03. 04. 2008

DANAS REPORTS ON THE GUIDELINES ON CONDUCT OF BROADCASTERS DURING UPCOMING ELECTIONS

Major TV stations make their strategies for reporting on the election campaign, RTS awaits the conclusion of candidate lists

Belgrade, April 3, 2008 (Danas) – Before the end of the week, the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RBA) will issue the Mandatory Guidelines on the Conduct of Broadcasters During Election Campaign for Parliamentary, Regional and Local Elections, Danas was told in the RBA. Regardless, most of the Serbian broadcasters have already made their programme plans for reporting on the election campaigns in the upcoming elections.

On the basis of conversation with news editors of most of the TV stations with national frequencies, it seems that parliamentary, regional and local elections will have more coverage than the recent presidential election in Serbia.

Editor in chief of the RTS' news programme, Nenad Stefanovic, points out that the public service television of Serbia has its own programme strategy that will be implemented during the election campaign, "but we cannot present the plan before the conclusion of candidate lists because only then we can establish the schedule of mandatory TV presentations".

Tanja Vidojevic, anchor of the FOX TV's show "Tell It to the People", says that all political parties will have a fair share of their time within the regular news programme and her show. "Also, on April 23 we will introduce three new editions of the show 'Tell It to the People', to be broadcast on Wednesday".

She believes that her TV station had the most objective coverage of the candidates in the second round of the presidential election in January of this year, since the difference in the coverage of Boris Tadic and Tomislav Nikolic was only 20 seconds.
Asked to comment on the research by the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia and the Media Center, according to which broadcasters' reporting during the presidential election campaign was mostly promotional, and not informative and critical, Vidojevic replied that each television station had offered paid TV slots and aired promotional political videos because that was a good way to make money.

Interviewed by Danas, the editor in chief of the TV Avala news programme, Aleksandra Radujko, said that her station will not broadcast any special programmes during the election campaign and that the election news block will be aired within the main news programme beginning at 18.00.

- Also, once or twice a day we will broadcast free slots which will include paid time and promotional videos, explains Radujko.

Sanda Savic, editor in chief of the news programme of RTV B92, says that B92 will broadcast a special programme about the elections each Monday at 20.00, with Ljubica Gojgic as a host, while the shows Poligraf and Kaziprst will also deal with the elections. As a part of these activities, a new channel B92 Info, which is to begin operating soon, will air broadcasts about the upcoming elections, including live broadcasts.

Commenting on the results of the research by the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia and the Media Center, Savic points out that no single television has the capacity to cover all political parties, instead accepting their material, "which means that the parties are effectively the editors of the pre-election media space".
 
- However, during the second round of the election, B92 was able to cover both Serbian presidential candidates and we have created our own programme, Savic points out for Danas.

Cvijetin Milivojevic, director of the public relations agency Pragma, explains that the upcoming local elections will be overshadowed by the parliamentary elections, "not the least because the media were manipulated, as they have swallowed the bait thrown the by the political leaders".

- The media must deal with politicians' electoral promises, which is a much more detailed issue than the simple slogans about choosing Europe or choosing Kosovo. I mean, discussing their promises regarding salaries, pensions, visas... Also, it is extremely disappointing that local issues have completely disappeared from the media, says Milivojevic for Danas. In his opinion, RTS will give equal time to all electoral tickets, but regional issues will suffer.

Prime time to cost up to 18.000 dinars per second Broadcasters' advertising prices during the electoral campaign are mostly rising, depending on the station. At the moment, RTS' official price list states that one second within the period 06.00-16.00 during series, shows and films costs 1.000 dinars immediately before those programmes, while one second in the advertising blocks within them costs 2.000 dinars.

During the main news programme, Dnevnik 2, which begins at 19.30, one second costs 14.000 dinars, while one second during series and dramas after 20.00 costs 10.000 dinars. Regarding TV Pink, its main news show, Nacionalni Dnevnik, begins at 19.30 with a commercial second costing 18.000 dinars. One second within the shows Loto, All For Love, Bravo Show, Trendy Life, Hello Darwin, Wife Swap, The Pyramid, Crash, Dance Your Way to the Stars, and the Karaoke Contest, costs 14.000 dinars.

More on the same subject from other sources:

Glas Javnosti, April 5, 2008: http://www.mediacenter.org.yu/code/navigate.asp?Id=6&eventId=40429
Glas Javnosti, April 7, 2008: http://www.mediacenter.org.yu/code/navigate.asp?Id=6&eventId=40465
Borba, April 5, 2008: http://www.mediacenter.org.yu/code/navigate.asp?Id=6&eventId=40428
NDNV, April 4, 2008: http://www.ndnv.org/arhiva-vest.php?id=4531
Download the Guidelines from the RBA's website: http://www.rra.org.yu