18. 02. 2008

IS A LOCAL PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING POSSIBLE?

Local level broadcasters at the crossroads

BACKA PALANKA, February 18, 2008 (Dnevnik) – In the time of transition, it seems as if the Serbian authorities have no clear idea what to do with local broadcasters. While the local print media, which were owned by the local self-government structures, were more or less privatized, it is a much more difficult proposition to privatize small TV and radio stations. On the other side, it is now clearly evident that the privatization of the local press was mostly performed with attempts to shift responsibility somewhere else. In some cases, small newspapers were bought by local bakers, tire repairers, wealthy people, war profiteers, or supporters of certain political parties.

There are also some positive examples of small media outlets being acquired by bigger media houses, but it is a general impression that the government has disregarded the employees of these media outlets since it has failed to provide them with more benefits and allow them to become owners of their media by participating in consortiums. The situation is even more complicated in the case of electronic media because they are much more interesting to local politicians and their parties. In the process of privatization of public companies in the field of media, the legislators have often changed deadlines and frequencies, and even the pace of transition, which was eventually stopped.

As it seems, local TV and radio stations which have not been privatized until January 1 should have been closed down, but they were not because the Executive  Council of Vojvodina proposed the suspension of privatization of all local broadcasters with content in minority languages.

This is especially true with Radio and TV BAP. This kind of privatization acrobatics mostly affects the employees in these media outlets, while political opposition criticizes local self-government authorities without sound reason. In its budget proposal for this year, the municipal government in Backa Palanka has no provisions for funding of broadcasters which were founded by the municipality, for a simple reason that their privatization was supposed to be completed before the last day of the last year, in accordance with the law.

This goal was not accomplished because the government of the Republic decided to postpone the deadlines, some of which were even cancelled, creating a true media chaos in Backa Palanka and other places in Vojvodina and Serbia. The situation in Palanka is perhaps even worse than elsewhere, because the Parliament has not adopted the budget for this municipality and it is uncertain whether and when it will happen. The municipal budget has to be adopted, but it is not clear whether it will be done by the Parliament, which had no sessions for the last five months, or a possible temporary provisional body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

Heating has already been cut off for the (un)privatized broadcasters in Backa Palanka because of unpaid gas bills. It is most important to include the financing of the media into the budget of the municipality in order to ensure their survival until the Government of the Republic finally decides what to do with them. In the meantime, various ideas were considered, even the possibility to establish local public service broadcasters!?

It will not be a desirable outcome if the municipality, usually the president of the municipality (whoever he may be) as its executive authority, remains the owner of the media. Aside from a different, meaning healthier and more realistic financing, the editorial policy of these outlets must be radically changed. If politicians are given a free pass and brazen sycophancy remains to be financed in future, then it would be more honest and more efficient to leave everything to market forces and privatization.