31. 08. 2010

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REGULATION OF SYSTEM FOR FINANCING LOCAL MEDIA

The way the local self-governments fulfil their legal obligation to enable conditions for public information in their local environment greatly contributes to the difficult position of local media. Because of such a situation, at the end of August 2010, ANEM, together with NUNS and Local Press, prepared the proposal of recommendations for regulation of system for financing local media, which are to contribute to more adequate governing of this issue. In line with the agreement reached at the conference "Financing of local media", held on June 15, 2010 in Belgrade, the recommendations will, upon compliance with the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government and the Ministry of Culture, be delivered to all local self-governments. The meeting with the ministers, where these recommendations and further activities on their implementation will be discussed, is expected to be held during September.

In order to better regulate the process of allocation of budget funds aimed at local media's financing, protection of competition on the media market as well as ensuring the transparency of the whole process, the proposal of ANEM, NUNS and Local Press consists of the following recommendations:

• In local budgets, total funds for this purpose have to be determined and include the funds that have so far been particularly allocated for financing local public companies for information, while their minimal percentage share of the total local self-government's budget has to be uniquely determined by the state level;
• The total funds allocated for this purpose have to be, without exception, allocated through public competitions for funding projects that provide information and media contents of local importance under the same conditions for all local media in the territory of that local government; the recommendations clearly define which media and program contents' producers, may participate in the calls;
• General criteria and framework for specific criteria of particular local self-government for evaluating projects have to be uniquely regulated at the state level and in consultations with journalists and media associations, while the criteria for allocating funds have to be based on the project's significance for the information of local importance as well its contribution to media pluralism at the local level;
• The process of funds allocation has to be completely transparent, from the formation of independent commissions that would decide on the allocation, through the announcement of the competition, the course of tender procedures to the notification of results of the competition;
• Apart from local self-governments, the competent ministry has to have efficient mechanisms of supervision of the disposal and use of these funds after their allocation;
• In the field of media advertising of the state and public companies, transparent procedures for the lease of advertising space have also be introduced and regulations related to public procurement and the state aid control be accordingly applied.

ANEM, NUNS and Local Press expect these recommendations are to be adopted by the competent ministries, since they could contribute not only to the establishment of equal conditions on the media market, but also to raising the quality of public information at the local level, which is in the best interests of a whole society.

Recommendations are available here