04. 10. 2013

STATE TV WORST CASE SCENARIO

Belgrade, October 4, 2013 (UNS) - The Culture and Media Minister Ivan Tasovac is realistic in his estimation that media laws will not be adopted before the EU Report on Progress in October is published, given the amount of work ahead, especially when the Draft Law on Electronic Media and the Draft Law on Public Service Broadcasters are concerned.

Due to delays in adoption of the Law on Public Information and Media, it may happen that only media owned by the state and financed from the state budget may live to see the media reform.

"According to the Media Strategy, proposed media laws should be ready to enter parliamentary procedure in March this year. However, due to the compexity of the media scene and area that needs to be regulated, the work on media laws has progressed at much slower pace than expected. Several months were lost because of the composition of the new Government and changes in the Ministry of Culture", the departing chief of the OSCE Mission Media Department Dragana Nikolic Solomon said.

"It is clear that the money from the state budget will not be enough to solve the problems of infrastructure and excessive number of staf working in RTV and RTS, nor will it be possible to ensure long term planning of the production of these broadcasters that will meet the legal obligations and the needs of the citizens. If the proposed financing solution for RTS and RTV is adopted, it needs to be long term, stable and in line with the real needs of the public service.

If the solution to finance the public services from the state budget, even temporarily, is adopted, a strong political will be needed and support of the citizens to introduce the TV subscription fee again at later point. We are however sure that the citizens of Serbia will recognize the importance of their public services and necessity to finance media content that is free of commercial and political influence, but are in the interest of the public", Nikolic Solomon said.