The media situation in Serbia

The Minister of Culture, Predrag Markovic, said that "we have to face the fact that we have to many media outlets, too few information and even less professionalism. On the one hand, we have a strategy which says that the state should withdraw from the media, but most of the media outlets – at least when it comes to the print media – are not influenced by the state but by agencies, which basically completely control the media content and financing".
(Beta, Danas, 03.08.2011)

"Serbia is currently in the Middle Ages when it comes to media literacy, while new information and communication technologies have resulted in virtual slavery among those who do not know hot to use them", said the executive director of the International Youth Media Summit, Miomir Rajcevic. He emphasized that the process of democratization via media literacy was not possible without a reform of the education system.
(Pravda, Dnevnik, 04.08.2011)

In a column published by the Danas daily newspaper, journalist Ruza Cirkovic writes that "journalism in Serbia suffers from several problems: it has been occupied by politicians and corrupted by advertisers. Basic working conditions of journalists have worsened dramatically. Such working conditions have affected the journalists' working methods more than any schools of journalism. The media are unable to free themselves from the influence of the government by using the strategic and financial assistance from the goverment, nor by accepting help from journalists who have been placed in high professional and other positions by the government and not in accordance with professional criteria".
(Danas - Biznis, 08.08.2011)

The state and the media

The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Protection of Personal Data, Rodoljub Sabic, considers that the proposed Rulebook on Confidentiality of Information would give many members of security services a practically unlimited authority – unrestrained by courts – to issue "warrants" and access the data on identity of communicating parties, the time and duration of their communication, the type of communication, and the locations of such communication. Such provisions constitute a serious deviation from the constitutional guarantee of integrity of letters and other forms of communication, says Sabic.
(Politika, 04.08.2011)

The Judges' Association of Serbia has demanded extension of the deadline for consultations and organisation of a public debate on the Rulebook on Confidentiality of Information. The Announcement says that the Judges' Association has identified several provisions in the Rulebook that require more thorough analysis and need to be harmonized with the Law on Electronic Communication, the Constitution, international standards on human and minority rights and the practice of international institutions.
(Tanjug, Politika, Blic, 04.08.2011)

"There are very serious systemic violations of privacy that would result from legal regulations adopted by the state which threaten the rights of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution. Their rights are threatened by the proposed Rulebook on Electronic Communication", says the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Protection of Personal Data, Rodoljub Sabic, to Blic daily newspaper. He added that the Constitution and the Law on Protection of Data allows processing of personal data only in two cases: if prescribed by law and if a citizen gives consent for such processing of his/her data.
(Blic, 04.08.2011)

Adoption of the Rulebook allowing interception of electronic communication without court order and with only a warrant – while it is unclear who would issue such a warrant – would create possibilities for political and personal conflicts, blackmails and – which is especially dangerous – economic spying, warn the security and telecommunication experts. They have pointed out that new regulations would violate fundamental human rights and that Serbia is becoming a police state.
(Alo!, 09.08.2011)

Investigations of murders of journalists

After claims have been made that Dragan Paravinja – who is suspected of murdering a 17-year old girl from Drnis, Antonija Bilic – participated in organization of the murder of journalist of the Duga magazine, Radislava Dada Vujasinovic, that was committed in 1994 and remained unsolved to this day, Serbian investigators contacted their colleagues from Croatia. The case is one of the priorities of prosecutors in Serbia. The reversal in the investigation of the case occurred in 2008 after an expert confirmed that the double-barrelled shotgun that killed the journalist was fired twice, which has completely eliminated the suicide-based interpretation of the case.
(Pravda, 08.08.2011)

Citing statements made by Serbian and Croatian investigators, Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List reported that the truck driver, Dragan Paravinja, was involved in organisation of the murder of Serbian journalist Dada Vujasinovic in 1994, which has not been solved to this day. "Even before latest events we had known that Dada was murdered by the State Security Agency (DB). Now it crucial to find our whether Paravinja actually worked for the DB", said the lawyer that represents the family of the murdered journalist.
(Press, 08.08.2011)

Representatives of the Croatian Ministry of Internal Affairs said that they would ask the investigative judge to interview Dragan Paravinja, who had been implicated by Croatian media in the murder of journalist Radislava Dada Vujasinovic.
(Tanjug, Alo!, Politika, Kurir, Vecernje Novosti, 08.08.2011)

Republic public prosecutor, Zagorka Dolovac, said to the Blic daily newspaper that there were indications that evidence in the case of murder of the journalist was deliberately hidden and that it reminded of the case when the State Security Agency (DB) hid the evidence related to murder of Slavko Curuvija. "Seven serious omissions have been committed in the investigation. On the basis of these omissions, expert Vlada Kostic came to the conclusion that it could not have been suicide", said Dolovac.
(Press, Vecernje Novosti, Dnevnik, Politika, Kurir, 07.08.2011, Blic, 08.08.2011)

Further investigation of the murder of Duga journalist, Dada Vujasinovic, will be performed by the special combined investigation team tasked with investigating the role of Dragan Paravinja in the case – this is the result of the agreement reached at the meeting between the heads of Serbian and Croatian police departments.
(Pravda, Kurir, Politika, Pregled, Večernje Novosti, Dnevnik, Blic, 09.08.2011)

Colleagues and friends of the late journalist Dada Vujasinovic believe that the reports on Dragan Paravinja and his involvement in her murder are pure nonsense and "so far the most ludicrous attempt to hide the truth about her murder". Lawyer Branislav Tapuskovic says that Serbian police should investigate the events that transpired in Belgrade, like the disappearance of evidence about suspects during the days immediately after the murder.
(Alo!, 10.08.2011, Kurir, 11.08.2011)

Former criminal investigator, Mladen Lojovic, explains that the goodbye note left by Dragan Paravinja, in its section related to the murder of the Duga journalist, could be interpreted as identifying the State Security Agency (DB) as the perpetrator of the murder.
(Press, 09.08.2011)

The Ministry of the Internal Affairs of Serbia delivered its Croatian colleagues the complete documentation about the death of the Belgrade journalist, Dada Vujasinovic. The Vecernje Novosti newspaper reports that the documentation will be used by the Croatian police investigators to make a list of questions and interview Dragan Paravinja.
(Vecernje Novosti, 10.08.2011, Blic, 11.08.2011)

Dragan Paravinja made a statement before the District Court in Sibenik that he had not been involved in any way in the death of Serbian journalist, Dada Vujasinovic. Paravinja's legal representative, Branko Baica, said that his client had met Dada Vujasinovic only two times.
(Tanjug Politika, Alo!, Blic, Dnevnik, 12.08.2011)

The murder of journalist Slavko Curuvija will be solved soon, announced the prosecutor for organized crime, Miljko Radisavljevic, in his interview to the Novi Magazin newspaper.
(FoNet , Beta, Pravda, Dnevnik, Kurir, Politika, Alo!, 11.08.2011)

The case of the murder of journalist Slavko Curuvija that was committed more than ten years ago is a priority for Serbian police and judiciary, reports the Politika daily newspaper. The announcement made by the special prosecutor for organized crime, Miljko Radisavljevic, who said that "the murder would be resolved soon", reminds of the numerous promises made by officials since October 5, 2000. It is as if every politician, prosecutor, policeman has made a promise to identify the murderers, writes Politika.
(Politika, 12.08.2011)

Jovo Curuvija, the brother of the murdered journalist Slavko Curuvija, says that the prosecutor for organized crime, Miljko Radisavljevic, usually talks about his brother's case before elections. If this was a serious country, Miljko Radisavljevic would be given a time of six months to solve the murder that is known to have been organized by the state. State officials were the ones who informed the murderers about the movement of Slavko Curuvija and assisted in the crime.
(Press, 14.08.2011, NUNS, UNS, 12.08.2011)

Distrust in the the statement made by the prosecutor for organized crime, who claimed that the murder of journalist Slavko Curuvija would be solved soon, has been expressed by several people: the brother of the victim said that Radisavljevic knew that his brother was killed by the state; the president of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), Ljiljana Smajlovic, was of the opinion that the murder could have been solved in 2000 or 2001; while the president of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), Vukasin Obradovic, claimed that secret services were still hiding the murderers.
(Danas, 13.08.2011)

Rights of journalists

Journalist Tatjana Tagirov writes in the Media Center Newsletter: "Decriminalization of criminal offenses of libel and insult to be achieved by forthcoming amendments to laws, as announced by authorities, is certainly a good news for journalists, but it will not change anything. This absurdity means that journalist will not be subjected to criminal procedure, but only to civil action proceedings. Legal practice in Serbia has shown that journalists are usually acquitted during criminal proceedings related to libel or insult. In general, our judges are uneducated when it comes to media laws: they do not know the difference between opinion and insult, and they are not aware that the definition of libel does not cover media reports about information contained in difficult-to-access police and judicial files. The only way to end these problems would be to introduce the French tradition from the late 19^th century that all proceedings related to libel and insult – both in criminal and civil action processes – should be valued at one franc. Anything else would only be a means to destroy the media and discipline journalists under pressure from the government."
(Media Center Newsletter, 12.08.2011)

The Media Strategy

The final version of the Media Strategy should be completed until September, when the Ministry of Culture will propose that it be adopted by the Government of Serbia. It seems that some of its sections will significantly differ from the draft Strategy, in whose preparation participated representatives of journalistic associations and representatives of the media. In the words of the Minister of Culture and Informing, Predrag Markovic, "the adoption of the Strategy is only the first step towards achieving better organisation of the Serbian media scene, after which a more difficult step would follow – the adoption of laws envisioned by this document".
(Vecernje Novosti, 11.08.2011)

The Minister of Culture and Informing, Predrag Markovic, said that there was no political will necessary to achieve withdrawal of the state from media ownership. There is also self-censorship, which is only the visible evidence of the fact that the media are influenced by advertising agencies more than by the state, he pointed out.
(Dnevnik, 12.08.2011)

While the Minister of Culture, Predrag Markovic, claims that the political will is lacking, the Democratic Party is of the opinion that the withdrawal of the state from media ownership is undeniable, says the vice president of the party, Jelena Trivan. She points out that the Democratic Party supports the principle of withdrawal of the state from ownership over the media and expects that the issue of ownership will be precisely defined by the Media Strategy. On the other hand, a member of the Chairmanship of the United Regions of Serbia (URS), Suzana Grubjesic, believes that the issue will probably have to be solved by the next Government of Serbia.
(Kurir, Vecernje Novosti, Pravda, Blic, Politika, 12.08.2011)

"Within the Serbian public there is no agreement on the state ownership over the media and the manner in which the issue should be solved, and therefore it is necessary to make a political decision. I am afraid that in the end the media ownership, the transparency of ownership and impermissible media concentration will remain in status quo", says Jelena Surculija from the Faculty of Political Science, who is the coordinator of the Working Group for the Draft Media Strategy.
(Danas, 12.08.2011)

The president of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), Ljiljana Smajlovic, is of the opinion that it depends on the Government of Serbia whether the state would withdraw from media ownership, since the Government creates the political will. She says that if the Government lacks the political will to solve the problem, or to implement the existing legal solutions, then Serbia needs new elections.
(Beta, Pregled, Dnevnik, 12.08.2011)

The president of the city branch of the political party New Serbia (NS), Borislav Borovic, supported yesterday the Draft Media Strategy prepared by media associations, and estimated that the NS had "often justifiably been dissatisfied" with reporting of most of the media. "Perhaps we have been too harsh towards the media, if we take into account the pressure exerted on the media and blackmails of tycoons and political oligarchs, including secret services' and police frame-ups".
(Blic, 14.08.2011)

The Draft Media Strategy has clearly indicated that the government will immediately withdraw from the media. Since the deadline for adoption of the final version of the Media Strategy (in September) is getting nearer, media professionals have increasingly voiced their concern that the state does not want to give up on its ownership share. In response to these assumptions, the Minister has now clearly said that the state is not willing to withdraw from the media.
(Blic, 13.08.2011)

The final version of the text will be offered by the Ministry of Culture and Informing. The Minister of Culture, Predrag Markovic, who is a member of the United Regions of Serbia (URS) / G17 Plus political party, said that the "last version" of the Strategy would be quite different from the draft and added that there was no political will for the withdrawal of the state from media ownership. The president of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), Ljiljana Smajlovic, was of the opinion that Markovic tried to present this "as a position of coalition partners". She added: "I suppose that the Ministry has in fact a lot of sympathy for local governments' desire to retain control over the local media. That would be completely in accordance with political plans of the URS".
(Press, 13.08.2011)

The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) considers that it is completely senseless for the Government of Serbia to adopt the Media Strategy before the state defeats the tycoons from the Democratic Party (DS), Dragan Djilas and Srdjan Saper, "who own all the advertising time and almost all of the media in Serbia". A member of the city branch of the SNS, Nebojsa Stefanovic, is of the opinion that otherwise any debate on whether the state should have any ownership in the media would be meaningless. (Pravda, 13.08.2011)

Public service broadcasters

Inappropriate TV building, obsolete bureaucratic structure, non-optimal number of employees, demolished transmitter at Venac... are some of the problems facing the head of the Radio-Television Vojvodina (RTS), Sinisa Isakov, who was appointed as its director after the complete management of the province's public service broadcaster had been dismissed in April. "We have already taken some steps. Sanda Savic and Vanja Kranjac were appointed as the programme director and the production director of the RTV, respectively. I think that is a clear indicator of the direction we want to pursue", says Isakov.
(Danas - Vikend, 06.08.2011)

The director of the public service broadcaster of Vojvodina, Sinisa Isakov, believes that it is clear what should be the role of the public service broadcaster – to inform, entertain and educate, but not separately. "We cannot say that we compete with commercial stations, but there is no denying that they exist and that fact should be taken into account. Public service broadcaster should offer citizens the content that they cannot usually receive from commercial TV stations", says Isakov.
(Danas - Vikend, 06.08.2011)

Radio-Television Serbia (RTS) has announced that it is looking for one hundred schooled and digitally literate young people who would work in various departments of the public service broadcaster. The contest will be open until September 15, and candidates can send their biographies and letters to the email address: posao@rts.rs or to the mail address: Takovska 10, 11000 Beograd with a label "Employment".
(ABC Srbija, 12.08.2011)

The vice president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), Aleksandar Vucic, said that the party would gladly accept the offer made by the management of Radio-Television Serbia (RTS). The RTS offered the SNS to hire and send an auditing agency of their choice in the RTS "to verify in which way the mayor of Belgrade had invested in the RTS and vice versa".
(Politika, 15.08.2011)

Producer Branislav Jevic said that during presentation of the scenario for the film "Haircut" ("Sisanje"), the representatives of the Radio-Television Serbia (RTS) were of the opinion that the film had "presented state institutions in a too pessimistic manner" and that as such it was not suitable to be aired by the public service broadcaster.
(TANJUG, Blic, UNS, 17.08.2011)

Minority media outlets

The president of the Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina (NDNV), Dinko Gruhonjic, writes in his comment published by the Media Center Newsletter: "The case of dismissal of Caba Presburger, the editor-in-chief of 'Magyar Szo', the only daily newspaper in Hungarian language in Serbia, in June of this year, has demonstrated the pressure that is exerted by (individual?) national councils of national minorities on the editorial policy of 'their' media outlets. National councils have so far treated their role of media founders as the role of media owners, at least in some individual cases. If there is anything good in the arrogant move made by the Hungarian National Council, it is precisely the openly demonstrated arrogance. Not even the public outcry before the 'historical' session when Presburger was dismissed could prevent them from removing him from his position using absurd explanation: Presburger was not a good editor because the newspaper had not sufficiently reported on the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (SVM). This is a simple logic: national minority councils are the highest form of autonomy of national minorities, which obviously is interpreted as meaning that they are allowed to do whatever they want without suffering any consequences."
(MC Newsletter, 12.08.2011)

The annual award "Ana Njemogova Kolarova" will be presented to the best media company (print media, radio, television, new media) that has reported about the life of Slovak national minority in Vojvodina or lives of individual member of this minority. The award will be presented in August 2012 to a media company or individuals whose work was produced between may 2010 and May 2012 and published in any language except Slovakian. The application form is located on the web address www.rada.org.rs.
(The National Council of the Slovak National Minority, 12.08.2011)

At the initiative of the Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina (NDNS), a meeting was held in premises of the Croatian National Council in Subotica on Tuesday, 9 August 2011, which was attended by representatives of the Croatian National Council, RTV Yu ECO, Croatian Embassy, the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) and NDNS. Representatives of the Media Department of the OSCE Mission in Belgrade also attended the meeting in the capacity of observers. The meeting was held with the aim to solve the dispute between the Croatian National Council and RTV Yu ECO.
(NDNV, NUNS, 15.08.2011)

Attacks on the media and journalists

A member of the security hired by the Directorate of the Road Company (Preduzece za Puteve - PZP) in Nis attacked the cameraman working for the TV Pet from Nis. The cameraman was trying to record the workers' protest. The president of the Trade Union Nezavisnost within PZP, Ljubisa Ivanovic, said that "the cameraman and the camera were pushed by the head of maintenance in PZP, Slobodan Jakovljevic, while more serious consequences were prevented by the members of the Trade Union."
(Danas, 04.08.2011)

The president of the Jet-Ski Association of Serbia, Veljko Sukalo, tried yesterday to physically attack journalists and a driver from Kurir daily newspaper. Irritated by the fact that the journalists had appeared to report on the tragical crash of two jet-ski scooters that resulted in serious injuries of a 17 year-old Englishman, Sukalo could not restrain himself! Instead of protecting the journalists, three river patrolmen ignored the incident although they were not more than half a meter away.
(Kurir, NUNS, 15.08.2011)

The president of the Jet-Ski Association of Serbia, Veljko Sukalo, who attacked on Sunday a journalist, a photo-reporter and a driver from the Kurir daily newspaper, had cooperated with the Belgrade police. Kurir has found out that he had trained member of the river police in riding jet-ski scooters. The editorial office of Kurir has submitted criminal charges against Sukalo. "We have interviewed the journalist, the photo-reporter and the driver from Kurir, as well as the policemen from the river police who did not protect the victims of the attack. If the policemen failed to act in accordance with the law, they will be severely punished – said the source from Belgrade police who was interviewed by Kurir.
The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) condemned yesterday the threats and the physical assault of Veljko Sukalo on the journalistic team from Kurir.
(Kurir, UNS,16.08.2011)

The attack of the president of the Jet-Ski Association of Serbia, Veljko Sukalo, on the journalistic team from Kurir, and the behavior of three police officers, who failed to protect the journalist although they were present only few meters from the scene of the incident, has caused a great turbulence in the police. The policemen have been examined, as well as Veljko Sukalo, and now it is up to the Internal Control Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia to decide on the next steps to be taken.
(Kurir, 17.08.2011)

The Mining and Smelting Complex "Bor" has submitted to the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA) a complaint, signed by its general director, Blagoje Spaskovski, against the "programme content and activities of TV and Radio Timocka" from Zajecar. Spasovski's threats will not scare us and we will continue to report objectively and in the interest of the citizens of Bor, who are being deliberately poisoned every day. Yesterday in Bor, the concentration of sulfur-dioxide was 11 times larger than the allowed level, said the media.
(Vecernje Novosti, 16.08.2011)