The Municipality of Sjenica has withdrawn the disputed tender and issued a new one, open to all media.
After the A1 portal pointed out irregularities in the competition announced by the Municipality of Sjenica in April of this year – which was intended exclusively for television stations – the local authorities retracted the previous decision and announced a new public competition, this time open to all public information services.
At the meeting held on May 16, 2025, the Municipal Council of Sjenica adopted a Decision to announce a new competition, which provides for co-financing of media content from the municipal budget. The new competition was announced the same day, and the allocation of funds will be managed by a special commission in accordance with the laws and the Regulation on Co-Financing of Public Information.
The decision comes after the editorial board of A1 published an analysis of the April competition, which was restrictively formulated – allowing participation exclusively for television broadcasters, even though no television station exists within the municipality.
A1 informed journalistic associations, the Ministry of Information, and other relevant authorities about this, which provoked strong reactions from the professional community.
Reactions from NUNS and the Ministry of Information
The Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) assessed that the decision of the Municipality of Sjenica to limit this year's competitions for co-financing media content exclusively to television broadcasters and media in national minority languages constitutes discrimination against other media. The statement emphasizes that:
– Article 15 of the Regulation prohibits co-financing of regular informational programming;
– Article 5 of the Regulation obligates local authorities to include all types of media in competitions, in accordance with target groups and themes.
The decision of the Municipality of Sjenica represents a gross disregard for legal regulations and harms the development of pluralism and equal conditions for all media. NUNS has called on the municipal authorities to urgently amend the competition conditions and ensure a fair and transparent process that will not discriminate against media but will assess projects in accordance with the Regulation and the Law on Public Information and Media.
The Ministry of Information and Telecommunications confirmed in a phone conversation with the A1 portal that the competition model announced by the Municipality of Sjenica is discriminatory and must be aligned with current regulations. In a written response, the Ministry states:
“The local self-government unit should announce a competition for all types of media, as well as for productions that would publish media content through a registered media outlet. In our positive legal regulations, all media are equal, regardless of their form or the legal status of their publisher. Based on this, all media publishers should have an equal opportunity in co-financing projects.”
New competition open to all media
The new competition includes all media, with priority areas for information being: affirmation of local self-government work, economic development, education, culture, health, and sports – allowing equal participation of all media that meet legal requirements.
The editorial board of A1 will continue to monitor the implementation of the competition and the allocation of funds, in order to preserve the public interest, transparency, and fair support for local media.
Source: a1tv.net
