15. 07. 2010

THIRD ANEM PUBLICATION “LEGAL MONITORING OF SERBIAN MEDIA SCENE”

This is the first edition of ANEM Monitoring Publication in 2010, or the Third issue of the specialized Publication "Legal Monitoring of Serbian media scene" that includes:

• Introduction (including the assessment of the situation in the Serbian media sector in the last six months, based on the results of legal monitoring for the period January - June 2010  and the contents of Publication)

4 expert authors' texts:

• Attacks on journalists and self-censorship - author: attorney at law Slobodan Kremenjak (by presenting several recent cases of serious physical assault and threats to, usually the most renowned, journalists dealing with investigative journalism, the author analyzes the situation of the respect of freedom of expression in Serbia and the reasons for the evident self-censorship in the media; at the same time, the author points out what the response of the state  to this more and more frequent occurrence should be and why it is important for the development of the Serbian media)

• Prevent the misuse of the Media Development Strategy - author: attorney at law Slobodan Kremenjak (author provides an overview of developments in the media sector and assess the current, not at all favorable, situation in the media, primarily due to the complete absence of responsible public policy in the media field; the text also provides a response to the question why the drafting of Media Strategy is a chance for the media sector that should be properly used and not allowed to be abused)

• To whom is a public service broadcaster accountable - author: Jovanka Matic, PhD (the author writes about the concept and importance of the public service broadcasting, control and accountability of its holders to meet the public interest of citizens in the field of information and analyzes in particular the status, work, responsibility and control of the holders of public service in Serbia)

• Challenges of new technologies and future of the radio - author: Ana Martinoli, PhD (analyzing the effects of technological change in the position of radio as media, the author points out its advantages and gives recommendations for the use of the opportunities provided by new media environment, for both existence and the development of the radio)

and the fifth article:

• European Court of Human Rights, case-law (excerpts from official documents of the European Court of Human Rights, available on the Court's website) - a summary of two judgments of this Court concerning the application of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; in both cases, the Court concluded that the relevant state authorities violated Article 10 of the Convention; in the first case, the court found that the honor and reputation of the participants of the debate in the broadest public interest could not overpower the right to freedom of expression, except in cases that determined with certainty the credible existence of strong social needs for it, which, however, was not the case here; in the second case, the public interest in protecting journalists' sources of information has prevailed over the interest of preventing damage that could be caused by future disclosure of confidential information and compensation for past violations of confidentiality, even when viewed cumulatively.

Topics treated in these articles were estimated by the monitoring team as important issues for the media sector in the previous six-month period of continuous legal monitoring of the media scene in Serbia. The results of the monitoring showed that the attacks and pressures on journalists and media in Serbia were stronger and self-censorship in the media more and more present, as no systematic measures were taken to eliminate the cause of the problem and prevent its recurrence. It is also obvious that the lack of responsible public media policy is the cause of the poor state of the media and it is therefore necessary for the media sector to properly use the opportunity to finally provide, through work on the Media Strategy, the Serbian media scene with a good public media policy fitting to social needs and technological changes. It is more apparent that the RTS, the main public service broadcaster, takes it position as a privilege without any obligation, and that it is primarily dealing with its finances rather than meeting the interests of the general public in the field of information. With that, the competent authorities that should control the work of the RTS, do not assess the qualitative fulfillment of the role of a public service, nor do the analysis of the program content, but rather limit their analysis to quantitative overviews of compliance with minimum program quota and advertizing rules, as in the case of any other commercial media outlet. Finally, it is more often heard that the radio as the media is outdated in the course of technological changes. However, the new media environment offers new opportunities for the radio as well, but it needs to understand and respond to the challenges that it brings.

With these articles in the Publication, ANEM strived to offer some possible solutions for these important issues.

This edition of the Publication is available in both electronic and printed form. The electronic edition of this Publication is distributed to all ANEM partners and associates from its mailing list, while the printed edition will be publicly presented at a round table in Belgrade in early September. The Publication is available in Serbian and English language, as it is intended for both domestic and foreign audience.

INTEGRAL VERSION OF THE THIRD ISSUE OF THE MONITORING PUBLICATION can be downloaded here