01. 03. 2008

MATIC: WE'VE NEVER TRIED TO AVOID ACCOUNTABILITY

Members of the Republic Broadcasting Agency Council accuse the director of B92 of claiming falsehoods about the Agency's work

Belgrade, March 1, 2008 (Danas) – TV B92 is still under permanent police protection.  I have received from an insider – a reliable source within the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RBA) – an information that the Agency is reviewing broadcasters' reporting during the February 21 protest, including the reports aired by B92.

B92 has never tried to avoid accountability and examination of its reporting, said the director of RTV B92, Veran Matic to Danas, commenting on the yesterday's public statements of the members of the RBA which were delivered to our newspaper directly from the Agency itself. It was pointed out in the statements that "Matic's unprofessional assertions demonstrate the intent of the B92 management to portray themselves as innocent victims, and the Council of the RBA as a political villain".

At the round table held two days ago, "The Media in Crisis Situations", Matic has pointed out that the RBA is examining the reporting of B92 during the protest, adding that "it may even result in revocation of our television's national frequency".  He said that B92 was under permanent police protection since February 17 and that in such conditions freedom of the media loses its meaning. In his words, parts of the government stand behind the attacks on the media, "supporting or organizing those who do it".

Replying to this, vice president of the RBA Council, Aleksandar Vasic, said that "Matic's statement was unprofessional; the Council of the RBA intends to analyse the reporting of all broadcasters in Serbia at the time of the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo and Metohija, and later during the protests in Belgrade".

"Members of the RBA Council have never said they intended to punish anyone, since there exist long and complicated procedures for such purpose... The RBA Council shall not tolerate such blatant manipulations based on complete fabrications. The untruths told by Matic, abusing the license he received from the RBA Council, will certainly be examined by the Council", said Aleksandar Vasic, adding that "no one is above the law, not even the self-proclaimed victim of all regimes in the last twenty years – Veran Matic. Nobody has the right to deceive the public, not even B92. Nobody is allowed to use illegal methods to obstruct the RBA in performing its legally mandated duties, one of which is the monitoring of broadcasters' work, including the work of B92".

Veran Matic's claim that the RBA is considering punishment of B92 because of its reporting brought a reaction yesterday of RBA Council members Vladimir Cvetkovic and bishop Porfirije. Cvetkovic says that Matic's claim is a "pure lie and may be the result of a sudden pang of conscience or fear of being held accountable, which is not the kind of problems the RBA Council is legally mandated to solve".

The bishop Porfirije issued a public statement – "fictitious and irresponsible claims of any broadcaster about activities of the RBA directly threaten the functioning of the broadcasting system in Serbia, including the broadcasters themselves. Such statements disturb the public and are intended to prevent the RBA Council from monitoring the activities of the broadcasters".

At the round table held two days ago, director of the Ebart Documentation, Velimir Curgus Kazimir, revealed that the results of the research about media reports during the protest "Kosovo is Serbia" showed that RTS, in its Dnevnik at 19.30, aired the news about the violence and the attack on the Embassy of Turkey and the McDonald's restaurant in the 13th minute, and the news about the attack on the Embassy of the USA only in the 16th minute.

He added that RTS had no live broadcasts on that evening. Regarding B92, Curgus Kazimir said that the first news was aired at the 11th minute in the live broadcast, "but it should be noted that B92's news begin at 18.30". In his words, the number one in reporting from the protest was "TV Fox, since the first news about the events was aired in the 39th second".

The media await Tadic's and Kostunica's response

Because of the physical and verbal violence against journalists during events that followed after the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo and Metohija, media associations and several radio and TV stations, weekly magazines and daily newspapers, have delivered a demand two days ago to the prime minister and the president of Serbia to find and punish the perpetrators of these attacks.

The demand was signed by the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia, Journalists' Association of Serbia, Independent Association of Journalists of Vojvodina, ANEM, agencies Beta and FoNet, and, among others, the newspaper Danas. The president of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia, Nadezda Gace, pointed out at the round table "The Media in Crisis Situations" that Serbia is entering a "ruthless" period again and that it is necessary to inform Boris Tadic and Vojislav Kostunica about the attacks on journalists during February 17 protests. "We cannot agree to be labelled by those who do not like our reporting", she explained.