Ten Months Without REM: The Media Scene in Complete Lawlessness

"The current situation in the media, particularly regarding electronic media under the jurisdiction of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM), is one of complete lawlessness, as there is currently no competent authority that is legally obligated to regulate our sphere of media service providers and electronic media," says retired professor of the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, Rade Veljanovski, for Insajder.

Although he believes the situation was not much different compared to the previous year when REM was functioning, he describes the current situation as "very bad."

"Back then, they were not doing their job as prescribed by law, but now it is below any acceptable level, and it is evident that a number of media outlets, especially those so-called pro-regime media, are abusing this situation – naturally, everything is permissible in their view. They were allowed a lot before, but what some television stations are doing today, if it continues, will not be good,” says Veljanovski.

The fact that the differences between the previous year and this one are almost negligible, Veljanovski states, indicates that this body has not operated in accordance with the law.

"REM has not exercised its competencies, particularly regarding oversight of the behavior of media service providers and electronic media, and has not sanctioned any of their illegal actions and violations of the own regulations for which they were granted licenses. In this respect, an ordinary citizen cannot perceive any deficiencies today. However, it is critically important that there is at least an address to which citizens can turn, a professional organization, media associations, and even the media themselves. Because what is currently happening, where a number of media outlets are threatened every day with targeting, being labeled as Nazis, Ustashe, and where journalists from these media are threatened – this is primarily happening again from those pro-regime electronic media – is something that REM must put a stop to,” explains Veljanovski.

The professor asserts that for REM to change and truly perform its role as a regulator for electronic media, it is essential to change the entire societal situation.

"Until there is a change of government, until we have a government that is prepared to relinquish its control in the media sphere and allow those who are skilled and competent to operate correctly and in accordance with the law, until the political and social situation in the country changes, and until a new government is established that will permit a competent and completely independent Council, nothing will change," says Veljanovski.

Popović: Previous REM operated selectively, which is not in the public interest

Judita Popović, a former member of the REM Council, shares a similar view, stating that it is difficult to "discern the type of exit from this situation."

"Ultimately, it is the parliament that decides who will be a member of the REM Council from the proposed candidates, and we know who constitutes the majority. Thus, it is that ruling coalition that has no intention of releasing the media from its jurisdiction and control," says Popović.

As she notes, she sees no difference between the period when REM existed and now, when it has been out of operation for almost a year.

"That REM did not operate as the Constitution and Law stipulate for a regulatory body. It was neither independent nor autonomous, nor did it truly accomplish anything. If it did anything, it was selective, which means it did not operate in the public interest, and in such a state, that REM really served no purpose," says Judita Popović.

Nonetheless, she believes that some regulatory body should exist – but one with integrity.

"Then we would have a clearer picture, primarily referring to electronic media, and we would actually have a foundation to rely on and refer to, and to seek order in this media sphere, which is currently a complete Wild West. Everything has been shaped to support a certain government, specifically this government," says Popović.

Regarding the new withdrawal of candidates in June, after the announcement of the competition under pressure from student blockades, she says she can understand those who withdrew.

"I completely understand, but I cannot justify the fact that they give up so easily; at the very least, they should demonstrate some will. In our case, everything is very complex and complicated, and in fact, it all plays into the hands of an authoritarian regime. People tend to give up very quickly, ceding space, in this case, the media space, to manipulators and pure propaganda. These media outlets are no longer recognizable and are indeed a source of confusion,” says Popović.

Election for the REM Council: Blockades, announcements, and withdrawals

The process of electing members of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) remained, as of July 13, without 78 authorized proposers and 16 candidates.

"Instead, we are witnessing yet another political agreement whose result is the devaluation of the process and the humiliation of the legal order of the Republic of Serbia. We will not be accomplices in the simulation of reforms and the feigned fulfillment of European obligations while REM as an independent body is systematically undermined. REM is not a political tool – it exists to protect civil rights, freedom of expression, combat hate speech, and ensure real media pluralism," state the proposers and candidates who withdrew from the process of electing members of the REM Council.

The election of a new composition of the REM Council was initiated after two weeks of blockades in which students and citizens demanded its formation in accordance with the law.

Opposition MPs submitted a request on April 23 for a meeting of the parliamentary Committee for Culture and Information with the aim of launching a new procedure for the election of members of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media, which was a demand of the students in blockade who blocked Radio-Television of Serbia (RTS) for two weeks. Previously, they also submitted a request to the parliamentary Committee for Culture and Information to repeat this process.

The candidate selection process, which was supposed to be completed back in January, has been "at a standstill" due to the initial withdrawal of seven candidates for membership.

There were 18 candidates registered for the competition, but seven withdrew their candidacies due to "deficiencies in the legal procedure." These include Saša Mirković, Dubravka Valić Nedeljković, Željko Hubač, Aleksandra Krstić, Rodoljub Šabić, and Dušan Aleksić.

The topic had not appeared on the agenda of the assembly until the blockades, in a regular session. The area of electronic media has been without REM oversight for ten months, and only some journalistic associations react to certain legal violations. Recently, the  Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) called on the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media to initiate proceedings against Informer, as its editor-in-chief Dragan J. Vučićević aired intimate photographs of student Nikolina Sinđelić, who accused the police of physical and sexual abuse during her arrest for participating in a protest.

According to regulations, REM is responsible for monitoring whether electronic media report truthfully, completely, and in the public interest, and during electoral campaigns, it must ensure equal representation of political actors in the media.

Furthermore, they are the ones who appoint the boards of directors of public services – Radio-Television of Serbia and Radio-Television of Vojvodina. REM also has the obligation to protect pluralism and prevent the abuse of media space.

Source: Insajder