13. 07. 2015

THE SIXTIETH MONITORING REPORT OF ANEM

SERBIAN MEDIA SCENE IN THE PERIOD JANUARY - MAY 2015

Freedom of expression - in the first five months of 2015 the right to freedom of expression was threatened in different ways. Journalists were subject to threats and attacks, even by ordinary citizens, just because they were doing their job. Eight selected cases were analyzed. While the police reacted relatively quickly and effectively, the prosecutor's reaction was inadequate. The authors of the Report point to the causes of the inefficient legal protection of journalists in such cases and the consequences thereof. Journalists and the media were also subject to various pressures mainly coming from the field of politics, due to critical reporting about public officials and their work. Five selected cases were analyzed. Such reactions of the authorities to criticism have significantly harmful consequences on the work and the position of the media and journalists, which is analyzed by the authors of the Reports. The cyber-attacks on news portals critical in their reporting about various topics continued in 2015, taking up new, sophisticated forms and the authors of the Report suggested measures to be taken in order to solve this problem. Seven selected cases were analyzed. Concerning legal proceedings, the authors analyzed two trials that will serve as a basis for jurisprudence in the application of the provisions of the Law on Public Information and the Media - those regulating the right of journalists to publish their truthful statements or to present their opinion in the media, as well as to voice their opinion outside of the media as a personal position; as well as in the application of the provisions of the Anti-Discrimination Act and Anti-Mobbing Act. The cases in question are Srdjan Skoro vs. "Vecernje Novosti" and Jasminka Kocijan vs. the Tanjug News Agency. The third analyzed process - Emir Kusturica vs. E-novine - points to the position of Serbian courts concerning the obligations of the media to check the accuracy of information they publish, if they are passing on such information previously released by other media.

In the part of the Report - implementation of existing laws - the authors deal with the application of the Law on Public Information and Media - more specifically with the implementation of the procedure of project co-financing through open competitions and point to identified practical issues. The implementation of the Law on Electronic Media - in order to implement that Law more efficiently, the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media is must pass a series of bylaws. The subject of analysis was the six bylaws the drafts of which were laid down by the Regulator in the reporting period.

The adoption of new laws - The Draft of the new Advertising Law was tabled for public debate as early as back in January, but it is still not in parliamentary procedure. Bearing in mind that this Law is extremely important for the functioning of the media and completing the reforms of the regulatory framework relevant for the media, the authors of the Report analyzed the Draft Law and pointed to serious shortcomings, particularly the narrowed scope of application of the general rules on advertising and the lack of regulation of advertising by public authorities.

Work of the competent bodies and authorities - the work of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) - the subject of analysis were the measures REM pronounced during the reporting period against media services providers, over wrong program labeling and violations of obligations related to the protection of minors (the case of the reality show "Parovi" on Happy TV) and the breaches to the Broadcasters' Code of Conduct (the case of Kopernikus TV - the Rule of the Other Party); the work of the self-regulatory body - the Press Council - two procedures before the Complaints Commission were analyzed, namely: 1. The complaint by the daily "Politika" against the daily "Blic" for breach of the provisions of the Journalist Code of Ethics on the respect of copyright, over the publication of four texts originally published in "Politika" without the consent of the latter (the decision has been passed) and 2. The complaint filed by Beba Kanacki, the Spokesperson of the Psychiatric Hospital in Vranje against the daily "Kurir" over the unauthorized use of a video from social networks, created while she was a reporter of TV Fokus (the Commission has failed to agree on a decision); The work of public authorities: The Ombudsman - his Annual Report for 2014 was analyzed and especially the media relevant parts (state of play of media freedoms and analysis of the media situation), as well as the smear campaign in the media against the Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic; the Commissioner for Information of Public Interest and Personal Data Protection - the authors have analyzed the Annual Report of the Commissioner on the implementation of both laws from his area of competence, particularly the part relative to the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance, namely the tendencies and challenges in the implementation thereof.

The digitalization process - the authors delved on the final phase of the digital switchover process, which was supposed to end by June 17 and explained what will be the biggest challenge for the media after the completion of the process.

The privatization process - the authors pointed to clear delays in the completion of the media privatization process and the causes thereof.

In the conclusion of the Report the authors summed up their findings about the developments on the Serbian media scene in the first five months of 2015.

The Sixtieth Monitoring Report was prepared by the ANEM expert monitoring team from the law office „Živković&Samardžić", in cooperation with ANEM.

The Summary and Conclusion of the Report in English is available for download at the end of this page.

The full report and its sections in Serbian are available for download here. 

MONITORING REPORT 60 - SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION