https://doi.org/10.1177/1742766517705682 Global Media and Communication 2017, Vol. 13(2) 157–179 © The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1742766517705682 journals.sagepub.com/home/gmc Attribution of global ethical norms: Perceptions of journalistic independence and integrity in Serbia, Macedonia and Croatia Ivanka Pjesivac University of Georgia, USA Katerina Spasovska Western Carolina University, USA Iveta Imre University of Arkansas at Little Rock, USA Abstract This study examines, by comparative thematic analysis, public perceptions of global journalistic norms of independence and integrity by studying perceptions of news media corruption in three Eastern European countries: Serbia, Macedonia and Croatia. In-depth interviews with 61 representatives of the three nations revealed that, in the public eye, the breaches of journalistic independence and integrity are frequent and take different forms. The participants from Serbia, Macedonia and Croatia thought that journalists from their countries often succumb to pressures from politicians, owners and advertisers; that they receive direct bribes for positive coverage and even extort money from people; and that news media are engaged in hidden advertising and journalists are engaged in nepotism. The results show similarity of public perceptions of breaches of journalistic independence and integrity with academic and professional findings and are discussed from the point of view of the cross-country examination of the attribution theory in the context of audiences’ use of situational and trait characteristics in understanding journalistic ethical norms. Corresponding author: Ivanka Pjesivac, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia, 120 Hooper Street, Athens, GA 30602, USA. Email: ivanka@uga.edu 705682GMC 0 0 10.1177/1742766517705682Global Media and CommunicationPjesivac et al. research-article 2017 Article