20. 02. 2008

PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTERS SHOULD NOT DEPEND ON POLITICIANS

Is the reporting of media outlets established by national minority councils truly independent?

BELGRADE, February 20, 2008 (Danas) – The affair regarding the revival of the newspaper Sandzacke Novine, which was the newsletter of the Sandzak Party of Democratic Action in the nineties and whose publication is co-funded by the Ministry of Culture, is only one in the long string of this year's media scandals in Serbia.
After the strong discontent shown by certain institutions regarding the privatization of the media, with national minority councils being the most vocal, the privatization of the local media broadcasting in minority languages was suspended. This move was made possible by a new set of laws on local self-government adopted in the January last year, although the Law on Public Information explicitly forbids municipalities to establish media outlets.

Danas' interviewees have different opinions about the political influence in media outlets founded by national councils and the suspension of privatization.

Tomoslav Zigmanov, a publicist from Subotica, says for Danas that national councils, since they were formed in 2004, exhibited signs of serious misuse, and that in such context their relationship toward the media was aimed at bringing the media under some kind of control of political structures. It is visible in the fact that national councils appoint managerial, executive and editorial segments of the media outlets they have established, warns Zigmanov. He points out that it is necessary to create models which would turn minority media into public service broadcasters, since that would eliminate political influences.

- Suspension of privatization of the media outlets broadcasting in minority languages and founded by municipalities is not a good solution, because in that case the local political oligarchy would still have big influence, concludes Zigmanov.

On the other side, Balint Pastor, the president of the Executive Board of the Hungarian National Council, says that it is of great importance that the Council now is authorized to handle the daily "Madyar Szo" and "7 Nap" weekly magazine, "because the political entity of the Union of Vojvodina Hungarians has since the nineties held the opinion that institutions of crucial significance for our community should be taken care of by the chosen representatives of Hungarians in Serbia".

Pastor points out that, thanks to the parliamentary deputies of the Union of Vojvodina Hungarians, the process of privatization of media outlets broadcasting content in minority languages has been suspended at the local level, but stresses that it is not a final solution. In his words, the deputies of the Union of Vojvodina Hungarians have submitted the Draft Law on the Modifications of the Broadcasting Law in July last year, but the draft has not yet been discussed in the Parliament.

- Regardless, the process of privatization has been suspended and we have managed to retain our media. We are convinced that this solution is fully harmonized with the standards of the European Union, says Pastor.

Rade Veljanovski, a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, believes that the national councils "have failed to realize all the expectations" since they were formed, because they have never tried to change the ownership structure of the minority media. Regarding the Sandzacke Novine, Veljanovski stresses that the government should not establish media outlets, but that it should be allowed to assist them if it is necessary to preserve a national identity.

- If it is true that this newspaper is too close to some political parties, then such paper must not be funded by the government. The Ministry of Culture should examine whether there is a political influence in Sandzacke Novine, explains Veljanovski.

Twelve national councils in Serbia

According to the law, national minorities may appoint their national councils for the purpose of exercising their rights of self-government in the use of their own language and alphabet, education, access to information and culture. Twelve national councils of numerous minorities have been established in Serbia: the Hungarian, Ruthenian, Slovakian, Romanian, Croatian, Bunjevac, Ukrainian, Greek, Macedonian, Roma, Bosniak and Bulgarian. Albanian minority is the only national minority that has not established its national council.