The media situation in Serbia

Fifteen radio stations from Central Serbia and Kosovo have launched a joint news programme that is aired once a week by radio stations from Pristina, Prizren, Podujevo, Kosovska Mitrovica, Gracanica, Kragujevac, Cacak, Kraljevo, Nis, Presevo and other cities. The programme is produced as a part of the ICN network program that is focused on the development of a civil society dialog about topics that are directly or indirectly related to everyday life of citizens. The editor of the news programme of the regional station Radio Kragujevac, Ljiljana Savic, says that the joint programme is the first step towards renewal of media communication between Serbs and Albanians that was completely cut off after the tragic events of 1999. The programme consists of news reports about preselected topics that are prepared and sent by all of these radio stations.
(Fonet, NUNS, 28.11.2011, Danas, NUNS, 01.12.2011)

Radio stations from Novi Pazar and Bijelo Polje – Sto Plus and municipal Radio Bijelo Polje – have initiated a joint programme "Pogledi". "The weekly half-hour programme is the only project of its kind in Sandzak. Listeners in the two towns in the area near the border between Serbia and Montenegro will have a chance to listen to interesting reports about the everyday life of people living in Novi Pazar and Bijelo Polje" – said the director and the editor-in-chief of Radio Sto Plus, Ishak Slezovic.
(Pravda, UNS, NUNS, 29.11.2011)

At the time when the media offers a range of various content, the audience should learn how to differentiate the truth from manipulative content and the state should do more to improve the media literacy of the citizens of Serbia. The recently adopted Media Strategy says that the media literacy level is low and the Action Plan within this document specifies a 10-month period for reconsideration of the possibility of introducing media literacy in the education process. People interviewed by the newspaper Danaswere of the opinion that media literacy should be introduced in primary and high schools as a facultative subject, while the Ministry of Education said that the procedure had already been initiated.
(Danas, 25.11.2011)

On Friday, the newspaper Novine Vranjske called off a promotion of the book "The Pahomije Affair" that was to be held in the Media Center Belgrade. The stated reason was seemingly trivial – not a single journalist came to report on the latest achievement of their colleagues from Vranje. The book clearly demonstrates how investigative and highly professional journalism can bring results in a socially significant topic like sexual abuse of children. The second issue touched by "The Pahomije Affair" is power and the role of the Serbian Orthodox Church, which has remained silent during the years of moral aberration of one of its dignitaries. Finally, application of the statute of limitations in the legal case has opened the issue of functionality of courts and the role of judges who act in accordance with political requirements instead of law. However, all these issues were not sufficient to attract journalists in the Media Center and "The Pahomije Affair" has become a conspiracy of silence.
(Novi magazin, NUNS, 01.12.2011)

The state is not willing to give up its influence on the media scene, the market lacks a healthy competition among participants, and there is no political will to implement media laws – this is the conclusion reached by the round table organized by the Association of Independent Electronic Media.
(Beta, Pravda, NUNS, 29.11.2011)

Numerous important verdicts of the European Court of Human Rights that are part of the Court's legal practice in relation to the implementation of the Article 10 of the European Convention, which guarantees the freedom of expression, are not available or are difficult to find in Serbian language. "As a result of this, regardless of the fact that our courts are obliged to implement and interpret the norms and regulations related to the freedom of expression in accordance with international standards and legal practice of the European Court, the courts are left to rely on their own resources, personal initiative or individual knowledge of foreign languages in order to gain information about the norms and regulations they are obliged to implement", says lawyer Slobodan Kremenjak, as reported in the most recent media monitoring report by ANEM.
(ANEM, Danas, UNS, NUNS, 29.11.2011)

The president of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), Vukasin Obradovic, writes for the Media Center: "B92 and Radio-Television Serbia (RTS) are the only media outlets that on 29 September aired short and scant reports about the public presentation of the 'Report About Pressure and Control Over the Media in Serbia'". These reports were followed on the next day by articles published in newspapers Kurirand Danas. However, no further media reports have been published since. The Report, with all its flaws, has completely exposed the media scene in Serbia. How has the government managed to achieve this? The market has been deprived of almost all of the money: only crumbles have remained on the table, with the rest of the funds skillfully disguised behind various ministries, agencies, governments at the local and regional level, and two or three marketing agencies that are – as is often euphemistically said – not only close to the government, but in fact constitute the government itself, taking into account their financial, media and political power. There are at least two questions in need of answers: Who has allowed no less than 321 radio stations and 134 TV stations to legally broadcast their programme in the small Serbian market (according to data from August 2011)? In 2010, there were no less than 517 newspapers and magazines! How is it possible that the state and agencies that are close to the state control almost two thirds of the money in the advertising market, which is estimated at 165 million dollars? Instead of overseeing and controlling the government, the media in Serbia has become a part of the governing mechanism; instead of fighting corruption, the media has became a link in the chain of corruption; instead of the fourth pillar of democracy, the media is now the fourth pillar of government, without ever having a lot of choice.
(Vreme, NUNS, 01.12.2011)

Reactions to Verica Barac's report

Dragan Bujosevic (editor-in-chief of Politika): The first sentence of the Council's Report says that "the media in Serbia are subjected to strong political pressure which has resulted in total control over them. There are no media outlets that offer complete and unbiased information to citizens". This claim is false and impertinent. Ljiljana Smajlovic (president of the Journalists' Association of Serbia, UNS): No one should be surprised by the fact that the claim of "tightly controlled media" was made by Verica Barac instead of influential editors and reputable journalists. In the last three years in Serbia, three editors-in-chief of print media outlets in the capital have been removed from their positions for political reasons. The Law on Information was amended in order to impose control over Kurir, a tabloid that has stopped publishing any criticism towards the government after the arrest of its owner. Aleksandar Tijanic (general director of RTS): In the last report prepared by the Council, Ms. Barac quotes all of the libels, untruths, comical anecdotes, charlatanic claims that have been collected and distributed by a group of unfortunates who call themselves "experts" while at the same time hiding behind the interest of the public. The Council accepted their humorous claims about corruption as "serious indications" and included them in the Report. Vukasin Obradovic(president of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia, NUNS): Instead of controlling the behaviour of the government, the media has become a part of the ruling mechanism, apart from the few who have refused to participate in this not-so-moral game, like Pescanik or E-Novine. Veselin Simonovic (editor-in-chief of Blic): As the editor-in-chief of Blic, I don't feel I belong to those mentioned in the report. Had it not been for Blic and some other newspapers and magazines, the activities of the Anti-Corruption Council would have been meaningless. As a president of the Managing Board of the Media Association (a business association of publishers), I have to publicly say ENOUGH, since this witch-hunt is harming all the publishers, who are already struggling to survive the crisis (and who are the only ones not receiving any assistance from the state). The report issued by the Anti-Corruption Council is a bad attempt at investigative journalism and it contains true, half-true and untrue information, as well as completely arbitrary conclusions.
(Vreme, NUNS, 02.12.2011)

The state and the media

On December 12, the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) will organize a round table under the title "State Secrets and the Public's Right to Know". The discussion about the manner in which Serbia has solved the contradiction between its right to protect state secrets and its obligation to protect the public's right to know was initiated as a result of the legal proceedings against Jelena Spasic, a journalist from the newspaper Gradjanski Nacionalni List from Novi Sad, and her editor, Milorad Bojovic. The UNS will invite member of the Security Committee of the National Parliament of Serbia to participate in the round table, as well as many public personalities and political representatives of citizens.
(UNS, 07.12.2011)

Public service broadcasters

The Council of the Republic Broadcasting Agency has published a list of five candidates for the vacated position of a member of the Managing Board of the Public Service Broadcaster of Vojvodina. Candidates for the member of the MB are the following individuals: Dr Mladen Drazetin, Janos Cala, Vladimir Beljanski, Nenad Djuretic, M.A., and Svetlana Djedovic. The public contest was announced on October 25 due to resignation of Boris Labudovic from the position of the president of the Managing Board of RTV. Labudovic resigned because he was of the opinion that the forthcoming amendments to the Statute of RTV – intended to harmonize the Statute with the Law on National Councils of National Minorities – were unacceptable. "The same legislature has already passed the Law on Broadcasting which stipulates independence and autonomy of the Public Service Broadcaster of Vojvodina, while the Law on National Councils of National Minorities practically has the opposite effect. If the latter Law were to be strictly implemented, the MB and the management of RTV would not be allowed to elect no less than 16 editors out of 21", explained Labudovic.
(RRA, UNS, 28.11.2011)

The director of Radio Novi Sad, Jozef Klem, said that Radio-Television Vojvodina (RTV) would dismiss 300-400 of its employees during the future streamlining of its operations. "Although the document on the structure of workforce is still being prepared, we can estimate that between 300 and 400 employees will be dismissed from work", said Klem to Magyar Szo newspaper from Novi Sad.
(Beta, UNS, Pravda, 06.12.2011)

A special supplement of the daily newspaper Dnevnikwrites: Journalistic associations received a letter from the director of Radio-Television Serbia, Aleksandar Tijanic, addressed to his employees, in which he complains about the conditions in which the public service broadcaster operates. If we dismiss the self-praise, the content of the letter can be summarized in several points. Here are some of them: The "whole" in the RTS' budget amounts to 22-25 million euros a year; Year has 316 days (RTS is the most-watched TV station 272 days of the year, while all the other TV stations combined hold the first position 44 days of the year); Normal functioning of the Public Service Broadcaster requires collection of at least 75 percent of the TV fee i.e. around 80 million euros; Parliamentary criticism has caused the 41 percent drop in collected TV fee. However, instead of reading about conspiracy theories, the sad life of employees who have to survive on money collected from both state budget and commercial sources, and the fight against "phantoms" and "gurus" who wish to harm the RTS, we would prefer if RTS decided to operate in accordance with the provisions of the Law which stipulate publication of an annual report on business results of the company, or perhaps to conclude TV fee contracts with households which would make the whole TV fee system legal and legally enforceable. In the meantime, we would also like to know where is the money earned from the lease of the state broadcasting infrastructure to commercial stations: instead of being paid to the state budget, the money ended up on the bank account of RTS.
(Dnevnik – special supplement, 03.12.2011)

Threats, attacks and legal proceedings against journalists; media trials

The Managing Board and the editorial team of Timocka TV and Radio have filed criminal charges against the head of the Police Administration in Bor, Bosko Radicevic, because of his inappropriate behavior toward the station's employees and his phone threats against them. The head of the Police Administration says that he has not been informed about the charges.
(Blic, 24.11.2011)

Unidentified thief has damaged the transmitter of TV Kragujevac located at the Zezelj Mountain and stole the rechargeable battery from the generator of the transmitter. The theft was recorded by cameras. The battery is worth around 10,000 dinars.
(Vecernje Novosti, UNS, NUNS, 25.11.2011)

The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), the Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina (NDNV) and Local Press demand protection for one of the members of ANEM, Radio Ema from Bujanovac, and its owner and director, Oliver Trajkovic. Last week they received a letter of warning ordering them to pay fines in the total amount of 250,000 dinars. These penalties are a result of legal proceedings related to an economic violation and initiated by the prosecutor's office on the basis of a claim submitted by OFPS. The claim alleges that the station had failed to deliver proper musical lists with a complete schedule of the music aired by the station. The associations say that the Court has failed to take into account the fact that at the time during which, according to charges, Radio Ema was not delivering the lists of aired music to OFPS, the Rulebook and the Tariff List issued by OPFS itself had stipulated two completely different and mutually exclusive procedures for delivery of the lists. However, the Commercial Court in Leskovac has not deemed this a ground for a retrial. The media and journalistic associations call on the authorities to find a solution to annul this obviously illegal verdict, and to save Radio Ema from closure and Oliver Trajkovic from being sent to prison.
(UNS, NUNS, 29.11.2011)

Explicit threats against the editor-in-chief of the news website Srbobran.net, Aleksandar Sijacic, appeared in the comments section of the website: "You will soon get what you deserve, take care of yourself in the dark, especially behind corners, clubs are ready!" Sijacic has reported the messages to the police. He says that these are not the first threats he has received, but that this is the first time he has decided to ask for protection of professional associations and the local public.
(Alo!, UNS, NUNS, 04.12.2011)

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) expects the police to immediately identify the person who threatened the editor of the website Srbobran.net, Aleksandar Sijacic, with physical attack.
(UNS, 04.12.2011)

The Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina warns that the forthcoming election campaign has caused increase in pressure on the local media and journalists in Vojvodina. The Association cites examples from Srbobran and Apatin and calls on the authorities to take appropriate measures. (NDNV, Blic, Kurir , NUNS, 04.12.2011)

The war crimes prosecutor of Serbia, Vladimir Vukcevic, said that it was of crucial importance to investigate the responsibility for committed war crimes to the fullest extent. He emphasized that hate speech cannot hide behind the freedom of expression. At the event entitled "Words and Misdeeds", dedicated to the research of the role of the media in "inciting to war crimes in Serbia 1991-1992", Vukcevic said that "the lethal power of the media" points to the need for punishment, so that crimes would never be repeated again. Impermissible propaganda in the media often used to threaten the right to live and served as the first step toward wars, said Vukcevic. The deputy war crimes prosecutor, Bruno Vekaric, explained that the study had researched hate speech and the legal nature of the propaganda that served as the stepping stone toward the war.
(RTV, NUNS, 02.12.2011, Danas, NUNS, Alo!, Politika, Dnevnik, UNS, 03.12.2011)

The War Crimes Prosecutor's Office organized an event in the Sava Center to present its publication "Words and Misdeeds: Incitement to War Crimes in the Media in Serbia in 1991-1992". The complete text of the publication is available on the website of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS).
(UNS, 05.12.2011)

Journalist Vladimir Mitric, who works as a correspondent of Vecernje Novostifrom Loznica, and who was beaten in 2005 in downtown Loznica by the police officer Ljubinko Todorovic – later sentenced to a year in prison – submitted yesterday to the Primary Public Prosecutor's Office in Loznica a proposal to investigate the background of the criminal act committed by Todorovic. In his proposal, Mitric says that he has, "as the victim and a witness in the legal case, pointed out numerous circumstances and facts, established before the Court of Appeals in September and October of this year, on the basis of which an investigation ordered by the Prosecutor's Office might reveal the background of this crime".
(Vecernje Novosti, NUNS, 03.12.2011)

Representatives of OSCE have confirmed to the representative of the Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina (NDNV) their willingness to visit the city of Apatin and discuss problems related to the media. Representatives of opposition parties in Apatin demand that the municipal government ensure unbiased reporting of local media outlets, especially TV Apatin and Novi Glas Komune. Apart from these issues, representatives of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina, the Movement for Apatin, the Socialist Movement and the Serbian Renewal Movement demand that the municipal government stop the persecution of journalists whose reports are unbiased and who do not write in accordance with directions and position of the ruling coalition.
(Blic, UNS, 06. 12. 2011)

The former head of the Security Section of the Army of Serbia and Montenegro, Aco Tomic, has filed libel charges against the deputy war crimes prosecutor Bruno Vekaric for his claim, made in a programme aired by Studio B, about hiding of the Hague Tribunal indictee, Ratko Mladic, and participation in the murder of Zoran Djindjic.
(Pravda, NUNS, 07.12.2011)

Rights of journalists

Since the official beginning of activities of the Press Council in Serbia around two and a half months ago, only 66 print media outlets have joined the self-regulatory body, out of 610 such media outlets registered by the Business Register Agency. The Press Council now "oversees" 10 daily newspapers, 22 magazines and 34 local newspapers.
(Danas, UNS, NUNS, 05.12.2011)

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) points out to journalists and editors that they should adhere to the provisions of the Journalistic Code of Serbia while reporting on accidents and tragedies. The Code stipulates that journalists have to exert special care and compassion in situations when their reporting is related to personal pain and shock. Today's issues of daily newspapers Blic, Alo! and Kurir published graphic photographs of a victim of a car accident that happened on the highway near Mali Pozarevac. These photographs constitute a grave violation of the privacy provisions of the Journalistic Code of Serbia. Unlike these three newspapers, Vecernje Novosti protected the victim's privacy.
(UNS, 03.12.2011)

The Media Strategy

The Media Strategy – the document that will serve as a framework for adoption of laws intended to regulate the public information scene – is not ideal, but is the maximum that could be achieved at the moment in negotiations with its author, i.e. the state, said the representatives of the media coalition consisting of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) and Local Press. Journalists emphasized that the document still proves that the government does not want to relinquish control over the media, and that the whole process of its adoption involved intense negotiations about many of its segments. The president of ANEM, Sasa Mirkovic, expects that regional public service broadcasters will not be implemented in practice due to the lack of money.

All participants of the discussion about the Media Strategy held in Nis expressed their reservations about the possibility of its implementation. Practical implementation of the Media Strategy will also depend on those who take the power after the elections in Serbia. The director of Niska TV, Dragana Nikolic, was opposed the other participants' position on regional public service broadcasters.
(Narodne novine – Nis, UNS, 29.11.2011)

Public discussions about the Media Strategy will be held in 32 cities in Serbia, with participation of representatives of journalistic and media associations.
(Beta, Blic, NUNS, 29.11.2011)

The minority media

The National Council of Hungarians has adopted a media strategy until 2016. The president of the National Council, Tamas Korhec, said that the strategy included programs that would "advance the freedom of the press and the quality of informing in the native language of citizens", while many of the Council's members voiced numerous criticisms of the strategy. A member of the Council and the president of the Civic Alliance of Hungarians, Laslo Sabo Rac, pointed out that "if a single group takes control of everything, that would lead to dictatorship, not freedom". A member of the Council from the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina, Tibor Vas, was of the opinion that the media strategy was "one of the most disappointing documents ever adopted by the National Council of Hungarians during the year and a half of its existence".
(Tanjug, B92, NUNS, 23.11.2011)

The National Council of the Hungarian National Minority has adopted the Media Strategy of Vojvodina Hungarians in 2011-2016 with 21 votes for, five votes against and one abstained vote. The president of the National Council of Hungarians, Tamas Korhec, resigned from the position of the head of the management of the National Council. Zolt Varkonji has been appointed as the new head.
(Magyar Szo, NUNS, 23.11.2011)

The main goals of the Media Strategy for 2011-2016 that was recently adopted by the National Council of Hungarians are to achieve the following: reporting that is not only in Hungarian language, but above all in accordance with Hungarian interest, culture and tradition; ensuring of 24-hour a day TV and radio programme in Hungarian media outlets; increasing of the number of readers of the daily newspaper Magyar Szo; and the attempt to reach every potential listener, viewer or readers. The main new element is the ambition to create a single media center of Vojvodina Hungarians whose bases in the domains of television and radio would be TV Panon, headquartered in Subotica, and the Hungarian section of Radio Novi Sad, respectively. Networking would be coordinated by the Administrative Office of the Hungarian National Council, which would provide additional money from the budget for the purpose. The Media Strategy of the Council has also introduced a special expert body that would take care of the implementation of the tasks, goals and values in the media. Draft Media Strategy had been criticized by some of Hungarian journalists. After its adoption, the Subotica branch of the Democratic Party said that it would result in establishment of a monopoly over all media outlets in Hungarian language and cause closure of those media outlets that fail to report in accordance with suggestions from the National Council of Hungarians.
(Politika, UNS, NUNS, 01.12.2011)

The situation in Preshevo is still tense after a recent conflict between the owner and the editor-in-chief of the web portal Presheva.com, Driton Salihu, and the president of the National Council of Albanians (NCA), Galip Beciri. The conflict in the southernmost municipality of Serbia, in which Albanians comprise more than 90 percent of population and which is located at the three-border point between Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo, was caused by a question Salihu asked in mid-October. He wanted to know how much money the NCA had received from the Republic and foreign donors. The editor of the web site – which has around 100,000 visitors a day – wanted to know which source of funds financed the purchase of the Council's Volkswagen Passat worth 15,000 euros. Mr. Beciri appeared on a live programme aired by a local TV station, TV Aldi, and accused Salihu of "working for Serbian security services". Beciri denied these accusations. "I demand that you take specific measures to protect the media outlet that I am running, and to ensure unhindered operations of an independent media which for the past 14 years has been at the forefront of the fight for free and independent journalism" – wrote Salihu in his public statement. The Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), whose Salihu is member, called on Beciri "to refrain from using offensive words against the portal, and to respond to the questions and prove that the National Council of Albanians does not discriminate against some of the media outlets".
(MC Newsletter, 02.11.2011)