Another letter to President Tadic

Political influence on the media is still present in Serbia, warned the President of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Arne König, in a letter to President of the Republic of Serbia, Boris Tadic, thanking him for his address to the annual EFJ Assembly that was held in Belgrade last month. The European Federation of Journalists is the largest European journalistic organization that brings together around 260.000 journalists from more than 30 countries. The content of the letter is available at the web sites of two associations, the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) and the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS).
(UNS, NUNS, 17.07.2011)

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) and the Journalists' Union of Serbia (SNS) have voiced their support to the opinion of the President of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Arne König, expressed in his open letter to the President of Serbia.
(Beta, Danas, Dnevnik, Pravda, Politika, Kurir, 18.07.2011)

Attacks, threats and court proceedings

The former editor-in-chief of the TV Avala, Robert Nemecek, filed a lawsuit before the First Primary Court in Belgrade against his former company because of "damage to reputation, honor and individual rights" caused by his "removal from position without due notice for alleged unsatisfactory business performance", said Nemecek's legal representative.
(Danas, 07.07.2011)

An announcement, issued by the legal office representing Robert Nemecek in court proceedings related to his lawsuit against TV Avala, says that the TV company "has not presented a single parameter that would justify the allegation of bad business results, regardless of the fact that in the course of six months when Nemecek was the editor the ratings of TV Avala doubled, while its revenue increased fourfold". Bojana Lekic has been appointed as the editor-in-chief of TV Avala. Before her appointment, she had served as the director of the media company.
(Kurir, Politika, Press, Blic, 07.07.2011)

Journalistic team of the Kurir daily newspaper has announced that pressure on the media company is still continuing. Their statement says that "the unfair competition has an issue with our circulation and our success that we have achieved by our new, redesigned format. They have an issue with Kurir, the only Serbian newspaper whose owner is publicly known and who is not a disguised tycoon or a foreign fund".
(Kurir, 08.07.2011)

The Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) protested against the verdict of the Court of Appeals in Belgrade according to which journalist Milenko Vasovic was sentenced for an article published in the Dnevni Telegraf magazine 14 years ago. NUNS hopes that the Constitutional Court will annul the verdict after a constitutional appeal and prevent another embarrassment of the Serbian judiciary before the International Court of Justice in Strasburg.
(Beta, Danas, Blic, 24 sata, Pravda,08.07.2011, Kurir, 11.07.2011, NUNS Newsletter, No. 0016)

The Minister of Internal Affairs, Ivica Dacic, said that the OSCE Chairman praised the Ministry's efforts to protect journalists.
(Beta, Danas, 08.07.2011, NUNS Newsletter, No. 0016)

The Court of Appeals in Belgrade upheld the verdict passed by the First Primary Court in Belgrade sentencing the leader of football fans of the Partizan football club, Milos Radisavljevic Kimi, to six months of imprisonment for violent behavior. However, the Court has annulled the part of the verdict related to the threat to safety of B92 journalist, Brankica Stankovic, and ordered a new trial over the threats to Ms. Stankovic.
(Politika, Press, Pravda, 12.07.2011, Politika, 13.07.2011)

The Commercial Court in Novi Sad has decided that rights to the logo of the Dnevnik newspaper belong to Dnevnik Holding and not to the Dnevnik Vojvodina Press company, whish publishes the daily newspaper. The Court ordered the Dnevnik Vojvodina Press company to pay the costs of legal proceedings in the amount of around 700,000 dinars.
(Pregled, 12.07.2011)

Appointment of the management of the Public Service Broadcaster
Yesterday, Sanda Savic officially became the new programme director of Radio-Television Vojvodina. Production will be managed by Vanja Kranjac. Both of them had been employed by TV B92 until recently. It is expected that Sanda Savic will soon appoint new editors of Radio and Television.
(Dnevnik, 12.07.2011)

The general director of Radio-Television Vojvodina (RTV), Sinisa Isakov, has confirmed to the Novosti newspaper that Sanda Savic, a former editor of TV B92, was appointed as the new programme director of TV Novi Sad, while her colleague from the same company was appointed as the director of production of TV Novi Sad. He has also announced that new and renowned individuals would be employed by the province's public service broadcaster in the future.
Radio Novi Sad, which is a part of the RTV together with TV Novi Sad, is already preparing for the arrival of B92 journalist, Danica Vucinic, the author and host of the radio show "Kaziprst".
(Vecernje Novosti - Vojvodina, 14.07.2011)

The Anti-Corruption Agency has recommended the Managing Board of Radio-Television Serbia (RTS) to remove from position the director, Aleksandar Tijanic, because he failed to submit a report on his personal property. The complaint filed by the director of the public service broadcaster was rejected at the session of the Board of the Agency held on July 12.
(Pregled, Politika, Press, Danas, Vecernje Novosti, Kurir, 14.07.2011)

The Media Strategy

The state will have to sell its ownership share in the media, except in certain public service broadcasters, if the Government adopts the proposed new media strategy that is being prepared by representatives of journalistic associations and the media industry, said the Minister of Culture and Informing, Predrag Markovic. In Serbia, the state fully or partially owns no less than 70 media outlets.
(Politika, 08.07.2011)

The Head of the OSCE Mission in Serbia, Dimitrios Kypreos, says that he expects that the final version of the Media Strategy will be available to the Government of Serbia in the beginning of September, as was previously announced.
(Danas, 08.07.2011, NUNS Newsletter, No. 0016)

A member of the Council of the Republic Broadcasting Agency, Goran Karadzic, points out the fact that local broadcasters in Europe are mostly privately-owned, and that they are rarely owned by the state. "Serbia can have public service broadcasters at lower levels than the national level, but there is the problem of financing", says Karadzic.
(Politika, 12.07.2011)

The debate on the Media Strategy has been completed.
(ABC Srbija, Newsletter, no 62)

The Ministry of Culture and Informing has received 27 comments and suggestions related to the Draft Media Strategy. They mostly concern the basic concept of the Draft Strategy which envisions privatization of all media outlets except public service broadcasters of Serbia and Vojvodina. The deadline for submission of proposals related to the Draft Strategy of Development of the Media in Serbia has expired on July 15. All remarks will be reviewed by the relevant Ministry, after which the final version of the Media Strategy will be prepared.
(Beta, Danas, 16.07.2011)

Minority media outlets

A parliamentary group consisting of minorities' representatives has estimated that the basic concept of the Draft Media Strategy is unacceptable since it envisions that all media outlets should be privatized except public service broadcasters of Serbia and Vojvodina. The president of the parliamentary club, Balint Pastor (The Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians – SVM), said that the Media Strategy has to offer the possibility that local self-governments and national council of minorities can found media outlets. "There are not any European regulations or standards that oblige the states to withdraw from media ownership", claims Pastor. A member of parliament from the Bosniak Democratic Party of Sandzak, Esad Dzudzevic, has demanded that the Media Strategy include the possibility of forming regional public service broadcasters, while the leader of the Party of Democratic Action (PDD), Riza Halimi, has warned that the Radio-Television Serbia does not broadcast any programmes in Albanian language.
(Tanjug, Politika, Dnevnik, Danas, 14.07.2011)

The editor-in-chief of Radio Srbobran, Ivica Smit, says in an open letter that the claim, made by certain national minority politicians, that there have been no successful media privatizations broadcasting programme in minority languages is not true, and that Radio Srbobran has expanded its programme in Hungarian language by 50 percent.
He claims that the National Council of Hungarians does not assist Radio Srbobran in any way, although it is a successful media outlet, and that the Council allocates all funds to RTV Panon from Subotica despite its dismal ratings. In his words, the founders of RTV Panon are high-ranking officials from the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, whose member is the MP Balint Pastor.
Ivica Smit has accused the National Council of Hungarians and the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (SVM) of performing a "political guillotine" on the editor-in-chief of the Magyar Szo newspaper, Caba Presburger. "Should I remind you that you have received this newspaper as a gift and that in your capacity as founders you are under no obligation to take care of the financial needs of the company. The state takes care of that. You are only paying attention to its reporting and are exclusively committed to your permanent struggle against publication of intellectually valuable thoughts or opinions of those who are not members of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (SVM). Is this your vision of the strategy and the future of the media in minority languages?", asked Smit. His message to Pastor was that it would be better for the SVM and the National Council of Hungarians to be media partners instead of media owners. Since 1968, Radio Srbobran has been broadcasting its programme in Serbian and Hungarian languages, and it has continued the practice after privatization.
(Beta, Danas, 16.07.2011)

Issue No. 8
07-20 July 2011

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