31. 10. 2014
56TH ANEM MONITORING REPORT
Report for September 2014 - Legal monitoring of the Serbian media scene
In September 2014, according to the monitoring team, the media sector was marked by debates about narrowing of debating space about issues of public interest in Serbian media. How and why the debates marked the sector is analyzed in the Report Conclusion.
Pressures, threats and attacks on journalists and the media were not in short supply in September. Several of such cases are analyzed in the Report section on freedom of expression. The analyzed cases are the following: threats on the Facebook to journalists of the portal „Juzne vesti" in Nis and a verbal attack by Deputy Mayor of Nis against a „Juzne vesti" journalist; pressure by a local official on the news portal „SOinfo" in Sombor due to comments on the portal's forum. Both cases open up the question of the treatment of user comments on social networks and Internet forums, e.g. the question of responsibility of the media for the content of such comments, as treated by the Serbian law. The Report authors answer these questions. Apart from those two cases, the following cases were also analyzed: pressure on the printing press „Grafoprodukt" in Novi Sad, e.g. closing down of printing press and blocking of its bank account that is possibly related to articles published in one of the weeklies printed by it; physical attacks on a photo-journalist of daily „Blic" and on the B92 media company building during Pride parade in Belgrade; conflict between TV B92 and Olja Bećkovic and discontinuation of the program „Utisak nedelje" on TV B92. In the section on court proceedings two court rulings were analyzed: the decision of the Appellate Court in Novi Sad to annul the judgment of the High Court in Novi Sad rejecting the appeal of Marija Mikovic, secretary of the Becej Association of Nature Conservation, against the newspaper „Bečejski mozaik" - this case poses the question of distinction between facts and value judgments; the judgment of the Basic Court in Valjevo obligating former Valjevo official, Dragoljub Krstic, to indemnify non-pecuniary damage caused by insult to the editor-in-chief of website Kolubarske.rs and former editor of Radio „Patak" from Valjevo.
Implementation of existing laws - The Law on Electronic Media - in relation to the decision reached by the Administrative Court in the proceedings on the lawsuit of Television K9 from Novi Sad, which decision was published on the website of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (former Republic Broadcasting Agency) and pertains to calculating fees for broadcasting of radio-television program, the Report authors analyze the provisions of the old Broadcasting Law and the new Law on Electronic Media which regulate the issue; The Law on Public Service Broadcasters - Contrary to what was expected, the Managing Board of the Radio Television of Serbia did not reach the decision on the date of issuance of the job opening competition for director general and editor-in-chief of the television, having interpreted provisions of the law in their own way. The Report authors provide their interpretation of legal provisions pertaining to the issue.
Adoption of new laws - On the occasion of the establishment of the working group by the compentent ministry for drafting the new Advertising Law, the Report authors point out the reasons why the adoption of this piece of regulation is important and necessary.
Work of competent authorities -The Report analyzed the work of state bodies, specifically the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection. On the occasion of the Right to Know Day, established in 2002, the Commissioner issued awards for the contribution to the promotion of the right to free access to information. The Report authors point to the assessment of the implementation of the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance provided by the Commissioner on the occasion of the Right to Know Day.
Digitalization process - The Report authors cover consultation meetings of the competent authorities with broadcasters' representatives from the territory of Vojvodina, Belgrade and a part of Central Serbia, as well as with interested manufacturers and dealers of TV sets - in relation to branding TV sets with a seal of warranty Digital TV.Privatization process - The Report authors analyzed the work of the Privatization Agency with respect to procedures by which the remaining publicly owned media enter privatization process, and some unofficial, disputable information pertaining to the deadline for media privatization.
56th Monitoring Report was produced by the expert team of the ANEM legal department, Law Office "Živković&Samardžić", in cooperation with ANEM.
The Summary and Conclusion of the Report in English is available for download here below.
The full report and its sections in Serbian are available for download here.
The contents of this Report are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Civil Rights Defenders
The contents of this Report are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Open Society Foundation, Serbia.
The Summary and Conclusion of the ANEM 56th Monitoring Report
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