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11. 08. 2014

ANNUL MEDIA TENDERS WHICH ARE NOT NEUTRAL AND FAIR

Niš, 11.8.2014 (Danas, by R.D.) - Local Anti-Corruption Forum (LAF) Niš called on the mayor Zoran Perišić and the Directorate for Culture to cancel two current tenders for allocating budgetary funds to the city media because „conditions of the tenders raise a suspicion that the allocation will not be sufficiently unbiased, fair and equal for all interested parties". With no intention to pass a final judgement regarding the cases in question, LAF warns that public tenders the conditions of which are already adjusted to certain media outlets, while discriminating all others, are contrary to the Constitution, laws and ethics, and they are deeply corrupt.

LAF's reaction followed a competition for the selection of broadcast media for the provision of information services relevant for the city, called last month by the Mayor Perišić, and the public procurement for the provision of information services relevant for the City of Niš, intended for daily newspapers, video-agencies and internet portals, called at roughly the same time by the Directorate for Culture.

The text of the competition states that only „televisions covering territory of the city of Niš with the regional broadcasting permit" and „cable televisions which broadcast in the territory of Niš and the towns and municipalities in its surrounding" which are not users of budgetary funding on another basis, have the right to participate. Out of three televisions in Niš, only „Belle Amie" has the requested regional permit, and out of two cable operators in the city, only Television Zona Plus covers the requested territory, while Kopernikus broadcasts country-wide.

The public procurement requests potentially interested daily newspapers to publish texts related to the city of Niš on the front page, on the second, third and the fourteenth page. There is only one daily newspaper in Niš - „Narodne novine". National dailies with regional pages which could be interested in this procurement are eliminated in advance because „laws of the profession" do not permit that local topics from Niš be on the front pages every day.

LAF also finds it problematic that city budgetary means are allocated to the media through these public competitions for covering the work of city authorities, public enterprises and institutions, and „the activities of public office holders and public authority holders", and not for professional production and distribution of information of public importance for the citizens. Objective information of importance for their lives are more important to the citizens of Niš, no matter the type of information, than the ubiquitous affirmative covering of the activities of the authorities and officials, says the statement of the independent city body LAF.

Without Media Representatives

A five-member commission will decide on the result of the competition for the selection of broadcast media for the provision of information services relevant for the city. The commission is appointed by Mayor Perišić, and is comprised of representatives of the city Directorate for Finances, Directorate for Culture and the Mayor's Office. There is not a single media representative in the Commission, which is in collision with the national Media Strategy.