31. 10. 2013
48TH ANEM MONITORING REPORT
SERBIAN MEDIA SCENE
SEPTEMBER 2013
According to the findings of the monitoring team presented in the Conclusion of the Report, when it comes to the media scene, the month of September was unusually uneventful: expected events did not occur, and the only positive aspect in this period was the judgment of the Appellate Court in Novi Sad, which is important for the promotion of freedom expression.
Freedom of expression - in the part of the Report concerning pressures and threats, regarding the yet another case of use of state aid to media on local level as the mechanism for influencing the editorial policy of media (by Leskovac Mayor), the authors point to the necessity to establish entirely different model of care and providing conditions for public information of local importance; the authors also deal with the press release of the daily "Kurir" concerning the pressure on the owner of the daily and editor of the daily "Akter" exerted by the top brass of the Serbian police, as well as the discrimination against print media at the press conference given by the Police Director, which represents legally prohibited influence on the media that prevents them from doing their job. In the part court proceedings, the authors emphasize the importance of the ruling of the Higher Court in Novi Sad, which entirely dismissed the motion of Todor Bukinac, owner of the horse farm "Bukinac" against a number of media (Radio 021, RTV B92, Publishing Company Ringier Axel Springer, Beta news agency) and their editors - this judgment confirms that journalists are entitled to error and that not every error is grounds for compensation. The authors also deal with the charges against MP Vladimir Cvijan, filed by the director and editor of "Nase novine", Vuk Vucurevic and Anthonije Kovacevic, for endangering their safety, which provides for continuance of investigaton, as opposed to the complaint of this member of the Parliament against Vucurevic and Kovacevic that was dismissed as ungrounded.
In the part of the Report - Monitoring of implementation of existing laws, the authors analyze the occurences on the media scene in Zajecar and point to the problem in the application of the Law on Public Information in the part pertaining to non-discriminatory treatment of the media by state authorities and local self-government, as well as the importance of the systemic regulation of the state aid to media for both the survival of the media and the healthy competition on the media scene. On the occasion of the decision of the RBA Council to reject the objections filed by both applicants for the national TV frequency, the authors analyze the implementation of the Broadcasting Law and the Broadcasting Development Strategy from 2005.
In the part of the Report - Monitoring of the process of adoption of new laws - the authors deal with the solution of the Draft Law on Public Service Broadcasters on budget funding of public services.
In the part of the Report - Monitoring of work of competent authorities - the authors analyze the work of regulatory bodies: the RBA Council's decision to reject as unfounded the complaint of "Ringier Axel Springer", the publisher of the daily newspaper "Blic", filed in connection with the program content of TV Pink - the absence of rationale of the decision opens room for different interpretations and speculations and point to insufficient level of transparency in work of the regulator; activities of RATEL related to the control of the use of radio frequency spectrum in the central part of Serbia; the Press Council's Complaints Commission and in particular the Commission's decisions brought in the two cases - "Ringier Axel Springer" against the daily "Informer" and Ana Radmilovic against "Nova srpska politicka misao" (New Serbian Political Thought) - both cases concern the challenges this regulator is facing, either because it has no effective mechanisms for repressing negative phenomena, or because it deals with the complicated issue whether website comments are considered media content, namely whether media are responsible for these comments. The authors also analyze the work of state bodies - the Ministry of Culture and Media in relation to the original text of the Draft Law on Public Service Broadcasters first published on the website of the Ministry, as well as the work of the Commission for investigating the murders of journalists.
Process of digitalization - the authors deal with the failure to adopt the Frequency Allocation Plan as expected, the need to establish clear criteria for renewal of licenses that will expire next August, as well as the importance of the adoption of the new Broadcasting Development Strategy.
The process of privatization - the authors conclude there was no progress recorded in the area of privatization of state media in September.
The Forty-eighth Monitoring Report is done by an expert team of ANEM Legal Department, law office "Zivkovic&Samardzic", in cooperation with ANEM. Here you can download it in whole or in parts, by clicking the selected section below.
The content of this Report is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The content of this Report is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Open Society Foundation, Serbia.
Section FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION here
Section MONITORING OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EXISTING REGULATIONS here
Section MONITORING OF THE PROCESS OF ADOPTION OF NEW LAWS here
Section MONITORING OF THE WORK OF REGULATORY BODIES, STATE AUTHORITIES AND COLLECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS FOR THE PROTECTION OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS here
Section MONITORING OF THE DIGITALIZATION PROCESS here
Section MONITORIN OF THE PRIVATIZATION PROCESS here
Section OVERALL CONCLUSION here
The COMPLETE REPORT can be downloaded here
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