14. 01. 2008

OSCE MEDIA FREEDOM REPRESENTATIVE WELCOMES PRESIDENT SARKOZY'S PLAN TO DE-COMMERCIALIZE PUBLIC TELEVISION IN FRANCE

VIENNA, 14 January 2008 - The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti, today welcomed two recent proposals related to media legislation made by France's President, Nicolas Sarkozy: the reform of the co-habitation regime of public and commercial broadcasters, and the introduction of a long-awaited measure to protect journalists' confidential sources.

The reform of the broadcasting sector aims to eliminate advertising on public channels, while allowing these channels to benefit from the advertising revenues collected by commercial channels broadcast on platforms including surface transmission, internet and mobile phones.

"The reform would enhance media freedom, because it would increase the political independence of public-service broadcasting both from commercial interests and from government," wrote Haraszti in a letter to President Sarkozy.

Haraszti added: "This is a proposal that can have enormous importance internationally as well, especially in the less wealthy new democracies where competition from commercial broadcasting has sent public broadcasting into a downward spiral."

"Today, any success by commercial channels is taking potential viewers away from public-service channels. Following the reform, the success of commercial broadcasting would feed, rather than starve, public-service broadcasting, thanks to the proposed revenue sharing."

Whether all these benefits would materialize, however, will depend on the legal and financial details, which still have to be worked out after consultations with all stakeholders, he said.

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media also welcomed the President's pledge to introduce in 2008 a long-awaited measure to protect journalists' confidential sources, as well as protect their offices and homes from searches aimed at identifying sources.

"Maintaining confidentiality of anonymous suppliers of information is a main pre-requisite for strong investigative journalism in service of democracy," Haraszti said.