06. 04. 2011

“What’s with the Serbian Media Strategy” – joint press conference of media and journalists’ associations

Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina (NDNV) and Local Press held the joint press conference titled "What's with the Serbian Media Strategy?" on April 6, 2011, in Belgrade Media Centre. On this occasion, they sent an open letter to the President of Serbia, Boris Tadic, in which they pointed to an extremely difficult situation in the media sector, serious threat to press freedom as well as at the necessity of media reform and strategic regulation of the media scene.

The highest representatives of five media and journalists' associations addressed the present at the conference.

ANEM President Sasa Mirkovic pointed out that one of the main causes of the difficult situation in the media sector was the absence of the Media Strategy as a crowning document for development of the Serbian media scene. He reminded the participants on the hitherto process of the development of the Media Strategy, characterized by constant delays and changing ways of working by the Ministry of Culture. Now, after the changes in the Ministry of Culture and appointment of the new Minister, there is no answer to the question what would the way of the development of the Media Strategy be and whether this document is still among the priorities of the Ministry, Mirkovic said. He stressed out that the reason for organizing the conference was the fact that the media were in more and more difficult situation, due to inadequate legislation and the treatment by the state and that it was a fear that development of the Media Strategy would be further postponed, particularly having in mind the upcoming elections in Serbia.

Ljiljana Smajlovic, the President of UNS, read the open letter of these five associations to the President of Serbia, Boris Tadic, in which they pointed to a dramatically bad situation in the media and the lack of willingness of government to deal with problems and reforms of the media sector. She emphasized that the reason for addressing the President was related to the associations' estimation that there was a problem of absence of political will in terms of starting the regulation of the Serbian media scene, adding that it was not just a problem of only one Ministry.

President of NUNS Vukasin Obradovic emphasized the existence of two tendencies in local communities - on one hand, local media were dying out, and on the other, local self-governments financially supported only the media that they could control, and therefore it was very likely that only the second type of media would prevail in local communities. Due to non-existence of a regulated system in this field, ANEM, NUNS and Local Press, in line with the agreement with the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, made the recommendations on the procedure and criteria of the allocation of state budget funds to local media in August 2010, as a transitional solution by the time the Media Strategy was passed. However, the correspondence with the competent ministries still runs on, which only illustrates the absence of political motivation to solve important issues in the media sector. The postponement of adoption of the Media Strategy led to such a state that now more time is needed to stabilize the situation on the media scene to some extent, Obradovic said.

Dejan Miladinovic, the President of the Managing Board of Local Press, also elaborated on difficult conditions, in which local media, primarily print ones, worked, pointing out the main reasons for that, namely economic crisis and unlawful competition as ill-effects of unfinished media privatization.

Dinko Gruhonjic, the President of NDNV, stated several specific problems faced by the media scene in Vojvodina. He highlighted the problems regarding the work of the Public Service of Vojvodina, current situation related to the ownership in the daily "Dnevnik" as well as the issue of the minority media in Vojvodina and national councils' ownership of these media that were still financed from the state budget. He emphasized that if the Media Strategy was not adopted, many media outlets with long-standing tradition in public informing, would be shut down.

Answering to the questions of journalists, the representatives of media and journalists' associations talked about numerous causes of the difficult situation in the media sector and pointed to the absence of the adequate reaction of the state. At the end of the conference, they stressed out that, regardless of the answer given by the Ministry of Culture, these associations would continue to work on the development of the Media Strategy, deeming it their duty. If agreements with the Ministry of Culture on the dynamics and the method of work on the Strategy are not made in due time, this media coalition will continue the work on its own version of the Media Strategy, with the assistance of non-government sector and with the aim to strategically regulate the media scene.

The open letter of the President Boris Tadic is available here.

Photos from the press conference "What's with the Serbian Media Strategy" (source: Media Centre Belgrade)