20 years in service of viewers and listeners

"Good morning, dear listeners, although nothing good has happened this morning..."

These were the words spoken by the host of Radio Bajina Basta on 16 January 1993 as a warning to citizens of the impending trouble. At the time, a war was raging across the river Drina, in Bosnia. That was the first major test for all the employees in the then BB Radio, which was launched a year earlier, on 15 May 1992. The test was passed successfully and the station became the oasis of free thinking in the years of hardship that followed. Out of the total of ten employees, six of them were still in the high school at the time. The station's studio became another school for them. They have proved that youth and hard work can achieve wonders.

During all these years, new young people have appeared, while others have left. The station will soon celebrate 20 years of its existence. Thanks to the enthusiasm of all these young people and great ambition and persistence of the owner, Boban Tomic, as well as the unwavering courage of all of them, the radio station has survived to this day. On 15 May 1997, the station launched its own TV programme. At the time it was called the Independent Radio-Television Bajina Basta, while today it carries the name of TV Prima. The adjective "independent" had a significant meaning during the "wild" nineties, when independent media outlets were few and far between, while independent and free journalism required a lot of courage. It was a challenge to retain normalcy during all that time. The station has managed to achieve that and after 20 years they are still here. And they have not changed.

During the last 19 years, the media company has come a long way from a small experimental radio station based on the enthusiasm of its founders to a modern radio and television company based on contemporary media standards. By embracing the widely accepted standards of global and domestic professional journalism, RTV Prima has become an independent and objective media company and a member of numerous domestic and international organizations and associations: the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), the Association of Independent Local Newspapers of Yugoslavia "Local Press" from Kragujevac, the Independent Journalists' Union of Serbia, the International Federation of Journalists and Newspaper Publishers. The independent radio and TV station has won many awards, the most significant among them being the following: the Annual Award of the Association of Civic Initiatives to Bajinobastanske Novine for its contribution to development of the local press in 1996; and the Jug Grizelj Award, which is the highest Yugoslav award for investigative journalism, strengthening of friendship among people and elimination of boundaries between nations. In 1999, Radio Bajina Basta initiated numerous projects like the following: cross-border project "Drina Network"; magazine Bastina; artist colony "Kiprijan"; web presentations; the Committee for Protection of the Freedom of the Media ("Freedom Club") which was founded in 1998, at the time when the regime had already began closing down independent radio and TV stations.

Radio Bajina Basta was born on 15 May 1992. Few years later, ANEM was formed, together with Radio B92 and BUM 93 from Pozarevac. Coincidentally, all three stations began their operations on the same date: B92 was launched on 15 May 1989, while BUM 93 and Radio Bajina Basta began working on 15 May 1992.

Even today the station's employees are being harassed and pressured, but they have remained true to their principles. They will not become a mouthpiece of any political party, regardless of how much such parties might want that.

RTV Prima has recently entered the 20th year of its existence. They have always been with their audience, even during the most difficult times, and they will always remain true to their legacy.

Biljana Djurdjic

About the authors

MC Newsletter,
November 4, 2011