24. 03. 2015

COALITION OF JOURNALISTS’ AND MEDIA ASSOCIATIONS: POOR LEGAL SOLUTIONS FOR INFORMATION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES ARE A THREAT TO MEDIA REFORMS

Belgrade, 24 March 2015 - The Coalition of journalists' and media associations (Journalists' Association of Serbia - UNS, Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia - NUNS, Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina - NDNV, Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) and Business Association "Local Press") is of the opinion that the decision of the National Council of Albanians to establish a RTV station that will broadcast program in the Albanian language, although based on law, is in fact in contradiction with the substance of media reforms in Serbia that are based on the principle of the state withdrawal from media ownership.

The Coalition warns that the legal solutions for information of national minorities in Serbia have remained incomplete and they practically strengthen the position of national councils in the sector of information in minority languages, although the experience so far indicates that the majority of media founded by the national councils operate under overt political influence.

There is a great danger that the model implemented by the Albanian National Council be used in other national communities, and that it finally leads to the monopoly of national councils in the information of national minorities, thus preventing pluralism of media content, information and opinions.

Media laws defined a dual system of information in Serbia - one is in the majority language, based on the intention to lessen the influence of the state and state institutions on the media sphere, and the other - in minority languages - which favors the state, embodied in national minority councils, and allows for establishing (new) media and their instrumentalization.

The Coalition assumes that the legislator, in cooperation with some minority parties, wished to protect information of national minorities from the media market. However, it missed the opportunity to define the responsibility of national councils in the information sphere and the mechanisms for the protection of editorial autonomy of the media founded by the councils.

We remind that during political harmonization of the Law on Public Information and Media those parts of the draft law that had existed in some versions of the draft and that guaranteed the autonomy of the editorial policy of national councils' media were removed. According to the requests of journalists' associations, these media should have functioned as minority public service media of sorts, with all the procedures that, at least formally, protect the editorial policy, with the obligation to inform citizens in a truthful, timely, complete, unbiased and professional manner, without serving the interest of individual political parties and religious communities or any other particular political, economic, religious or similar viewpoint or interest. 

Although the law prescribes that the media founded by national councils may not participate in the competitions for co-financing of media content in accordance with the public interest that the state issues at all levels, the opinion of the Coalition is that it is not a sufficient guarantee for the survival and development of other minority media considering that they will be faced with unfair competition in the system of media founded by national councils, on the one hand, and the majority media, on the other.  

It is exceptionally important that financing of media founded by national councils be fully transparent, and it is necessary to demonopolize the influence of national councils on the decisions of independent panels for co-financing public interest in the sector of information in the languages of national minorities.

The laws stopped short of advancing the development of multilingual media and interculturality in the information sphere. This can result in additional ghettoization of the media scene in minority languages, but also of the national communities' members, as evident in the decision of the National Council of Albanians.

The Coalition of journalists' and media associations calls on the authorities and other decision makers to understand that it is important to recognize not only a great media-related importance, but also a great social importance of multilingual media and interculturality of media content.

We are of the opinion that the adoption of the new Law on National Councils of National Minorities is an opportunity to correct the failures of media laws, i.e. to define the responsibility of national councils for the information in the languages of national minorities, both regarding the mechanisms for realizing the autonomy of editorial policy of the media they are the founders of, according to the principle of public service media, and regarding the obligation of national minority councils to take care of the content in minority languages, including in the media they are not the founders of. Namely, there is a danger that national councils "let go" of those media and media content that are not under their control.

Belgrade - Novi Sad - Kragujevac, 24 March 2015

Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS)

Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS)

Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina (NDNV)

Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)

Business Association "Local Press"