16. 05. 2003

Journalist union accuses parliament of “unreasonable pressure”

BELGRADE, 16 May, 2003 -- NUNS, the Independent Association of Serbian Journalists, yesterday assessed that “non-democratic and unreasonable pressure” was being exerted on Radio Television Serbia to broadcast live Serbian Parliament sessions. In a statement released by NUNS, they noted that the adoption of the Broadcasting Act makes RTS a state service with the right to decided what is in its best interests and the interests of its programming. The statement reads: “NUNS has backed the transformation of RTS into a public service because it guarantees that the interests of citizens will have supremacy over the interest of politicians, who surreptitiously or publicly manipulated the editing policy for decades”. The statement added that it would be in the interest of public information for RTS and MPs to reach agreement on the form and scope of reporting the parliament’s work and activities, as well agreeing how to finance this coverage.