. This view is held by 66,9% of respondents. In the FBiH, this share is as high as 72%, while in the RS it stands at 56,6%. In the RS, the main obstacle to the unhindered, free and professional work of the media is identified as the overall political climate, cited by 64,8% of respondents. A total of 41,4% of respondents from the FBiH believe that financial dependence negatively affects the free work of the media. In the RS, only 8,8% see this factor as dominant. Respond ents in the RS consider the inadequate legal framework to be a much greater problem, at 25,8%, which differs signifi cantly from the views of respondents in the Federation, where only 4,2% consider this a major obstacle. When it comes to the impact of insufficient professionalism among the media and journalists themselves on media freedom, this factor is considered important by 27.6% of respondents from the FBiH and 9,4% of respondents from the RS. Looking at the period from 2018 to the present, it can be observed that, at the BiH level, there is a growing belief that political dependence and the political climate represent the greatest obstacles to the free work of the media. The largest fluctuations in the observed period are seen in relation to financial dependence, whose perceived importance declined between 2020 and 2022, then increased in 2023, declined again in 2024, and has risen somewhat again over the past two years. A similar pattern can be observed in relation to the legal framework, which respondents at the BiH level do not perceive as a particularly important factor, but which fluctuates in importance from year to year. In the FBiH, however, the legal framework has been ranked lower on the scale each year, while political dependence has been increasing. In the RS, we first observed a continuous increase in the perceived impact of political dependence on the unhindered work of the media in BiH between 2018 and 2022, followed by a sharp decline in 2023, while over the past three years this factor has again recorded growth. The same applies to the influence of the political climate. It is also interesting that respondents from RS considered the inadequate legal framework to be a more serious obstacle to the normal work of the media in 2019 and 2020, 6 Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.

and again in 2023, when defamation was reintroduced into the Criminal Code of the Republika Srpska. It has declined in the past three years, after the revised Criminal Code entered into effect. Nevertheless, when respondents in both entities were asked separately how much the possibility of criminal prosecution of journalists and editors had affected media freedom in Republika Srpska, a very high percentage answered that it had had a strong impact. This view is shared by 69,7% of citizens of the FBiH and 65,4% of citi zens of the RS. At the same time, 25,8% of respondents from Republika Srpska believe that it had no impact at all. Influence on the work of the media There is a high level of agreement between respondents from the FBiH and the RS on this issue: in 2026, politicians and political parties are perceived as having the greatest influence on the work of the media. When asked which factor has the second greatest influence on the work of the media, a discrepancy between the two entities becomes evident again. For respondents from the RS, this is the OHR and the international community, at 2,4%, while for respondents in the FBiH it is media owners and editors, at 18,6%. Among residents of the FBiH, only 1,5% believe that the OHR and the international community influence the work of the media, while among residents of the RS, media owners and editors are perceived as having the same level of influence on the work of the media as influential individuals and businesspeople, at 4,4%. When observing the period in which surveys were conducted on the factors influencing the work of domestic media, from 2018 to 2026, it is noticeable that, with the exception of last year and the high perception of the influence of the international community among respondents in the RS, there has been continuity in almost all observed years in terms of the ranking of factors influencing the work of the media in BiH. There is also a high level of agreement that politicians and political parties have an absolutely dominant influence on the work of the media. Violations of journalists’ rights and freedoms Closely related to the previous question is the issue of the factors that are seen as leading in the violation of journalists’ rights and freedoms. For all respondents, these are clearly politicians and political parties. The same was true in 2025. Similarities to prior surveys can also be seen in attitudes toward the OHR and the international community, which respondents in the RS identify as the second most important factor in the violation of journalists’ rights and freedoms, although this percentage has halved compared with 2025. In the FBiH, only slightly more than 1% of citizens have a negative view of the OHR and the international community in this regard. For respondents in this entity, media owners and editors represent a much greater problem, at 17.4%. In the RS, this figure is only 6,3%, although this still represents an increase compared with last year. Religious communities, influential businesspeople, and the NGO sector together barely exceed 5% of the perceived influence on the violation of journalists’ rights and freedoms. Attacks on journalists This issue deserves particular attention, as it shows a major and positive change compared with the previous period, especially 2023, when as many as 74% of respondents from Republika Srpska stated that attacks on journalists were sometimes justified. When the same question was asked in 2025, the response was unanimous: all respondents rejected any justification for attacks on journalists. Respondents hold a similar view this year as well. Criticism of political motivation Citizens’ dissatisfaction with the work of journalists and the media is mainly caused by the perception of a high degree of political motivation in their work. Journalists are often accused of favoring opposing parties by the politicians themselves, and a high percentage of citizens agree with such claims. Only 10% of citizens of BiH do not agree with this view, which is still twice as many as last year. This result was probably influenced by a decrease in the share of respondents from the Federation who did not know how to answer this question: last year this figure stood at 19.3%, while this year it is 13,9%. Looking at the entire period from 2018 to the present, the perception of political motivation in the work of journalists has been increasing. Improving journalistic work and the quality of reporting For this question, respondents were offered the following options: improving the financial position of journalists, improving their overall working conditions, improving the legal framework, improving the system of education for journalists and, finally, tightening the criteria for entering the journalism profession. At the level of BiH as a whole, respondents generally assign similar importance to all of these proposals. A slightly higher share believe that priority should be given to setting higher standards and criteria for entering journalism in the first place. This response is particularly dominant in the FBiH, where it was selected by almost 80% of respondents, unlike in the RS, where the figure is 22,6%. For respondents in the RS, it is far more important to improve journalists’ working conditions and adopt laws that would protect their rights. The difference between the two entities is also reflected in attitudes toward the first proposed measure: 60% of citizens of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina believe that journalists’ material and financial conditions should be improved, while only 19% of citizens of the RS agree with this. Survey of media freedoms in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2026 7

First source of information The list of responses offered in this questionnaire included television, radio, daily newspapers, weekly newspapers and magazines, as well as the Internet and social networks. It is assumed that the Internet includes web portals, including the websites of so-called traditional media, since social networks were listed separately. As regards responses at the BiH level, the Internet and television are the most important sources of information, at 37,3% and 26,7% respectively. Social networks are in third place, while daily newspapers, radio, weekly newspapers and magazines appear only in negligible percentages. In Republika Srpska, the situation is similar when it comes to newspapers and weekly magazines. On the other hand, the absolute dominance of the Internet, at 45,9%, and social networks, at 35,8%, is evident, while television ranks third, at 15,7%. Quality of information The survey results concerning the perceived quality of information that citizens receive through the above-mentioned media correspond to the findings on the primary source of information. Almost half of the population in both entities believe that the Internet provides the highest-quality information. However, in the FBiH social networks are not as prominent, with only 4,2% of respond ents trusting information on these platforms to be of high quality, as they are in Republika Srpska, where this figure is 34,6%. In the FBiH, 45,8% of residents prefer television, although it has dropped to second place compared with last year. In Republika Srpska, television ranks third, with just under 15% trusting the information quality of television networks. Statements related to political influence in the media concerning women’s rights, attacks on female journalists, treatment of female journalists, and their protection Respondents were able to choose between fully agreeing or fully disagreeing with the following statements, with the option of leaning toward one response or the other. This was graphically represented through shades of pink for“fully agree” and orange for“do not agree at all”. In the chart, the lighter shade of pink represents a more decisive response,“fully agree”, while the slightly darker shade represents“agree”. The darker shade of orange is at the opposite end of the scale and represents respondents who do not agree with the statement at all, while the lighter shade represents those who “somewhat disagree”. 8 Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.

Statement No. 1 Male politicians and other persons in the public sphere frequently violate the professional and human rights of female journalists during encounters with the media and through social networks. In BiH, 17,4% of respondents fully agree with this statement, while 9,5% do not agree with it at all. In the FBiH, 24.2% of citizens fully agree with the above statement, while in the RS, 30,8% of respondents agree with the statement that the rights of female journalists are consistently violated in the public sphere by men, including politicians and others. Statement No. 4 Media companies and organizations protecting women’s human rights should respond more effectively in cases of offensive speech and public violence against female journalists. Citizens of BiH are fairly evenly distributed on this issue: roughly one third of respondents fully agree, one third partially agree, and one third partially disagree, while 2,2% do not agree at all. Statement No. 2 The way politicians address and speak to female journalists differs significantly from the way they speak to and address men, including journalists, camera operators and other men in the media. As with the previous statement, the highest share of agreement, at 35,4%, but also of complete disagreement, at 13,9%, is observed among citizens of Republika Srpska. The share of those who partially disagree is also high, at 46,2%. However, only 1,3% of respondents in the RS fully agree with this position. In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 27,8% fully agree, 42,3% partially agree, 2,.2% disagree, and 5,7% completely disagree. Statement No. 5 State institutions and bodies responsible for gender equality, as well as the judiciary, should work harder and more effectively to punish attacks on female journalists, regardless of whether the perpetrators are politicians, persons in public office or ordinary citizens. In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, more than 88% of citizens either partially or fully agree with this statement. In the RS, this share is slightly below 50%, which is approximately equal to the share of those at the other end of the scale, meaning those who do not agree at all or only partially agree. Statement No. 3 The speech of politicians and the way they address female journalists at press conferences and other public events is discriminatory and indecent, constitutes gender-based violence, and is contrary to the constitutional principles and legal regulations of the state and entities. This strong and explicit statement concerning the behavior of politicians and their verbal insults toward female journalists, defined here as gender-based and unconstitutional or unlawful violence, also had a much higher share of full support in the FBiH, at 27,7%. In Republika Srpska, only 2,5% of respondents fully agree, but the share of those who generally agree with this statement is much higher, at 33,5%. Statement No. 6 State institutions and the judiciary should work harder and more effectively to punish perpetrators of attacks on female journalists, regardless of whether they are politicians, persons in public office, or ordinary citizens. The focus of this statement is more on whether politicians, persons in public office, or ordinary citizens bear a greater degree of responsibility when it comes to attacks on female journalists and whether, if they do, they should be punished proportionately. In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 53,5% fully agree with this statement, while 35,3% somewhat agree. In RS, the share of those who disagree with this statement is very similar to the share of those who agree: around 47% disagree and around 50% agree. Survey of media freedoms in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2026 9

ATTITUDES TOWARD INSULTS AGAINST FEMALE POLITICIANS Statement No. 1 Over the past year, female politicians and women in public office have been the subject of negative reporting in the public sphere and in media content, involving offensive speech, the spread of hatred, and gender-based stereotypes which undermine their political reputation and women’s dignity. In BiH, 21,6% of citizens fully agree with this statement. A further 33,7% somewhat agree, while 9,8% do not agree at all. A relatively similar distribution of responses can also be observed at the entity level, although in Republika Srpska the share of those who disagree with this statement is somewhat higher, at 54,2%. Statement No. 4 The media should show greater respect for women’s rights, gender equality, and the provisions of the Code of Journalistic Ethics when reporting on women in politics and public life. More than 80% of respondents from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina somewhat or fully agree with this statement. In Republika Srpska, this share is less than half, at 36,8%. A much higher share of respondents in the RS do not agree with this statement at all, at 46,8%, while in the FBiH this figure is only 13,5%. Statement No. 2 Information about women politicians and women in public office in media reports, and especially in comments on social networks, is not as objective, professional, and supportive as reporting on men in political and public positions. Around 57% of respondents at the BiH level believe that there is different media treatment of women and men in politics and public office. The highest share of those who disagree with this statement is in the Republika Srpska, at 54,2%. In the FBiH, 9,4% completely reject the statement, while 29,9% fully agree with it. Statement No. 3 Comments on media headlines and posts on social networks contain much more offensive language, as well as humiliating and discriminatory assessments, of women in political and public life. In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 70% of respondents either partially or fully agree with this statement. In Republika Srpska, this cumulative share is 41,5%, while at the BiH level it stands at 61,6%. 10 Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS One of the main conclusions of this research is the continued lack of trust in politicians and political parties BiH. Respondents from both entities now primarily obtain information via the Internet, whereas in the previous year citizens of the FBiH preferred television. A convergence of views has also occurred in relation to questions measuring the influence of various factors on the position of journalists and the media, as well as in responses concerning how this position could be improved. Certain similarities can also be observed in issues related to the media’s treatment of female politicians and politicians’ treatment of female journalists. Some differences in attitudes that were previously very pronounced have narrowed. Thus, in 2025, citizens of the RS viewed the OHR and the international community as decisive factors influencing the work of the media and journalists to a much greater extent than is the case this year, although they still differ from the population of the rest of BiH in this regard. On other issues, the perceptions of respondents from the FBiH and the RS remain considerably divergent and point to different socio-political and media conditions. The latter are particularly important given that citizens form their image of reality primarily through the media. This should be especially kept in mind when considering questions in which respondents from one entity are asked to comment on the situation, developments, and phenomena in the other. Precisely for this reason, but also because the media paradigm is changing very rapidly due to technological innovations, the following changes should be considered: 1. Certain items in the survey should be renamed and specified more clearly, including the treatment of the Internet as a medium, the treatment of portals and websites of traditional media, and terms such as“overall political climate”,“journalists’ working conditions” and similar concepts. 2. Qualitative research with focus groups should be conducted in parallel with this quantitative survey in order to obtain answers to certain questions that cannot be adequately addressed through a telephone survey of this type. This particularly applies to primary sources of information, the quality of information sources, reading habits, the influence of headlines and clickbait, and more precise information on the types of media used, as well as individual social networks used and their correlation with demographic characteristics. 3. Separate roundtables should be organized with representatives of different stakeholder groups, including the media, politicians, and NGOs, in order to discuss comparative results from previous years, attempt to arrive at valid explanations for the trends observed in recent years, and develop guidelines on how and where to proceed. Survey of media freedoms in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2026 11