Media business operations

The “Invest in Serbia” conference, organized by Privredni Pregled, was held in Media Center Belgrade.
(Pregled, 14.11.2012)

Extraordinarily high fees paid to collective organizations (Serbian Music Authors Organization – SOKOJ and Organization of Phonogram Producers of Serbia – OFPS) will inevitably lead to closure of electronic media outlets because these organizations have a legal monopoly on collection of music royalties for composers and performers at a time when all the media has been heavily hit by the economic crisis and falling revenue from commercial advertising, says the Association of Independent Electronic Media of Vojvodina. The Association points out that the National Parliament of Serbia approved an increase in fees in December of the last year at the initiative of SOKOJ and that the fees now exceed 30 percent of the total advertising revenue of the media.
(Blic, UNS, NUNS, 15.11.2012)

Privatization and state-owned media

The president of the European Federation of Journalists, Arne König, said that prospective membership in the EU requires that the Serbian media be privatized and that politicians should realize that journalism means much more than profits. He added that media owners should be aware that journalism and media companies cannot be compared to production of bread.
(Blic, 10.11.2012)

The president of Delta Holding, Miroslav Miskovic, announced on 12 November that he would withdraw from the daily newspaper Press, where he was the largest individual owner of the newspaper, in order to “give his personal contribution to efforts of the Government of Serbia to achieve transparency in the media and eliminate hidden financing and ownership as a step towards complete freedom of the media and responsible journalism”. “I am offering my ownership share for free, and I will pay the issued bank guarantees myself”, said Miskovic in his press statement.
(Tanjug, E-kapija, 12.11.2012,Beta, Alo!, Blic, B92, NUNS, Danas, Dnevnik, Kurir, Informer, Politika, Pregled, Press, UNS, Vecernje novosti, 13.11.2012)

The vice president of the Government of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, said that the withdrawal of Miroslav Miskovic from the daily Press did not mean that the Government was willing to reach some kind of a deal with him.
(Beta, Alo!, Danas, Informer, Kurir, Politika, RTV, NUNS, UNS, 14.11.2012)

The president of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), Ljiljana Smajlovic, responded yesterday to the news that the owner of Delta Holding, Miroslav Miskovic, abandoned his ownership share in the daily newspaper Press. She said that the freedom of the media in Serbia would benefit from information about the identity of true owners of the media. UNS is satisfied that Miskovic gave his Press shares to journalists, even if that was done due to political pressure. Smajlovic added that “tycoons” had been buying media outlets with the aim to use them for political gain, but that the state had also taken advantage of the media to attack the “tycoons”, and that it was necessary to establish clear rules in the media market.
(Politika, 13.11.2012,UNS, 14.11.2012)

Non-governmental organization Transparency Serbia said that the Law on Transparency of Media Ownership was one of the most important laws that was missing from the anti-corruption legal framework of Serbia. The organization pointed out that in Serbia it was not possible to find out complete information about actual owners of media-owning companies. Apart from the information about the ownership structure, Transparency Serbia believes that it is equally important to ensure full transparency of information about financing of media outlets from any public source and in any form, as well as the information about political advertising.
(Dnevnik, 14.11.2012)

The state must not accept the withdrawal of Miroslav Miskovic from the daily newspaper Press as a demonstration of good will.
(RTV, NUNS, UNS, 14.11.2012)

Several days after the publication of the news that Miroslav Miskovic abandoned his ownership share in the daily Press, the newspaper published its last issue, although the Republic of Srpska edition will continue publication. Despite the fact the most of the employees have left the newspaper in search of a new job, in the beginning of the week rumors spread from several sources that minority owners of Press intended to relaunch the newspaper under a slightly different name. According to the same source, the new Press is supposed to appear on newsstands by the middle of the next month.
(Novi Magazin, UNS, 21.11.2012)