19. 06. 2013

STATEMENT BY THE MEDIA COALITION ABOUT DECISION ON PUBLIC INFORMING IN THE CITY OF NIS AND THE PROCEDURE FOR PUBLIC PROCUREMENT BASED ON THE DECISION

Belgrade, June 19, 2013 - The Media Coalition - consisting of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) and Local Press - sent a letter today, on 19 June 2013, to the Mayor of the City of Nis in relation to the adoption of the Decision on Public Informing in the City of Nis and the implementation of the Procedure for Public Procurement No. 404-2u/19-2013-11 Regarding Information Services of Significance for the City of Nis, which is based on the Decision.

The Media Coalition is strongly opposed to this decision and the procedure for public procurement because they:

• Constitute intentional evasion of the government's obligations - at all levels of government - in accordance with media-related legal regulations. The decision defines the public interest in the field of public information as 'informing about the activities of the bodies of local self-government', which is a direct violation of the provisions of the Media Strategy. The procedure for public procurement also directly violates the Media Strategy, which stipulates that those who give assistance are obliged to form independent commissions that would make decisions about individual projects at public contests. Activities of these commissions must be public and transparent, and they must include competent representatives of the public, professional associations and the sector that is not financed from the budget;
• Violate the right of the citizens to objective, unbiased and complete information. Because of definition of informing as notification of citizens about everyday activities of the local self-government, citizens will be deprived of correct and unbiased information about all important issues in their local communities;
• Abuse the regulations on public procurement. Procurement of public information services cannot be treated as any other service procured by the city, since it is a very specific field which has strong social implications;
• Discriminate the media outlets which are not "suitable". The message sent by this Decision is that in the future only the media that report favorably about the activities of the local self-government will have a place in the media scene of Nis;
• Violates the Law on Advertising. Article 86 of the Law on Advertising forbids usage in advertising messages of the name, picture, voice or other personal characteristics of state officials i.e. officials from state bodies, organizations, and institutions of territorial autonomy and local self-government. For this reason, the very area of public procurement in this case is disputable from the aspect of the advertising regulations.

Taking into account all these reasons, the Media Coalition demands that the Mayor of Nis:

1. Revoke the controversial decision, because activities that it stipulates are not related to public interest, but are intended for the purpose of promotion and propaganda of the local self-government, and because it violates media-related regulations as well as advertising regulations.
2. Adopt a new decision, which would define the public interest in accordance with the Media Strategy.
3. Suspend the public procurement procedure for the same reasons.
4. Forbid usage of funds from the local budget that are allocated to public information for any other purpose than realization of public interest the area of public informing (especially if they are aimed at promoting the activities of the local self-government).
5. Organize a new public contest for the media, but this time in accordance with media regulations and the principle of project-based funding for the purpose of realizing public interest in the area of public informing, and in accordance with the Media Strategy. The criteria for the public contest must be objective and non-discriminatory, while all its phases must be transparent. At the same time, allocation of money has to be decided by an independent commission.

Media Coalition - ANEM, NUNS, UNS, NDNV and Local Press.