Experts waiting for Serbian language version

European experts' study, presented on Friday, to serve as a basis for media strategy

Belgrade – Although the media study prepared by European experts for the Ministry of Culture was presented on Friday, many media experts do not want to comment on it before they see the version in Serbian language which should be made available today.

Among the proposed solutions that would serve as a basis for an all-encompassing media strategy in Serbia scheduled for autumn, the experts pointed out that Serbia should retain one public service broadcaster (RTS) at the national level, and form another 15 regional broadcasters to be equally funded from the TV fee and the advertising revenue. It was also proposed that there should exist no more than two commercial TV stations at the national level. Considering the TV fee paid by citizens, one third would be paid to the RTS, while the rest would be shared between regional, minority and civil sector broadcasters.

The media study also recommends that the news agency Tanjug be transformed into a non-governmental and non-profit public institution in which the government would finance only the non-commercial production. Unlike the electronic media, where they recommend the regional level, the experts suggest that local print media should be developed with government's assistance.

The vice president of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia, Jelka Jovanovic, said for Danas that recommendations from the study are wide-ranging and that proposed changes in Serbia would probably take more time.

It is a good idea that all issues should be regulated by a set of media laws and that other laws should not regulate this area. The weakest point, that I believe cannot be put to work in our case, are the proposed regional public service broadcasters, because the media privatization process has not been completed yet. Many stations that could have become regional services do not exist anymore because they have been closed down after the privatization, said Jovanovic.

President of the Executive Council of the Journalists' Association of Serbia, said for Danas that the study offers both "good and bad solutions", and that a public discussion will show whether it will be accepted by domestic experts.

- The problem is that the public discussion will be held during the summer months, in July and August, which reminds us of the last year's events related to the Public Information Law, says Jeremic.

Sidebar:

Karadzic: Very useful for the reform of the media sector

Vice president of the Council of the Republic Broadcasting Agency, Goran Karadzic, says that "it is highly commendable that someone from the outside has examined the media scene in Serbia, because the local public is biased in a certain way". He added that he was satisfied that the study had been prepared and that it would certainly be useful during the reform of the media sector in the country.

Author: B. CVEJIC
Source: Danas, June 29, 2010; page: 4

MC Newsletter, July 2, 2010