21. 12. 2011

Government defying Media Strategy

Belgrade, December, 21, 2011 (B92, Beta) - The government has no intention to stop financing the media in 2012, so the taxpayers will need to set aside one million dinars a day for the media, while the greatest part will go to Tanjug news agency.

The leaders of journalists' and media associations pointed out that "Media Strategy was thus violated soon after its adoption by the Government in September on a telephone session, because the document had foreseen the withdrawal of the state from the media and the transition to project financing".

The budget for 2012 envisages the allocation of 368 million dinars for the Tanjug news agency, Panorama, Jugoslovenski pregled and the International Radio Serbia.

President of the Association of Media (ASMEDI) Zoran Sekulic said that there was a real danger that because of declining Euro-enthusiasm and pre-election campaign, the Government would violate and let down the Media Strategy.

Sekulic, who was a representative of the media in the working group for the development of the Media Strategy, said that state representatives had guaranteed in the final stage of the preparation of the document that project financing of the media as would start as of January 1, 2012 , thus changing  hitherto current system of state financing of the media.

"However, the budget has, under the form of subsidies, provided for direct budgetary financing of four media, which of course raises legitimate concerns. It was also announced that by the end of the year the Government would adopt a regulation which should formalize the beginning of implementation of provisions of the Stabilization and Association Agreement relating to project financing. We still do not know anything about that regulation and there are only 10 days left for its adoption", Sekulic said.

Beta news agency Director Ljubica Markovic said that the Media Strategy was "melting like an ice cube in the sun in facing the reality".

"The upcoming elections are our reality, happening in less than 6 months and in which ‘our media' (close to the Government) should be the backbone and many independent media feel as if they have regressed to previous years where they were in opposition, whereas we all thought that we are all striving to the common goal of public interest - freedom of speech regulated in a reliable and democratic manner", said Markovic.

She also said that, during the visit of Serbian President Boris Tadic to Fiat factory in Kragujevac, when only Tanjug was allowed entrance to the factory, the main problem was not in industrial secrets, but in the fact that, for the ruling power, Tanjug was "sufficiently reliable" to keep a secret unlike any others.

"So, there are ‘our' and other media" said Ljubica Markovic.

She stated that after the elections, a future Government would inherit the same intentions, that is, to establish direct or indirect control of the media through the control of the money.

UNS President Smajlovic wanted to know where the money, with which "Kurir" would buy "Politika", was coming from, because the sum that the public was speculating with was 40 times greater than the annual profit of "Kurir".

Smajlovic said that it was possible that people close to the Government would "bolster media ownership" and that no one would know the source of funds with which the media was bought.

"If the country is messing about with the most prestigious list of the Balkans like this, then it has no real intention of keeping any other promises made in relation to the Media Strategy", said Ljiljana Smajlovic.

Allegations that companies of the Democratic Party leader Dragan Djilas and Srdjan Saper control most of the earnings on the media advertising market, NUNS President Vukasin Obradovic said that it was something no one was saying or writing anything about it, because the media was given a choice to either respect the rules of the game or close down.

Smajlovic reiterated that the report of the Media President of the Anti-Corruption Council Verica Barac was something the public would have discussed more about if there were true media freedoms in Serbia.

Joint press conference on the situation in media was held by NUNS, UNS, the Association of Media (ASMEDI), Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) and Local Press.