10. 01. 2008

JOINT ANNOUNCEMENT - GROUP FOR MEDIA SECTOR REFORM ON SUSPENSION OF PRIVATIZATION PROCESS

ADOPTED LAWS VIOLATE PRINCIPLES OF MEDIA REFORM

Belgrade, January 10, 2008 - The Law on Local Self-Government and the Law on the Capital City, adopted by the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia on December 29, 2007, in their sections which allow municipalities to establish television and radio stations, as well as the city of Belgrade to establish television and radio stations, newspapers and other media outlets, constitute a serious and unacceptable setback to media sector reforms in Serbia initiated after the October changes in 2000 and with the adoption of the Broadcast Law and the Law on Public Information in 2002 and 2003.

The said reforms are based on two crucial principles. The first principle is the formation of an independent regulatory body for broadcasting, whose authority includes issue of licenses for broadcasters using public and non-discriminatory procedures, while the second principle is the reform of the public media sector in the process of mandatory privatization of state media outlets, i.e. the transformation of the RTS into a public service broadcaster. Provisions of the new laws directly contradict the Law on Public Information, which explicitly specifies that public media outlets cannot be founded by local self-government, directly or indirectly. The deadline for mandatory privatization of print media owned by the state has expired in April 2006, while the deadline for mandatory privatization of state-owned broadcasters has expired in December 31, 2007.

The Group for Media Sector Reform points out that it is unacceptable that the laws regulating the local self-government violate the crucial principles of fundamental laws in the media sphere. The Group considers that there is not a single reason for renewed acceptance of the obsolete and unsuccessful model of direct state ownership, funding and control over the media, and draws attention to numerous examples of interference and abuse of local and regional public media outlets that we all have witnessed, and to destructive changes in their management structures and editorial policy caused solely by political reasons.

The Group for Media Sector Reform points out that citizens were not consulted whether they agree to pay, in addition to the license fee for public broadcasters in the republic and the province, the funds for new local media outlets whose editorial independence is not assured by any systematic guarantees.

The Group for Media Sector Reform appeals to the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia to again consider the disputed provisions of the Law on Local Self-Government and the Law on the Capital City. We ask the Ministry of Culture, which is authorized to monitor the enforcement of the Law on Public Information, to prevent the establishment of public media outlets in violation of the Law.

The Group for Media Sector Reform
joint working body of NUNS, ANEM and Local Press