31. 10. 2013

ANEM COMMENTS ON DRAFT LAW ON PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING

On October 31, 2013, ANEM submitted to the Ministry of Culture and Media its comments on the Draft Law on Public Service Broadcasting, as an input to the public discussion on this Draft.

The comments included general remarks on the Draft Law and specific suggestions for amending the provisions of the Draft, with justification.

General remarks of ANEM on the Draft Law:

• ANEM is of opinion that the model of financing shall determine whether the law governing public service broadcasting will be a good legislation or not. ANEM deems bad the qualification in the Draft that the budget of the Republic of Serbia shall be the main source of funding for public service broadcasting in the next two years, and complete giving up of the TV subscription fee as the financing model, as it is in direct contradiction to the Media Strategy and European legislation and practice and can have many negative effects on the functioning, independence and fulfillment of the purpose and responsibilities of public service broadcasters.
• The participation of the public in the work of public service broadcasters has not been adequately resolved. Under the provisions of the Draft Law, the Program Council, as a body that makes sure the interest of the public are met concerning the program content and which represents the link between the public service broadcaster and the public, is indeed a second-rate body with unclear role and powers; besides, the contact with the public comes down to merely organizing public discussions, once a year and only 15 days in duration. In addition, the Draft  Law has not completely eliminated the possibilities of political influence on the election of members of the Council, which could also have a negative impact on the work and achievement of the purpose of the this body. True reforming would be the dissolution of this body and making the public service broadcaster more open to the public, starting from the transparency in funding to proper public discussions with the aim to influence the quality of program. Presently, in this form, it is more or less the same system that already exists in the Broadcasting Law (Program Committee), with minor improvements.
• The provisions on advertising in the programs of public service broadcasters have been only basically laid down. Therefore, this issue should either be regulated in the Advertising Law and thus avoid legal uncertainty and confusion that may arise between the three laws that would contain provisions on advertising in the programs of public service broadcasters (the Law on Electronic Media, the Law on Public Service Broadcasting and the Advertising Law), or this Draft Law should be supplemented with a number of provisions, including provisions on restrictions on advertising on public service broadcaster, bearing in mind that the primary function of the public service broadcaster is to meet public interest in the field of public information and not to provide a commercial service such as advertising.

Concrete ANEM suggestions for amending the Draft Law refer to: regulating of the issue of advertising in the programs of public service broadcasters by the Advertising Law instead of the Law on Public Service Broadcasting; deleting of the provision that exempts public service broadcasters from paying part of distribution and multiplexing costs, because it is contrary to the Strategy for Transition from Analog to Digital TV Broadcasting and puts commercial broadcasters into an unfavorable position; expanding of the circle of persons who cannot be members of the managing board of a public service broadcaster due to a possible conflict of interest.

You can read ANEM comments here (in Serbian).