23. 09. 2010

Joint stands on the regulation of the state co-financing and support to the development of media

The third round table dedicated to drafting the Media Strategy, held on September 16, 2010 in Belgrade, was related to the topic of the state support to media. Considering this issue, ANEM, IJAS (NUNS), JAS (UNS) and IJAV (NDNV) have defined joint stands on the regulation of the state co-financing and support to the media development in general and the local media and media in minority languages in particular. These stands were publicly presented on September 23, 2010 at the fourth round table.

Joint stands of ANEM, IJAS (NUNS), JAS (UNS), and IJAV (NDNV) on the regulation of the state co-financing and support to the development of media

I          GENERAL POINTS OF MEDIA (CO) FINANCING

1)         State co-financing of the media must be conducted through a transparent process, with detailed, clear and explicit criteria and procedures to prevent the impact of the state and other authorities on media editorial policy.

2)        Co-financing of the media needs to be done through special Media Funds, with decisions of independent commissions, comprised of media experts, representatives of media associations and journalists' associations and representatives of civil society, under the principle of project financing.

3)        Media Funds would operate at the state and provincial level, one on each level. Both would allocate the funds through three separate lines: for the media, for media content in languages of national minorities and for the diversity of media content, whose allocation would be decided by the commissions specifically established for each of these lines. It is necessary that these Funds coordinate their work with each other in order to ensure equal treatment of all media in Serbia.

4)        Funds from the line for the media would support the development of program and other media capacities on the basis of continually open competition, with emphasis to regional and local media as the most vulnerable media in the process of media transition, including the support for projects aimed at transformation of the business model in which these media operate. These funds could also encourage the work of journalists' and media associations, as well as other projects of civil society organizations, with emphasis on education and improving the professional standards of journalism. Commission for allocation of funds would consist of the media professionals.

5)        Funds from the line for media content in minority languages would encourage the production of content in languages of national minorities; the intercultural principles would be particularly encouraged, based on continually open competition. These funds would be used to co-finance media projects in ethnic minority languages. In addition to media professionals, representatives of national councils would also participate in the work of the Commission for funds allocating.

6)        Funds from the line for the diversity of media content would be used to encourage media content on all forms of civic activism, with particular emphasis on reporting on the position of various social, minority and marginalized groups. Commission for allocation of funds, in addition to media professionals, would also include representatives of civil society.

7)        It is necessary to provide clear, transparent and continuous financing of the Media Funds through state budget funds, as well as the retrieval of funds ‘drained' from the media. In this sense, it is necessary that the Funds also receive the assets from the resources obtained through the digital dividend, as well as differences that may exist between revenues and expenditures of the RBA, which is now paid into the budget. Also, financing of Media Funds could be done from part of the collected RTV fees, as well as from donations.

8)        The Commissions that allocate funds for media projects could not be comprised of members of parliament, the deputies of the assemblies of autonomous provinces and local government councilors, elected, nominated and appointed officials in the Government of the Republic of Serbia, Government of AP Vojvodina and local self-governments, persons appointed to executive positions in public companies and public institutions, political party officials, including officials and members of bodies of political parties and parties at the local level, as well as spouses, parents, children or close relatives of such persons.

9)        Media Funds must be governed by principles of public interest and in that sense it is necessary to clearly define public interest in the field of public information with relevant acts. Also, the operating principle of the Media Funds must be based on transparency and clear and measurable criteria for allocation of funds.

10)       It is necessary to ensure with adequate legislations clear rules and ways to control the use of funds earmarked to beneficiaries of Media Funds.

11)       The state should introduce a set of tax incentives and exemptions for socially responsible media, which would include primarily the reduction or elimination of VAT for the procurement of equipment for the media, and other tax incentives and exemptions. Set of tax incentives and exemptions should specifically stimulate the work of local media.

12)       The state must provide, under the same conditions valid for other areas, subsidies for investors in the media sphere.

13)       It is necessary to clearly establish the principle and procedure by which the funds, collected from the public service TV fees, is invested into public service program contents that are the elements of the public service functions, or programs of public interest, while the commercial programs of the Public Service Broadcaster must be funded from other (commercial) sources. The public service broadcasting institutions must commit to separate accounting of revenues generated from the RTV fees and commercial profits, in order to ensure that only the program contents within the scope of requirements of a public service are funded by the RTV fees.

II         (CO) FINANCING OF LOCAL MEDIA

1)         It is necessary to define with relevant legal acts the obligation of municipalities and towns to allocate at least 2% of funds for information of public importance from their total budgets. This percent has to be unique on the state level in order to enable competitiveness on the media market. The total funds allocated in this way also incorporate the recourses which have up until now been specifically allocated for direct financing of local public companies for information. Direct financing of local public companies for information represent unauthorized state aid and will no longer be practiced, while the process of privatization of local public companies needs to be completed as soon as possible in clearly determined period.

2)        It is necessary to anticipate, with adequate legislations, that total funds for this purpose are allocated, without exception, through public competitions for financing projects that enable adequate informing, i.e. media content of local importance in Serbian language and national minorities' languages used on municipality territory, including the support to the projects aimed at transforming the business model within which such media operate, under equal conditions for all local media from a local self-government's territory. If there are no media on a local self-government territory, the funds could, in accordance with clearly defined public interest, be allocated for regional and national media's projects which could enable this interest, having in mind that regional media should have the priority. It is necessary to provide with adequate legislations the full transparency of the process of funds' allocation, starting from the establishing of the independent commissions to decide on allocation, issuing calls for competitions, their procedure, to issuing competitions' results.

3)        It is necessary to ensure with adequate legal acts that independent commissions decide on project selection; the commissions would consist of competent representatives of the public, professional associations and non-governmental sector and their members could not be members of parliament, members of the autonomous provinces' assemblies and local self-governments councilors, individuals elected and appointed at the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the Government of AP Vojvodina, local self-government units, individuals appointed at chairing positions at public companies and public institutions, political parties' officials, including officials and members of political parties' organs on the local level as well as spouses, parents children and close relatives of such persons.

4)        The commissions have to determine clear and transparent Rules for the allocation of funds through public competitions. These rulebooks have to be adopted through the consultations with representatives of media profession and journalists and media associations.

5)        The state must implement measures which will encourage socially responsible legal entities to invest in local media, in a way as to legally prescribe that such entities could exercise certain rights in the tax exemption system for such investments.

6)        The state must commit to campaigns for promotion of public interests as well as other forms of state's announcing, also through local media and in line with local needs.

7)        The state must enable financing of regular researches for the needs of local media.

III       NATIONAL MINORITY MEDIA 

1)         It is necessary to enable de-etatisation of all media, including those founded by the National Minorities' Councils, and to prevent the possibility of political influence on managing and editorial policy of media. In no case should a further etatisation of national minority media be allowed.

2)        National minority media should be the subject of a professional debate preceded by serious analysis of the current position of these media, considering the fact that the Media Study has not taken into consideration the complex issue of informing in national minorities' languages. If the legislator decides to keep the present founders' rights of the National Minorities' Council in the media in languages of national minorities, it should enable the mechanisms which would prevent the representatives of National Councils to influence the managing and jeopardize independent editorial policy of these media.

3)        It is necessary to precise more clearly legal obligations of the Republic and the Province related for financing national minority media, in line with acquired rights and international conventions that Serbia has ratified. The acquired rights of national minorities in the area of informing in their native language should not be diminished. The allocation of the state budget funds for this purpose also needs to be based on the principle of financing projects in the public interests of a minority community, in such a way that enables equal treatment of all media that broadcast, i.e. produce program in that minority language.

4)        It is necessary to legally define that national minority electronic media shall have reserved frequencies in the process of digitalization but also in the period of broadcasting in analog signal.

5)        More precise determining of the position of the national minority media on the territory of AP Vojvodina, in accordance with the Constitutional and legal authorities, as well as in line with the fact that Vojvodina has the longest tradition of existence of these media and that majority of such media are situated in the territory of the Province, should be defined by the AP Vojvodina's Strategy for media development.

6)        It is necessary to harmonize all legislations that deal with the media sphere in any way with systemic media laws, but it is equally necessary to harmonize systemic media laws with all international documents, which Serbia has ratified and which deal with the position, rights and protection of national minorities.