30. 09. 2015

THE SIXTY - FIRST MONITORING REPORT OF ANEM

JUNE 2015 - SERBIAN MEDIA SCENE

Freedom of expression - In June 2015 journalists and the media were exposed to various threats and pressures, including the specialized magazine "Vrele gume" - by the advertiser; the news portal Zajecar Online - by a person or persons unknown; and the daily "Kurir" - by politicians. In analyzing these three cases, the authors of the report pointed out to the consequences of such an attitude towards the media and journalists for the position and work of the latter. The issue of economic and social rights of journalists was also topical in this period, in relation to the layoffs of a large number of journalists employed by the publishing powerhouse Ringier Axel Springer Srbija, which case was also examined in this Report. In relation to court proceedings, the Report studied the judgment of the Higher Court in Belgrade in the trial against Radovan Krcmarevic and Bojan Krcmarevic from Lazarevac over their unauthorized broadcasting of the "pirate" radio station "Raka Esinger"; the authors of the Report pointed out to the harmful consequences of the longstanding unresolved problem of piracy in the field of electronic media.

In the part of the Report concerning the implementation of existing laws the authors delved into the implementation of the Law on Electronic Media, analyzing: the consent of the Regulatory Body of Electronic Media (REM) for the merger of the ownership of two TV stations with a national licenses - TV Prva and TV B92 and particularly REM's press release on that occasion; the issue of the financing of REM in relation to the payment of the REM's surplus (from 2014) in national budget; the drafts of the two bylaws of REM regulating in more detail the issue of own production and the share of European audiovisual works in the programming of domestic media service providers.

Adoption of new laws - The authors of the Report analyzed the amendments to the Law on Public Information and Media and the causes and legal consequences thereof.

Work of competent bodies - The activities of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) - the topic of analysis were the reports of the Regulator on the realization of the programming and legal obligations of RTS and RTV, as well as those of commercial broadcasters, in the course of the previous year (until the coming into force of new media laws); special emphasis was placed on the decision of the REM approving the continuation of the broadcasting of the programs of culture and information centers after July 1, 2015; the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veterans' and Social Affairs - in relation to Ministry's approval of the social programs for the employees of 13 media outlets that are being privatized, the authors of the Report pointed out to the consequences of the absence, in media laws, of regulation of the social component of media privatization.

The digitalization process - the authors of this Report analysed the challenges TV stations face after the completion of the digitalization process in June.

The privatization process - the authors explained the phases in the privatization procedure after the calling of the open competition for the sale of media and pointed out to two specific cases in the field of media privatization.

In the conclusion of this Report, summing up their findings on the developments on the Serbian media scene in June 2015, the authors pointed out to what was characteristic in that period and what needs to be done going forward in order to continue the process of media reforms.

The Sixty-first 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 are available for download at the end of this page.

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

The creation of this Report is supported by the Swiss Cooperation Office Serbia within the Small Projects Fund, but the views presented in this Report are the sole responsibility of its authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Swiss Cooperation Office Serbia. 

MONITORING REPORT 61 - SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION