The media situation in Serbia

The situation in the Serbian political scene is becoming more tense with the approaching of elections, especially after the failure to get the candidate status for membership in the EU and due to most recent events in Kosovo. These unfavorable events have resulted in an unofficial beginning of the election campaign. Individuals interviewed by daily newspaper Danas are of the opinion that the pressure on the media could increase. The president of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) expects an increase in the pressure exerted on the media "because our political elite still believes that votes can be won by applying a virtual reality via TV screens or newspaper pages, instead of by relying on the reality in which we all live". The president of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), Ljiljana Smajlovic, does not expect that the ruling parties and the opposition will have an equal access to the media during the election campaign, while she expects the government to strenghten its control over the media and increase its advantage in the media scene. According to Sasa Mirkovic from ANEM, most of the media outlets will not be able to resist this pressure.
(Danas, NUNS, 19.12.2011)

Journalist Jelena Spasic cannot and must not be a victim of the incompetence of the state, nor is there any reason to prosecute her for alleged revealing of military secrets and unwillingness to disclose her source of information – this is the conclusion reached at the round table "State Secrets and the Public's Right To Know – The Case of Jelena Spasic" organized by the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS).
(Dnevnik, Pravda, UNS, Politika, NUNS, Danas, B92, 13.12.2011)

Participants of the round table "State Secrets and the Public's Right To Know – The Case of Jelena Spasic" have agreed that the state is responsible for keeping the state secrets confidential and that journalists cannot be held criminally accountable for publication of such information. "On the basis of analysis of around 300 cases from the European Court of Human Rights we can conclude that the Court has always given precedence to freedom of information", said Professor Vesna Rakic Vodinelic.
(Dnevnik, 18.12.2011)

Assessment of the current media situation in Serbia

Ambassador of the USA, Mary Warlick, said during her visit to the editorial office of the newspaper Kurirthat journalists should be respected and protected. "I consider that it is crucial that independent media be allowed to operate and to report accurately and freely. I think that politicians should not criticize them", said the Ambassador.
(Kurir, 08.12.2011)

In an editorial published by the magazine Vreme, Dragoljub Zarkovic writes: The Report on Pressure and Control Over the Media prepared by the Anti-Corruption Council analyzes thirty relevent media outlets and asserts that "there are no media outlets that can deliver complete and objective information to citizens". The Report is superficial and generally hostile towards the media. The Council is a parasitic body that panders to the lowest human instincts and creates the atmosphere of lynch.
(Vreme, NUNS, 08.12.2011)

Darko Brocic, the executive director of AGB Nielsen Media Research, considers doubtful the Anti-Corruption Council's conclusion that "the media receive around a quarter of their revenue from state institutions". According to Council's estimate, 15 million (out of 40 million in total, according to their claims) comprise funds allocated to advertising and promotion by Telecom Serbia and various ministries. "First, I think that these things should not be viewed together. Telecom Serbia is a typical commercial advertiser, similar to Telenor and Vip. I am convinced that the primary interest of advertising by Telecom Serbia is not to prevent negative reporting on the company, nor to promote its director and his political party, but to achieve a better market position that directly influences the company's profit. Second, considering the activities of various ministries, I am not sure that only the funds allocated for traditional advertising have been analyzed. I am afraid that the Council has in fact added up the total expenses of various ministries", says Brocic.
(Vreme, NUNS, 08.12.2011)

The 27th Monitoring Report has been published on the web site of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM). According to analysis performed by the monitoring team, the most important event in the media sector in October 2011 was the adoption of the Media Strategy after two years of work. It was officially published in October and the authors of the Report analyze the solutions adopted by the Strategy. Their Conclusion points out possible problems in the implementation of the Strategy and their causes. The twenty-seventh Monitoring Report
(MC, 13.12.2011)

The media scene in Sandzak can be described as divided in the political sense and characterized by the existence of numerous media outlets, whose total number in the market threatens their survival, says Dragana Solomon, the head of the OSCE Media Department. "It seems that editors of media outlets in Sandzak sometimes cannot clearly see the line between their profession and their political affiliation. It has become obvious that opinions are divided about the role of the media in the society", says Solomon.
(Danas - Sandzak, NUNS, UNS, 9.12.2011)

Journalist Radoman Iric writes in the Media Center Newsletter: "Media analysis of poverty-stricken municipalities of Bujanovac and Presevo, inhabited by Serbs, Albanians and the Roma, has given the following results: 75,000 inhabitants are served by 11 media outlets – 4 television stations, 4 radio stations, 1 monthly magazine, 2 weekly magazines and 1 web portal, employing 135 journalists, technicians and administrators in total. These media outlets cost taxpayers (numbering 8,500 employees), few donors and international benefactors no less than 55.5 million dinars a year! On top of all this, the produced content is of low quality, even suspicious.
(MC Newsletter, 16.12. 2011)

This year, Serbia is placed at the 64th position among 167 countries ranked according to their democracy index, which is one position better than the previous year, but it is also characterized by worsening of the freedom of the media in the last three years – says the annual report published by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
(Blic, UNS. 19.12.2011)

The Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) warns that the report issued by the Economist Intelligence Unit should be a cause for serious concern for the government of the Republic of Serbia and all relevant political players that are responsible for the achieved level of democracy in the society, of which the freedom of the media is a part.
(NUNS, Fonet, 19.12.2011, Dnevnik, NUNS, Kurir, Pravda, 20.12.2011)

The state and the media

The president of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), Vukasin Obradovic, said at the opening of the Seminar on State Assistance to the Media that the state should clearly define the public assistance to the media and the procedure for allocation of the taxpayers' money. Henrik Selin from the Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU pointed out that the EU forbids state financing of the media. The head of the Media Department of the OSCE Mission, Dragana Solomon, said that it was necessary to establish efficient mechanism of control over the state assistance to the media which would prevent disruption of market competition by the state. Adrijana Curcic, from the Ministry of Finance, said that as of 1 January 2012, state assistance would be given only after approval by the Committee on Control of State Assistance, and that only the state-owned media would be under such control.
(Fonet, NUNS, 09.12.2011, Danas, Pravda, NUNS, 10.12.2011)

Vlado Mares writes in the Media Center Newsletter: Considering the control over the state assistance to the media, the European Committee has noticed significant fluctuations in Serbia. Namely, the Law was adopted in mid-2009; another year passed until the formation of the Committee that would control the flow of state money; while the implementation of the Law in accordance with European standards is planned for the beginning of 2012. The Control Committee is insufficiently independent. The Committee is located in the building of the Ministry of Finance, the Committee uses the logo and the official seal of the Ministry of Finance, while the president of the Committee serves as the assistant minister of finance. Henrik Selin, from the Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU, said that the Brussels expected a clear and logical explanation of the public interest for allocation of assistance, while the criteria were extremely strict.
(MC Newsletter, 16.12.2011)

The draft Republic budget, which has been delivered to the National Parliament of Serbia and is waiting to be adopted, proposes media subsidies in the amount of 368 million dinars. The subsidies would be given to the news agency Tanjug, NIJP Panorama, SJU Jugoslovenski pregledand SJU Radio Jugoslavija.
(Beta, NUNS, NDNV, 19.12.2011)

A coalition of journalistic and media associations (The Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia – NUNS, the Journalists' Association of Serbia – UNS, the Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina – NDNV, the Association of Independent Electronic Media – ANEM, and Local Press) strongly protests against the manner in which the republic government intends to implement the decision on allocation of 368 million dinars. The money will not be distributed via project-based financing, in accordance with the public interest, but directly to media outlets who will spend the money from the budget. This decision by the Government of Serbia violates the fundamental principles of the recently adopted Media Strategy and the principle of equal position of all participants in the market, says the public statement issued by the coalition.
(NUNS, UNS, NDNV, ANEM, Lokal pres, B92, Politika, 20.12.2011, Beta, Pravda, Danas, NUNS, 21.12.2011)

Public service broadcasters

Radio-Television Vojvodina is probably the only public service broadcaster in Europe that does not have its own building, said the general director of RTV, Sinisa Isakov, during the public discussion held in the Media Center Vojvodina. He said that he was in favor of a different mechanism of collection of the public service broadcasters' TV fee, because the current system was extremely problematic.
(Beta, B92, NUNS, 09.12.2011)

The general director of Radio-Television Serbia (RTS), Aleksandar Tijanic, says in his reply to the open letter published by the Association of Veterans of the National Liberation War (SUBNOR) that the letter was not written by patriotic partisans, and that it is a communist pamphlet written in the best tradition of the postwar ideological matrix. Previously, the representatives of SUBNOR reacted because in one of the episodes of the series "The Village on Fire" one of the characters told the other that his father had been killed by partisans. Tijanic also says: "Nothing in your history or present allows you to brutally interfere with art in any of its forms".
(Blic, UNS, NUNS, 14.12.2011)

Antifascist veterans from the Association of Veterans of the National Liberation War (SUBNOR) said to Aleksandar Tijanic that they had expected more appropriate words, vocabulary and style from him, instead of "the time-worn phrases that we have heard many times".
(Dnevnik, 17.12.2011)

Threats, attacks and legal proceedings against journalists; media trials

Ivan Markovic, a former senior official of the Yugoslavian Left (JUL), has been acquitted of the charge of slander against the daily newspaper Blic and his founder. The Court of Appeals in Belgrade rejected the first-instance verdict that had sentenced him to pay damages. The Court explained its decision by stating that Markovic had committed the slander as an official of a political party and that therefore he was not personally accountable.
(Blic, B92, NUNS, 08.12.2011)

Today, the Higher Court in Zrenjanin began legal proceedings related to a private action for slender initiated by the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Zrenjanin and member of the Managing Board of Radio-Television Vojvodina (RTV), Dalibor Bubnjevic, against the daily newspaper Blic and journalist Ana Lalic. The journalist had reported on a protest by the coalition of non-governmental organizations "Civic Vojvodina" against the appointment of Dalibor Bubnjevic as a member of the Managing Board of RTV. The protest was supported by more than 40 non-governmental organizations and the RTV Trade Union. The League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (LSV) and the Antifascist Front described Bubnjevic as a "promoter of neo-nazism".
(Portal Autonomija, NDNV, 08.12.2011)

The mayor of the city of Nis, Milos Simonovic, signed a contract on managing of the cinema "Vilingrad". A cameraman from the agency Infobiro was the only one who was allowed to attend the event. The city of Nis has a contract on special IT services with the agency.
(Pravda, UNS, NUNS, 12.12.2011)

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) says: "We consider that the president of the municipality of Zvezdara has violated the provisions of the Law on Public Information. The Law stipulates that state institutions are obliged to make information about their activities available to all media outlets under equal conditions. Mr. Popovic said that he did not want to talk to the daily newspaper Pravda, which clearly proves that he does not deliver information to all media outlets under equal conditions". The commissioner for information of public importance and the protector of citizens share this opinion.
(Pravda, 10.12.2011)

A writer and a columnist for daily newspaper Danas, Svetislav Basara, writes: "I don't know about you, but these private legal actions against journalist Lukovic seem a bit rigged to me. When the state begins opressing satire and satirists, that means that the end time is here."
(Danas, Autonomija, 11.12.2011)

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) strongly protests because the correspondent of the daily newspaper Blic from Aleksandrovac, Gvozden Zdravic, was again prevented from doing his journalistic work in the city. Security personnel in the Municipality of Aleksandrovac "rudely" prevented Zdravic from entering the main hall and reporting on the session of the City Assembly that was dedicated to a discussion about the proposal of the 2012 city budget. UNS calls on the municipal government in Aleksandrovac to immediately stop this unacceptable practice.
(UNS, 14.12.2011)

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) and the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) protest against the decision by the President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic to allow their visit to the factory in Kragujevac to be recorded only by the news agency Tanjug. Apart from the fact that this kind of behaviour violates the free access to information under equal conditions, in this way the state (in this case, the cabinet of the President of Serbia) also disrupts the equal position of all participants in the market which is contrary to the Law on Public Information. "We call on the government to refrain from this practice", said UNS and NUNS.
(NUNS, UNS, NDNV, MC, 13.12.2011, Danas, 14.12.2011, NUNS, MC, 15.12.2011)

The press department of the president of Serbia announced that they had rejected the request for accreditation of the programme "Svet Plus Info" because of the information, received from the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA), that the cable channel Kopernikus 3 - which broadcasts the programme "Svet Plus Info" – does not have a broadcasting license. Insinuations that the political orientation of any media outlet influences the issuance of accreditations is completely baseless, says the statement. NUNS says that no TV station should be prevented from reporting, if such station has a license to operate.
(Beta, Danas, NUNS, 20.12.2011)

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) condemns the threats against TV Apatin that were made on the social network Facebook by Marko Knezevic, the president of the Municipal Board of the Socialist Movement of Apatin. UNS again reminds that all misunderstandings between political parties and the media should be solved in accordance with law and in a non-violent manner.
(UNS, 16.12.2011)

The Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) condemns the decision by the president of the municipality of Pirot, Vladan Vasic, to practically prevent the newspaper Pirotske Novine from reporting on sessions of the local assembly.
(NUNS, 19.12.2011, BETA, Blic, 20.12.2011)

A thunderbolt strike has damaged the transmitter of the regional station TV Vujic located at Divcibare. FM transmitter working on the 105 MHz was damaged and the programme is being broadcast from the city UHF transmitter and by the SBB cable system. It is uncertain when the programme will be aired from the damaged transmitter again.
(Blic, 18.12.2011)

The Media Strategy

Participants of the public discussion about the Media Strategy organized by the Independent Journalists Association of Vojvodina (NDNV) said that the state would not have agreed with many provisions of the Media Strategy had it not been for the pressure from the EU. The president of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), Vukasin Obradovic, said that the government was obliged to begin implementation of the Law on Control of State Assistance as of January 1, thereby establishing one of the preconditions for the fair and equal competition in the media market. The president of the Executive Board of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), Petar Jeremic, said that the financial assistance from the state should be available to all media outlets under clearly defined rules and criteria. Zuzana Serences from NDNV criticized the Strategy saying that it failed to elaborate on informing in languages of ethnic minorities, nor to take into account the media established by national councils.
(Beta, NUNS, 09.12.2011, Dnevnik, NUNS, 10.12.2011)