Regional public service broadcasters – a forgotten solution?

The time that passed between the launch of the "Kragujevac Initiative" (February 2007) and the debate about the proposed Draft Strategy for Development of the Public Informing System was marked with annulment of most of media privatizations and closures of more-than-decent local and regional stations and newspapers (TV Kraljevo, Pancevac, Svetlost...), while the practice has shown that privatization – even when not annulled – has not achieved the stated goal. The media scene has not been democratized, political interference has not been reduced, investment in privatized media companies has not increased, while the profession and the public interest are still neglected... The Ministry of Culture, in cooperation with European Commission experts, presented the Media Study and later simply forgot about it, while the signatories of the Kragujevac Initiative are criticized as being a part of Dinkic's political platform that advocates regionalization. It seems to us that our view on decentralization and regionalization of the media scene in Serbia is slightly different; it was first demanded three years before the formation of the United Regions of Serbia (URS).

Radio and TV stations that are parties to the Kragujevac Initiative once gave their support to the idea that promotes the public mission but – in accordance with European standards – also envisions the existence of autonomous regional public service broadcasters aside from the public service broadcaster of Serbia.

Now we have a new Draft Strategy that is being debated (the first discussion has been held in Kragujevac) with prominent participation of journalists. Careful readers may ask – so what is the problem? The problem is that, even if you advocate decentralization and regionalization, Kragujevac cannot be seen from Avala, Novi Pazar and Nis are too far, and Pancevo is lost in the distance. Another problem is the fact that the Draft Strategy still insists on continuation of the privatization process, although everyone agrees that there has not been any successful privatization yet.

For all these reasons, media companies that are signatories to the Kragujevac Initiative still insist on formation of regional public service broadcasters. They still demand that such regulation of the media scene be introduced in the Media Strategy. Since the institutions whose duty this is supposed to be have failed to propose any specific solutions, while journalistic associations are preoccupied with their own survival and not interested in such issues, we will offer answers to some of the questions.

The signatories to the "Kragujevac Initiative" support the decentralized structure of public informing and believe that the number of regional public service outlets should be decided by independent regulatory bodies. The main challenge is to ensure that sustainable regional broadcasters produce independent and professional content that would stimulate active participation of citizens of the local community. Regional independence, editorial independence, high ratings, political attractiveness, and cooperation between regions and with the national public service broadcaster – these are the criteria that should certainly be taken into account. Since the broadcasters that operate as public companies and are owned by municipalities and cities have been described as the most professional media outlets in all surveys of public opinion – because they cover local news, culture, debates, minority issues and other topics of public interest – the signatories to the "Kragujevac Initiative" have proposed a transformation of these non-privatized companies into regional public service broadcasters. We emphasize that such broadcasters would operate in accordance with regulations on public service broadcasting that stipulate programme obligations, a limited amount of advertisements etc.

One of the most frequently asked questions is the following: how would regional public service broadcasters be financed? If there is good will, a solution can be found: according to EU decisions, regional TV stations can be defined as public service and become eligible for TV fee-based financing; they can also receive revenue from advertising, with all legal limitations that apply to public service broadcasters (fair competition between public and private media outlets requires that public service broadcasters produce public service content), or through contracts with local self-governments in the region covered by the public service broadcaster.

A regional RTV would be organized as an independent legal person, with a Counseling Board, Managing Board, the director and the editor-in-chief. Members of the Counseling Board would be nominated by local self-government assemblies from the region covered by the public service broadcaster, while taking into account their relative size (provided that they would not be allowed to be prominent members of political parties). The members would also be nominated by the non-governmental sector and religious and minority communities in the region. The Counseling Board elects members of the Managing Board, while the Managing Board appoints the director, who also serves as the editor-in-chief. The director would be exclusively responsible for the programme, expenses and costs (the Danish model).

A regional public service broadcaster would operate as an independent legal person and air regional programme. It is also possible to create a special channel within the programme content offered by the national public service broadcaster that would air programme in the whole territory of the country. All regional broadcasters would be obliged to provide and deliver a certain amount of content to this channel. The transition to digital broadcasting would create all the necessary conditions.

Citizens of the regions where the members of the Kragujevac Initiative broadcast their programme are of the opinion that this is possible. If you don't believe it, ask them.

Jovanka Marovic

About the authors

MC Newsletter, June 17, 2011