Assessment of RTS' performance

In 2010, Radio Television Serbia has not fulfilled its legally mandated obligation about the percentage of independent production in the programme, and on several occasions, the RTS has violated the Law on Advertising, said the Council of the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA). The Law does not stipulate the percentage of other programmes, but the report has noted a small share of the cultural, art, children's and educational programme, and too much news, documentaries and entertainment programme.
(Pravda, Danas, Politika, Kurir, 19/04/2011)

In its report for 2010, the Council of the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA) has voiced complaints about the public service broadcaster's programme. It was noted that the RTS does not have a diverse and balanced programme, while re-runs are too frequent. In total, 1,614 complaints against the RTS have been filed because of violations of the Law on Advertising in 2010, while 861 complaints have been filed due to violations on the Second Channel, which totals 2,475 violations of the Law on Advertising.
(Politika, NUNS, 25/04/2011)

Commenting on the RRA's findings, Aleksandar Tijanic, the director of the RTS, said: "Let the RRA provide collection of the TV fee at the European level, let them forbid the Parliament to forcefully usurp the Second Channel of RTS, let them reduce the number of paid dinners with owners of private TV stations, and let them improve the working conditions for the two public broadcasters; in that case, and if the law of 2002 was harmonized with the conditions prevailing in 2011, if the money for the social program was provided, and if the public broadcasters was protected from political ambitions of the government and the opposition in accordance with the European standards, we would be able to fulfill all our obligations in time."
(Blic, UNS, 18/04/2011)

Awards and competitions

The Embassy of the United States of America and the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) invite the public to attend the annual presentation of the Award for Investigative Journalism in 2011 to be held on 4 May at 19.00 at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, Bulevar umetnosti 20, Novi Beograd.
(MC, NUNS,26/04/2011)

The Council of Europe and the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities have organized a public contest for the best media report on local self-government. Three awards will be presented to the media with national coverage, while three awards will go to the media with local or regional coverage. The competition for the best media report is held between 15 March and 15 September 2011.
(NUNS, 24 sata, 26/04/2011)

The agency "Lubris Extra" presents special awards for objective reporting to the journalist of daily newspaper Danas, Zorica Miladinovic, journalist of Narodne Novine, Dragan Mitrovic, and journalist of NTV, Mirjana Nikolic.
(Danas, 19/04/2011)

Award for humane journalism has been promoted, to be presented to journalists whose reports promote humanitarian projects and advance social responsibility, solidarity and mutual assistance. The award was established by the Journalists' Association of Serbia and Jovica Pavlovic, an entrepreneur and owner of the restaurant Kumbara. Jovica Pavlovic will donate 1,000 EUR for the award in the next five years. The award will be presented every year on October 26.
(UNS, 27/04/2011)

The City of Belgrade Award

The City of Belgrade Awards 2010 have been presented to best individuals and teams. Among the recipients is the journalists of B92, Brankica Stankovic, who has received the City of Belgrade Award for Journalism.
(Tanjug, NUNS, UNS, Pregled, 20/04/2011)

Brankica Stankovic from TV B92 is the recipient of this year's City of Belgrade Award for Journalism for her series "Fraud of the Century" which investigates the plunder of state property in the mining basin "Kolubara". The basis of this series authored by Brankica Stankovic consists of information published in 2008 and 2009 by Gane Djordjevic in the newspaper Gazeta, and later in the newspaper Alo! The president of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) reminds that the jury is responsible for selection of the winner. "The Insider deserves the award, but it would have been equally appropriate to give it to Gane Djordjevic", he said. The president of the Journalists' Association of Serbia believes that it is possible that the journalist of the newspaper Alo!, who had discovered the "Kolubara" affair, has been unfairly deprived of the award, but that it does not diminish the success of the Insider. "It is a fact that the public is now informed about the abuses committed in 'Kolubara' thanks to the Insider and Brankica Stankovic". A member of the award jury, Nadezda Gace, says that the jury has taken into account the following criteria: significance of the subject, the effect on the society, the manner of reporting etc.
(Alo, NUNS, 21/04/2011)

Visits to the media

The Minister of Culture, Informing and Information Society, Predrag Markovic, and the State Secretary for Information, Dragana Milicevic Milutinovic, were invited to visit by the managing board of the Media Association. The discussion was dedicated to the position of the media houses and journalists in Serbia, the preparation of the draft Media Strategy, the difficult financial position of media companies, and the possibilities for state assistance in this area.
(ASMEDI Newsletter, 21/04/2011)

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vuk Jeremic, has visited the Media Association.
(ASMEDI Newsletter, 21/04/2011)

Anniversaries

Local weekly newspaper, Kraljevacke Novosti, has published its 200th issue. The newspaper was launched four years ago with a commitment to an editorial policy that would promote values of the civil society, free market, social justice, as well as economically and environmentally sustainable development of Kraljevo and its region, integrated with the rest of Serbia.
(Danas, NUNS, UNS, 20/04/2011)

The GRAND affair

The owner of the popular programme "Grand", Slobodan Boba Zivojinovic, has recently begun negotiations with representatives of the TV Prva regarding the transfer of "Grand Produkcija" from TV Pink to TV Prva. TV Prva did not want to confirm nor deny this information.
(Kurir, Alo, 15/04/2011)

The owner of the "pink television", Zeljko Mitrovic, says that it is up to the owners of "Grand" to decide whether they will continue cooperation with him, since the new programme schedule of TV Pink cannot accept all the programmes produced by "Grand". He has announced that a new programme schedule of TV Pink is being prepared, and that it will contain a dozen new formats and conceptually new programme, while Latin American series will be replaced by Turkish ones.
(Press, 17/04/2011; Kurir, Blic, 18/04/2011)

Kurir's reports stating that "Grand" production company will have only two programmes on TV Pink, instead of the current five, have been confirmed.
(Kurir, 20/04/2011)

The director of "Grand" claims that the number of their programmes aired on TV Pink will not be reduced, although the director of TV Pink says differently.
(Kurir, 26/04/2011)

Other developments

Domestic TV stations mostly adhere to the mandatory guidelines issued by the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA) which stipulates that programmes that can be harmful to minors have to be broadcast late in the evening.
(Tanjug, 16/04/2011; Pravda, Blic, 18/04/2011)

Research conducted by the agency "Lubris Extra" about ratings of programmes aired on local and regional TV stations shows that the citizens of Nis most often get their information from the news show broadcast by the TV Pet, and that during the day they watch a large variety of programmes on all local and regional stations.
(Danas, 19/04/2011)

The Parliament of Serbia will sign a contract this week with a TV station that would broadcast the sessions of the Parliament. RTS and B92 Info are candidates for this contract. Only the public service broadcaster has fulfilled the conditions of the public contest, since it has a national frequency, while B92 Info is a cable channel.
(Večernje Novosti, NUNS, UNS, 26/04/2011)

The Programme Board of the RTS has dedicated 10 minutes to the discussion about the removal of the show "Atlantis" from the programme of the Second Channel of Radio Belgrade. The author of the show was criticized because of the lack of analytical approach and unsubstantiated relativization of the number of victims in Srebrenica. The leader of the Democratic Party of Serbia, Vojislav Kostunica, has issued a written statement about the "Atlantis affair": "The government obviously cannot tolerate the existence of even a single programme with critical opinion about the Euro-Atlantic policy of the current regime". Dusan Radulovic, the director of Radio Belgrade, says that professional disagreements have turned into a political conflict.
(Vreme, NUNS, 14/04/2011)

The editor of Suboticke Novine, Dragan Solaja, has resigned because of disagreement with the owners of the newspaper who had, in his words, expected a tabloid-like and personally motivated approach to editing. As a professional, he could not accept such conditions. Apart from this, the journalists of Suboticke Novine have not received their minimal salaries and fees for several months.
(UNS, 18/04/2011)

Nadica Momirov, a former state secretary in the Ministry of Culture, was appointed January 1 as the director of the local TV station "Panonija" in Novi Sad. Her predecessor was Verica Batic.
(UNS, 14/04/2011)

Cement factory "Lafarge" from Beocin has approved donation for construction of the memorial house of famous Serbian journalist, writer and politician, Pera Todorovic.
(UNS, 14/04/2011)

Several journalists participated in today's action of cleaning the river of Juzna Morava, near Vranje, together with numerous other volunteers.
(UNS, 15/04/2011)

In Memoriam

Journalist and a popular host of Radio Television Serbia, Branislav Bane Vukasinovic, died on Saturday in Belgrade. He was an editor and host of the "Belgrade Chronicle" and the "Morning Programme" aired on Saturdays. He was one of the most renowned hosts on the RTS and a living legend of Serbian television. His career began in 1956 on Radio Belgrade and continued on TV Belgrade in 1969. Branislav Vukasinovic is remembered for his interviews with famous politicians and celebrities from the public and cultural scene in the former Yugoslavia, as well as for his specific charm.
(Tanjug, NUNS, UNS, Politika, Press, Vecernje novosti, 26/04/2011)

Issue no 2
April 14-27, 2011