TRANSFORMATION OF RADIO-TV BOSNIA-HERCEGOVINACROATIAI. Draft proposals on TV transformation revealed.
S-KANAL
II. TV executive outlines changes at state television.I. Serb S-Kanal TV in Pale shut down.OTHER MEDIA NEWS
II. OHR warns of action if S-Kanal “makes one wrong move.”
III. Paper views founders of new Serb S-Kanal TV.
IV. Transmitters used by new Serb S-Kanal TV.I. Independent media must come from within—deputy HR.
II. Croat TV Mostar resumes broadcasts despite OSCE ban.
III. Bosnian Serb news agency praised for “unifying role.”
IV. Bosnian Serb government to reorganize SRT.
V. New minister reviews Bosnian Serb media.
VI. Studio Banja Luka signal again disrupted in Pale.
VII. Independent media in Bosnia to get 2.4m ECU from EU.
VIII. Serb St John radio reacts to UN official’s criticism.
IX. Opposition wants state TV under external supervision.
FREQUENCY TENDER RULESI. Media association says tender rules “unclear.”STUDIO B PLANS TO DROP VOA
II. Opposition party condemns frequency tender rules.
III. Frequency tender “unlawful,” expert says.I. Draskovic urges Studio B not to drop VOA.
II. Democratic Party condemns plans to drop foreign stations.
III. Studio B likely to end broadcasts of VOA programmes.
I. Draft proposals on TV transformation revealed.
Onasa agency [on 6th February]
reported that the issue of the transformation of Radio-TV Bosnia-Hercegovina
should be resolved soon, that is, after two proposals drafted by Bosniak
[Muslim] and Croat representatives in the relevant working group are considered.
According to the proposal
drafted by Croat representatives, Radio-TV Bosnia-Hercegovina should be
transformed into a public Radio-TV of the Bosnia-Hercegovina Federation.
Its workforce should consists of about 60 per cent of Muslims, 30 per cent
of Croats and 10 per cent of others. The managing board of the Federation’s
Radio-TV would consists of three Bosniaks, three Croats and one member
of another nationality and the programming council of seven Bosniaks, seven
Croats and three members of other nationalities.
Parliament to appoint board and editors, to approve statute and
financing
The House of Peoples of
the parliament of the Bosnia-Hercegovina Federation should appoint the
managing board, the programming council, directors, editors in chief and
editors of current affairs programmes. The House of Peoples would
also approve the statute, development plans, financial plans and annual
reports.
The Croat proposals says
that the Federation Radio-TV would be financed from the licence fee, advertisements,
sale of programmes, sponsorship deals and the Bosnia-Hercegovina Federation
budget.
Equality of languages and representation
Radio and TV programmes
would be broadcast both in the Bosniak and Croat languages.
Apart from the equality
of languages in all the programmes broadcast by [Bosnian] Radio-TV, Bosniaks
[Muslims] and Croats should be equally represented as editors, presenters
and others taking part in the programmes, and in accordance with this,
every second or third day the editor of the main news bulletin should be
a Bosniak or a Croat.
Bosniak representatives
in the working group in charge of the transformation of Radio-TV Bosnia-Hercegovina
proposed that it be transformed in line with a bill on the public and commercial
network, prepared by the European Media Institute, and which the Bosnia-Hercegovina
Federation should adopt as a matter of urgency.
The proposal of the Bosniak
side states that it is necessary to regulate the question of the status
of Radio-TV Bosnia-Hercegovina by law, while the managing board and the
programme council should be set up once the appropriate laws are adopted.
The programme policy, the programme scheduling and the issue of the use
of language on radio and TV would be regulated by the programme council.
The management board would advertise for and nominate personnel and be
in charge of the personnel policy.
Search for an agreement with Croat TV
The Bosniak side also proposed
the signing of an agreement between Radio-TV Bosnia-Hercegovina and Croat
TV on bringing their respective funds into a joint company, which would
also include information and technical centres in Tuzla, Zenica, Mostar,
Bihac, Siroki Brijeg and Kiseljak. The Bosniak representatives suggested
that licence fees, commercials, services to third parties and the budget
of the Bosnia-Hercegovina Federation be used as the basic source of financing
of the future radio and TV.
TV Bosnia-Hercegovina via satellite, February 6, 1998
II. TV executive outlines changes at state television.
Radio-TV Bosnia-Hercegovina
is to get a new status that will end a two-year legal vacuum. One
of its senior executives, Ahmed Hadzijamakovic, has outlined the changes
that will transform the company into a genuine public broadcaster.
A special commission will soon release its recommendations concerning,
in particular, the broadcaster’s editorial policy and its use of languages.
The following is the text of a report headlined “A new signal as part of
the federal scenario” by the independent Sarajevo newspaper ‘Vecernje Novine;
subheadings as published:
The two-year impasse in
the status of Radio-TV Bosnia-Hercegovina, which has generally been operating
since the signing of the Dayton according to the principle of “neither
here nor there,” will soon be set into a federal framework. The planned
transformation of this company primarily anticipates that it will no longer
be state-run, not even in name.
Special wish of the Office of the High Representative
Looking back on the events
that led to this, one should point out that Alija Izetbegovic, chairman
of the Presidency of Bosnia-Hercegovina, and Kresimir Zubak, member of
the presidency, reached an agreement in principle last week on this transformation.
According to the agreement, the state-run television is to be transformed
into a federal television station and, to this end, a four-member team
in charge of working out the “final design solution” of this undoubtedly
large project has already been appointed. The members are Amila Omersoftic
and Ahmed Hadzijamakovic, incumbent executives of Radio-TV Bosnia-Hercegovina,
and Martin Raguz and Neven Tomic, representatives of the Croat side.
In all this, it should be stressed that Duncan Bullivant, spokesman for
the High Representative, told the press last week that he did not have
all the details about how the transformation was going to develop, but
he stressed that his office “would like to see a stronger presence of the
Croat side.”
The television’s director
Ahmed Hadzijamakovic maintains, among other things, that, over the past
two years, this company has had an unstable status, as since Dayton it
had been restricted to the cantonal level, both in terms of its organization
and its functioning.
“We aspire to become a public
broadcaster, which, of course, refers principally to the territory covered
by our signal. Furthermore, the way we see this transformation, it
is supposed to result in a uniform federal programme scheme. Unfortunately,
at this point, owing to objective reasons linked to the financial situation,
we cannot think in terms of launching two different programme schemes that
would meet all the requirements of a public broadcaster, including the
broadcasting of all programme genres that make a medium public,” Hadzijamakovic
says.
Choice of language
Speaking about language,
Hadzijamakovic says that, in principle, this issue will be determined by
the Programme Council.
Staff currently working
there speak in the usual language, which means that the choice has been
left to individual employees. In Hadzijamakovic’s opinion, the key
issue of the upcoming transformation is the fact that the law on media,
that is currently restricted to the level of cantons, will finally be passed.
According to the anticipated procedure, the existing cantonal laws should
definitely be passed in the parliament of the Federation of Bosnia-Hercegovina.
Speaking about the possible
involvement of representatives of the Serb Republic’s television in the
new project, Hadzijamakovic says that, unfortunately, the response so far
has not been great.
“True, we have had some
contacts with independent media in Banja Luka, but they could not be regarded
as spectacular and as something that might change the general picture,”
he said.
Finally, Hadzijamakovic
points out that Radio-TV Bosnia-Hercegovina staff have fully accepted the
goals and basic guidelines of the programme policy of a public broadcaster,
which are contained, after all, in the already passed draft law on public
media that was put forward by the European Institute for the Media.
The four-member commission,
involving Amila Omersoftic, Ahmed Hadzijamakovic, Martin Raguz and Neven
Tomic, is expected to prepare a proposal of the future transformation of
this company within the next seven days. They are supposed to present
their own views of the new programme council, the board of managers, the
managing structure, resources, the possibility of covering the entire territory,
the editorial policy and the use of the Bosnian and Croatian languages.
The Office of the High Representative
supports this initiative to organize Radio-TV Bosnia-Hercegovina in line
with the federal principle. The Dayton peace accords, however, anticipate
the organization of media at the cantonal level. Therefore, as ‘Vecernje
Novine’ has learnt, after the joint commission submits the proposal, the
cantons will have to approve the organization of the federal radio-television,
that is, to transfer their authority to the federation until specific regulations
are adopted at the federation level.
‘Vecernje Novine,’ February 5, 1998
I. Serb S-Kanal TV in Pale shut down.
The newly-opened S-Kanal
Television in Pale stopped broadcasting its programme [on 13th February].
The RS [Serb Republic] government decided [during the night of 12th February]
to withdraw the frequencies allocated to that television station, and the
decision to establish cooperation between S-Kanal and the RS state television
was declared invalid.
S-Kanal's frequencies are
now broadcasting programmes from satellite channels.
Following his meeting with
Elisabeth Rehn, special UN envoy for Bosnia-Hercegovina, Momcilo Krajisnik,
member of the Bosnia-Hercegovina Presidency from the RS, criticized the
RS government's decision to withdraw the frequencies from S-Kanal and said
that he would suggest to the television that it file a complaint against
that decision.
Beta news agency, Belgrade, February 13, 1998
II. OHR warns of action if S-Kanal “makes one wrong move.”
“There is no doubt that,
if S-Kanal makes one wrong move, we shall take appropriate action,” Esling
Byrne, spokeswoman of the Office of the High Representative [OHR], has
told ‘Vecernje Novine’.
She told a news conference
yesterday [15th January] that the OHR currently did not have enough information
about the kind of programming that S-Kanal was going to broadcast.
“We believe that it is a
question of several local, municipal stations, which means that it is not
a single television station, that is, a channel. We have heard that
Svjetlana Siljegovic is its director, and Sonja Karadzic its co-owner.
. . . [ellipsis as published] We are aware of those reports,” Byrne
said, adding that the OHR was going to treat S-Kanal like any other television
station.
“First we are going to establish
whether the existing legal regulations were observed in the course of its
privatization. Our monitoring service will provide us with data about
the equipment they are using and, if it turns out that the equipment has
been stolen, we shall certainly take action, as we did in the case of inflammatory
and unfair reporting,” Byrne said.
In addition to the launch
of S-Kanal, another problem that the OHR is soon to face is that the contract
on the satellite link-up of the Banja Luka SRT [Serb Radio-Television]
with transmitters in the eastern part of the Serb Republic is to expire
later this month.
“How we are going to resolve
that problem is not known for the time being. We shall try to find
a technical solution. If we fail, we shall extend the contract or
try to find a third solution. We are working on it at the moment.
We want to carry out a technical check to find out what kind of equipment
is lacking, whether it can be purchased or replaced, and whether we can
get the funds for it,” Byrne said, adding that the goal of the OHR was
to continue its efforts to have the whole of the Serb Republic’s territory
covered by SRT Banja Luka’s programmes.
“S-Kanal under scrutiny,” ‘Vecernje Novine,’ Sarajevo, January 16, 1998
III. Paper views founders of new Serb S-Kanal TV.
Svjetlana Siljegovic, the
Serb Republic’s information minister, has confirmed in a statement for
the Fles agency that the private television station S-Kanal started broadcasting
on [14th January] in Pale.
According to Siljegovic,
who is at the same time the station’s editor in chief [as published—see
next two reports], the journalists and editorial staff are predominantly
former employees of the Pale studio of Serb Radio-Television [SRT] and
the station’s programmes are broadcast daily for 18 hours and can be received
in the area in and around Pale and Sarajevo.
According to the information
available, this channel is nothing more than a private television station
owned by a few people from the Pale political leadership and managers of
the Pale SRT studio, which has been off the air since October last year
for reasons that are well known.
In addition to current Information
Minister Svjetlana Siljegovic, which may be seen as setting some kind of
precedent in the media business, there are also such names as Miroslav
Toholj, director-general of SRT, Drago Vukovic, editor in chief of the
Pale studio, and Velibor Ostojic, who has apparently been showing no desire
for publicity and has been working behind the scenes.
As such an enterprise requires
certain technical equipment, the problem has been solved, according to
recent reports by independent media in the Serb Republic, by using the
existing equipment of the Pale SRT studio, with the “purchase” of additional
technical hardware.
Just how this channel is
going to function and whether it possesses the necessary licences from
the Information Ministry, which it undoubtedly does, considering who its
editor in chief is, remain to be seen.
As for the Pale SRT studio,
this is another example of how it is being abused, as a number of its former
employees have already found jobs with various newspapers and television
stations in the FRY, such as journalist Sanja Eric, who now works for ‘Vecernje
Novosti’ in Belgrade, and presenter Jugoslava Siljak, who is currently
working as an interpreter for an international organization.
‘Vecernje Novine,’ Sarajevo, January 16, 1998
IV. Transmitters used by new Serb S-Kanal TV.
Just before the Serbian New
Year [14th January], a new radio-television station, S-Kanal, started broadcasting
at 1900 [1800 gmt] on 13th January. Its programmes can be seen in
a limited area in the Sarajevo-Romanija region and it is being broadcast
via transmitters in Hodza, Gavrica Brdo and Hresa.
S-Kanal has been constituted
as a shareholding company, with 33 per cent of its shares held by the employees
of the Pale studio of Serb Radio-Television [SRT], who have been prevented
from working by High Representative Carlos Westendorp since October [1997].
The employees of SRT’s Pale studio will be working at the new station until
the state television issue is resolved.
Serb Republic Information
Minister Svetlana Siljegovic is S-Kanal’s director and Marica Lalovic is
its editor in chief.
‘Oslobodjenje,’ Pale, January 16, 1998
I. Independent media must come from within—deputy HR.
“I am very sceptical about
setting up media [projects] in Bosnia-Hercegovina with outside help, be
it television, radio or press. The question arises whether such a
creation can have a long-term effect,” Deputy High Representative for Bosnia-Hercegovina
Hanns Schumacher said [on 8th February] at a meeting of Circle 99 [Bosnian
independent intellectual forum] in Sarajevo, commenting on the current
situation of the OBN [Open Broadcast Network] TV network.
He doubted that it was possible
to achieve lasting results if the launch of an independent media is not
carried out from within [Bosnia-Hercegovina].
Schumacher added that sizable
quantities of money had been “squandered” in the case of OBN and the financial
demands were only increasing. The question was how long the international
community would be able to finance that.
“The moment the international
community suspends its aid the whole system will collapse. I am aware
of how quickly the international community can change its mind when money
is in question, and the media are the first to feel such a change,” Schumacher
said.
BH Press news agency, Sarajevo, February 8, 1998
II. Croat TV Mostar resumes broadcasts despite OSCE ban.
[Bosnian] Croat TV Mostar
yesterday [2nd February] resumed news broadcasts, thus ignoring a decision
issued by the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe]
media subcommission.
Immediately after the [local] September elections the media subcommission
asked Croat TV Mostar—owing to its unprofessional and biased information—to
broadcast a public apology in the first minutes of each news bulletin over
several days. Croat TV Mostar editors rejected this demand and therefore
its broadcasts were discontinued. However, Croat TV Mostar yesterday
resumed its broadcasts, despite the fact that it had not fulfilled the
condition set by the OSCE media subcommission.
Radio Bosnia-Hercegovina, Sarajevo, February 3, 1998
III. Bosnian Serb news agency praised for “unifying role.”
The minister for information
of the [Bosnian] Serb Republic government, Rajko Vasic, spoke in Banja
Luka today [2nd February] with the director-general of the Serb News Agency
[SRNA], Branislav Ilic, and senior management on the agency’s current situation.
SRNA representatives familiarized
the minister with their work since April 1992, the personnel, technical
equipment and plans for the future. [They also explained] the correspondent
network in the Serb Republic, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia [FRY]
and abroad, as well as the mutual information exchange which SRNA has established
with prominent international news agencies.
It was emphasized that SRNA
needed to preserve its unifying role in the Serb Republic, which it had
maintained so far with great professionalism.
In this context, [they]
concluded that [SRNA] was the only [news agency] capable of that unifying
role and of supplying media customers in the Serb Republic with fast and
accurate information from all parts of the Serb Republic and abroad.
The material status of SRNA
and its workers was also discussed. Vasic promised that the government
would devise the means to provide a better material situation.
The meeting ended with the
decision that in future SRNA and the competent ministry would cooperate
as often as possible in a manner satisfactory to both sides, with the aim
of keeping the citizens of the Serb Republic informed in an objective,
professional and timely manner.
Radio St John, Pale, February 2, 1998
IV. Bosnian Serb government to reorganize SRT.
The government of the [Bosnian] Serb Republic announced [on 31st January] that it would soon reorganize Serb Radio-TV [SRT], and appoint a new director-general of this organization. A statement from the Office of the Prime Minister of the Serb Republic [Milorad Dodik] said that this job would be carried out in line with demands by the Office of the High Representative and in collaboration with the newly-appointed international media supervisor, whose name it failed to give. The statement said that the reorganization of Serb Radio-TV would enable this medium to develop into a professional, independent and responsible network, open to all.
Bosnian Serb radio, Pale, January 31, 1998
V. New minister reviews Bosnian Serb media.
Excerpts from interview
with new Bosnian Serb Information Minister Rajko Vasic by Djuro Kozar:
In the new Serb Republic
government, the post of minister of information has been given to journalist
Rajko Vasic. He comes from Doboj and has lived in Banja Luka for
about 20 years. Until the beginning of the aggression against Bosnia-Hercegovina,
he was the Bosnia-Hercegovina Television correspondent for Bosnian Krajina.
During the war, as he says himself, he barely managed to survive.
He was forcibly mobilized and forced to go to the most dangerous fronts.
When the war ended, he took on some non-journalistic jobs just to survive.
Last year, he reported for Radio Free Europe. He does not belong
to any political party.
[Kozar] Has there been a change in the behaviour of the state media?
[Vasic] The radio and television belonging to the Banja Luka studio
are carrying on as before. The Pale part still does not work.
The daily newspaper ‘Srpski Glas’ has changed its policy and no longer
denigrates the Serb Republic president and government. We have replaced
its chief editor Goran Matrak and will soon appoint another one.
They will need time to make real steps towards professionalism.
[Q] Why does the television signal not cover the entire Serb entity?
[A] As several transmitters have been put out of action on the orders
of the SDS [Serb Democratic Party], television programmes broadcast from
the Banja Luka studio cannot be seen in the regions of Birce, Zvornik,
the Romanija plateau and so on. Banja Luka’s programmes cannot be
received in Doboj, either, because a transformer has broken down.
The Pale extremists do not want a section of Serb Republic citizens to
be informed, but are keeping them deluded and trying to manipulate them.
[Q] What has happened to the Pale television and radio equipment?
There are some indications that it was all seized for certain private media
projects.
[A] I do not know what happened to that equipment. I have to
see for myself what state it is in. If it has been seized, it will
certainly have to be returned to the state. There are some people
who were responsible for that equipment and we are going to ask them officially
to return it.
‘Dnevni Avaz,’ Sarajevo, January 31, 1998
VI. Studio Banja Luka signal again disrupted in Pale.
Pale is again without the
signal of Serb Radio Television’s [SRT] Banja Luka studio.
The channel which used to
carry the Banja Luka studio programme is now showing a still [video caption]
by the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia-Hercegovina accusing
Pale studio’s editorial team of sabotaging the
crucial transmitter in the region.
The text of the still also
states that the Office the High Representative and the Stabilization Force
are working together to repair the transmitter and re-establish reception
of the SRT signal.
In the coming days, the
Office of the High Representative will work closely with the OSCE to ensure
that all political parties are given equal access to the SRT.
[BBC Monitoring has observed
a satellite relay of TV from the Banja Luka studio, which is believed to
feed terrestrial TV transmitters, on 22nd January 1998 at 1630 gmt on the
TDRS-6 satellite at 47 degrees west. The Satco DX web site (www.satcodx.com)
gives the parameters as: 4120 MHz, H-polarization, SR 4583, FEC 1/2, using
the MPEG-2 digital system in clear mode. (Monitoring Research January 20-22,
1998)]
Tanjug news agency, Pale (on Satco DX web site), January 22, 1998
VII. Independent media in Bosnia to get 2.4m ECU from EU.
Excerpts from press release
from the European Commission Spokesman’s Service:
Ambassador Donato Chiarini,
Head of the European Commission Representation Office to Bosnia and Hercegovina,
signed [on 21st January] in Sarajevo 18 contracts under which the European
Union (EU) will provide a total of almost ECU 2.4m in financial support
to independent media organizations in Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH).
Out of these, six contracts were awarded to independent media organizations
in Republika Srpska (RS). Considering that freedom of the media plays
a crucial role in the process of democratization, the EU has developed
since 1994 a programme of assistance to independent media in the countries
of former Yugoslavia. In its choice of media, the EU has opted for
those that seek to foster understanding, trust and cooperation between
the different communities in BiH. These contracts will be financed
out of the 1997 EU budget; disbursements will take place in the course
of 1998.
The 18 contracts include
support to independent print media such as ‘Nezavisne Novine’ in RS and
‘Vecernje Novine’ in the Federation, press agencies, such as Flash and
Safax, broadcasting media, such as Radio Kamaleon, Radio Sloboda, TV 99
and NTV Banja Luka. The EU will also fund two projects being managed
by the OHR [Office of the High Representative], namely the relocation to
new premises of the SRT [Serb Radio and Television] Banja Luka studio and
a public information campaign. RTV BiH is among the 18 beneficiaries,
as the EU considers it more pluralist than the public televisions in other
countries undergoing similar periods of transition. The EU will support
the “public service” dimension of RTV BiH programming. The current
EU support to RTV BiH will be used to purchase the equipment and pay the
transport costs necessary for the production of a children TV programme
entitled “Streets of Fire.”. . .
In the 1997 budget, the
EU has earmarked a total of ECU 10m for media projects in the countries
of former Yugoslavia, of which BiH has the largest share. The EU
has pledged a further ECU 10m for support to independent media in former
Yugoslavia for the 1998 financial exercise.
These projects are part
of a comprehensive package designed to address the entire spectrum of assistance
to free media including TV, radio and press. EU assistance ranges
from supply of equipment to technical assistance including training and
programming. The support granted to media to extend their coverage
to the entire country is of particular importance.
Moreover, the EU is the
main donor to OBN network [Open Broadcasting Network] and continues to
attach primary importance to the development of a countrywide Bosnian independent
TV network. At the same time we plan to support the OHR in promoting
the restructuring of public broadcasting in BiH.
European Commission Spokesman’s Service, Brussels, January 22, 1998
VIII. Serb St John radio reacts to UN official’s criticism.
The Bosnian Serb St John
Radio, controlled by Sonja Karadzic, daughter of former Bosnian Serb leader
and war crime suspect Radovan Karadzic, has written to the UN spokesman
in Sarajevo, Alexander Ivanko, to protest against his accusations that
St John Radio had spoken in positive terms of Dr Karadzic. The radio
said it had only broadcast the speeches of participants in a meeting, and
asked: “Why is the whole world allowed to criticize the Serbs and Serb
representatives, while the Serbs are not allowed to defend themselves,
to criticize others or to voice their own opinions?” The following are
excerpts from a report by the Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA; subheadings
added editorially:
Orthodox St John Radio today
sent a letter to the UN spokesman in Sarajevo, Alexander Ivanko, in reply
to his accusations that the radio “spoke in positive terms of [former Bosnian
Serb leader and war crimes suspect] Dr Radovan Karadzic, while referring
negatively to the Hague tribunal and the international community,” and
his threats in this regard.
The letter said that the
words ascribed by Ivanko at a news conference on 16th January to St John
Radio had not been uttered by its journalists, but by “the highest Serb
moral authority.”
“The programme you have
singled out was a simple and detailed report from the launching of a public
document—the Second Declaration—on the halting of the process against Dr
Radovan Karadzic, held in Pale,” the letter pointed out, and added that
the radio had only broadcast participants’ speeches.
St John Radio recalled that
the document in question had been written by the highest moral and intellectual
authority of the Serb nation, with the blessing of His Holiness Serb Patriarch
Pavle.
The letter said that “the
declaration on the halting of the process against Dr Karadzic was also
issued in Belgrade and Novi Sad and that this was covered by the Voice
of America, CNN, the BBC and many others, and that nobody criticized them
for it.”
St John Radio is “a private, independent cultural, spiritual institution”
St John radio reminds Ivanko
that it is “a private, independent, cultural, spiritual, non-profit-making
and non-commercial institution, which has been operating under difficult
circumstances for 17 months and which has less than four per cent of news
and current affairs programmes using mainly agency reports.”
The remaining programmes
are spiritual, cultural, musical, non-commercial and apolitical.
Serbs left with no human, civil, cultural, religious rights
“If this radio station could
be threatened, Mr Ivanko, then we Serbs in the Serb Republic must understand
that we are left with no human, civil, cultural and religious rights and
that our dignity is being threatened,” the letter to the UN spokesman says,
adding:
“. . . Is the Security Council
behind this stance? Why is the whole world allowed to criticize the
Serbs and Serb representatives, while the Serbs are not allowed to defend
themselves, to criticize others or to voice their own opinions, even when
expressed by the greatest moral and intellectual authority of the Serb
people? Is it the case then that our St John Radio must not report
on events that take place and which are reported by all the other media,
including the world’s greatest [news organizations]?”
“We are convinced that this
is not the case and hope that you were not aware that the Orthodox St John
Radio was simply reporting on a public promotion of a public document,
endorsed by the head of our church, many academics, scientists and writers,”
the letter says and adds:
“We expect the representatives
of the UN to defend our rights, private property, right to work and freedom,
instead of attacking those very rights. If need be, we shall seek
the defence of these rights from every institution that can help us. However,
we sincerely hope that this will not be necessary.”
Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA, Pale, January 18, 1998
IX. Opposition wants state TV under external supervision.
Bosnia-Hercegovina TV is contributing to the destruction of Bosnia-Hercegovina, the RS [Republican Party] believes. Hence, the party demands that Bosnia-Hercegovina Radio-TV be placed under international supervision. According to [RS chairman Stjepan] Kljujic, High Representative Carlos Westendorp should set up a transitional administration for Bosnia-Hercegovina Radio-TV and replace the acting director and his entire team, who have been in charge of this institution for five years.
TV Bosnia-Hercegovina via satellite, Sarajevo, January 15, 1998
The European Commission [EC]
this year will bolster financial aid to independent Croatian media.
It will especially focus on the establishment of independent television
for the whole of Croatia, EC special envoy in Croatia, Per Vinther, said
at a round-table conference on financial aid for media in Zagreb on [10th
February]. He added that the EC would also focus on the creation
of an independent newspaper distribution network.
Independent Croatian media
received DM3m of help last year and in 1998 the commission set aside DM5m
for independent media which need not support the opposition, Vinther said.
Secretary of the Helsinki Committee, Bozo Kovacevic, said progress had
been achieved in the last several months in the Croatian Radio-TV (HRT)
news, where stances of the opposition had also been broadcast.
Kovacevic also said that
the HRT Council had, by adopting the most recent scheme orientation which
stipulated that the HRT would advocate state interests, actually sided
with the realization of Croatian government policies. EC media representative
Matthew Kidd said that the EU wanted a developed media sector in Croatia,
not just media which presented government stances on the one side and those
who express opposition views on the other.
President of the association
of representatives of electronic media “Forum 21,” Damir Matkovic, said
that possible positive changes at HRT were “only superficial,” adding that
the HRT was still the most powerful fortress for the promotion of state
policy. He said that the present system of HRT supervision that automatically
allowed the majority party in parliament to carry out the supervision should
be changed, so that the HRT became a public medium which the Croatian public
was allowed to supervise.
HINA news agency, Zagreb, February 10, 1998
II. EU supports Forum 21 idea for media democratization.
The European Union supports
the ideas of “Forum 21” on democratization of the electronic media as a
key issue in the democratisation of Croatia, Per Vinther, special envoy
of the European Commission to Croatia, said on [14th January].
According to a statement from Vinther’s office released Thursday,
on 14th January Vinther received members of the electronic media association
“Forum 21,” in order to get better acquainted with the current situation
in Croatia’s electronic media and the future strategy of “Forum 21.”
Dissatisfied with the status
of journalists and the degree of objectivity of the state television, a
group of journalists formed the association “Forum 21,” hoping to help
in ending the grip of the governing Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party
on Croatian television, transform Croatian Radio Television into a public
medium and terminate its monopoly, said “Forum 21” president Damir Matkovic.
The democratization of electronic
media in Croatia is one of the top priorities set by the EU related to
re-activating negotiations between the EU and Croatia.
The establishment of an
independent television remains a priority, Vinther stressed.
Vinther told “Forum 21”
journalists that the EU would consider the possibility of not only political,
but also financial support to “Forum 21,” as the European Commission had
financial means aimed at supporting and assisting free media in Croatia.
HINA news agency, Zagreb, January 15, 1998
Montenegrin Radio has been
evicted from its office located in the Radio Belgrade building, Montenegrin
Radio correspondent Dara Pejovic told Beta.
Pejovic said that she had
discovered [on 10th February] that someone had changed the lock on the
office, so she could not enter the premises in the Radio Belgrade building
which Montenegrin Radio has been using for years in return for the offices
which Radio Belgrade uses in Montenegrin Radio’s building.
“The sticker which read
‘Montenegrin Radio’ was rudely scratched off the door. It is quite
clear that someone had done it in a fit of rage,” Pejovic said.
She said that the “break-in”
into the offices had occurred while she was in Strasbourg reporting on
the work of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly for Radio-TV
Montenegro.
According to Pejovic, all
the equipment belonging to Montenegrin Radio—dictaphone, telephone and
documents—remains in the office.
Beta news agency, Belgrade, February 10, 1998
II. Montenegro will continue to allocate frequencies itself.
“The Republic of Montenegro
will not change anything in its procedure for the allocation of radio frequencies,”
a reliable anonymous source from the Montenegrin government has told Montena-fax,
adding that “the Yugoslav Telecommunications Ministry’s recent competition
for radio frequencies was a rash move,” and that “it will not be binding
on Montenegro.”
“The Republic of Montenegro
will continue with its practice of allocating radio frequencies following
a public competition or an agreement, as stipulated by the government rules,”
the source said. He recalled that the [Yugoslav] federation was still
applying former Yugoslavia’s law on radio frequencies.
“This is probably just a
rash move on the part of the Yugoslav Telecommunications Ministry, and
my colleagues from the Serbian government agree with this view,” the senior
government official said and added that it was quite possible that the
Telecommunications Ministry was just “feeling the pulse” of the governments
of the two republics.
Montena-fax news agency, Podgorica, February 10, 1998
I. Media association says tender rules “unclear.”
Veran Matic, the president
of the Association of Independent Electronic Media [ANEM] has said [on
9th February] that the competition for the allotment of radio frequencies
and television channels is “unclear,” adding that the association has asked
for a meeting with Federal Telecommunications Minister Dojcilo Radojevic
to obtain additional clarification.
Matic told Beta that the
flaws in the public competition have made it possible for the Telecommunications
Ministry to be “selective” in allocating frequencies and television channels.
The competition does not
state the price for leasing frequencies and channels, Matic said, and added
that there was no clarification as to whether the stations could submit
the same technical documentation that they had been required to submit
to the ministry by 31st June [as received] last year, after which inspectors
closed down 75 stations.
Matic also believes that
a regulation in the competition requiring a candidate to submit a building
inspection certificate and the electricity board’s approval is also unclear,
since these documents could be submitted after the frequency had been allocated.
The president of ANEM, an
association that has 33 radio and 15 television stations in Serbia as its
members, added that the competition had been published even though the
republic and federal telelaws had still not been coordinated.
Beta news agency, Belgrade, February 9, 1998
II. Opposition party condemns frequency tender rules.
The Democratic Party of Serbia
[DSS] said [on 9th February] that the competition of the Yugoslav [teleministry
for licensing frequencies represents “the conclusion of the process aimed
at stifling the independent media.”
Since the competition contains
a clause stating that it is only open to registered media, it is clear
that this is a precursor to the large-scale closure of radio and television
stations, since the majority of these have so far operated without a licence,
says the statement by the DSS.
The DSS believes that there
will no longer be an electronic medium in Serbia “that is not run by the
regime, has close ties to it or is controlled by it.”
Beta news agency, Belgrade, February 9, 1998
III. Frequency tender “unlawful,” expert says.
Branislav Zivkovic, legal
consultant of the association of independent media [whose president is
B92’s editor in chief Veran Matic], believes that the public competition
for radio and TV frequencies [announced by the Yugoslav Telecommunications
Ministry] is in violation of the Serbian media law. This is what
Zivkovic told our radio:
[Zivkovic] The public competition, in my opinion, indicates that the
Serbian authorities are still not prepared to approach seriously the revision
of certain laws regulating the sphere of telecommunications. They
are still imposing temporary, bad solutions.
The whole competition is without any basis in the
law, moreover, parts of it run contrary to the law.
Radio B92, Belgrade, February 7, 1998
I. Draskovic urges Studio B not to drop VOA.
The Serbian Renewal Movement
President [Vuk Draskovic] has written to the director of the Studio B asking
him not to drop the Voice of America [VOA] from the programme.
The letter reads as follows:
I was surprised by your
statement that you have been considering the possibility of scrapping the
VOA programme.
I am glad that you have
given up such considerations.
Do not let yourself be lectured
in democracy by Zoran Djindjic’s party, whose vice-president at the time
he was federal minister of information in the government of the “democrat”
Milan Panic expelled foreign journalists from the country and even supported
physical attacks against them.
Do not give the moral turncoats
and double-dealers who for years have incited anti-American hysteria in
Serbia and burnt the American flag in Belgrade any excuse to defend America
against you and democratic Serbia.
Freedom of the press, democracy,
ethics—all are considered by these vendors to be up for sale.
For them, Serbia is
also for sale, something that they have demonstrated by their support for
those who demand an independent Kosovo and university certificates with
Skenderbeg’s seal.
Please convey my greetings
and best wishes to the VOA editorial board, reads Vuk Draskovic’s letter.
“Vuk Draskovic to Dragan Kojadinovic: do not scrap Voice of America,” ‘Demokratija,’ Belgrade, February 6, 1998
II. Democratic Party condemns plans to drop foreign stations.
“The announcement that Studio
B is to drop Voice of America [VOA] broadcasts is just the beginning of
the implementation of a decision by the Serbian Renewal Movement [SPO]
leadership that the party’s representatives will demand that all VOA, Free
Europe, BBC and Deutsche Welle broadcasts be dropped by the local media
in those municipalities where the Together coalition is in power,” reads
the statement by the Democratic Party [DS] issued [on 4th February].
“At the end of last year,
the SPO pledged to abolish foreign television and radio station broadcasts,
so that Socialist Party of Serbia [SPS] deputies in the assembly would
vote for the levying of a 3-per cent tax.
“Thus, after dealing with
the independent media in Serbia, the SPO has now gone to war will all international
media that broadcast news on the activities of Clinton, Yeltsin, or Chirac
before broadcasting news items on activities of the Milosevic and Draskovic
couples.
“The SPO now considers ‘Ekspres
Politika,’ ‘Politika’ and Radio-TV Serbia to be free media.
“Not a single evening goes
by without the RTS [Radio TV Serbia] main news bulletin broadcasting some
statement by the SPO that slams democratic and opposition forces, Milo
Djukanovic, the independent media, and so on.
“The regime no longer needs
Mila Stula, Krsto Bjelic or Stefan Grubac. The dirty work is now
being done by Vuk Draskovic, who comes from the tried and tested Tanjug
party personnel department,” reads the statement by the Democrats.
“Vuk Draskovic like Mila Stula,” ‘Dnevni Telegraf,’ Belgrade, February 5, 1998
III. Studio B likely to end broadcasts of VOA programmes.
Studio B Executive Board
Chairman Aleksandar Cotric said [0n 3rd February] that the Belgrade-based
Studio B television will most probably end the broadcasting of the Voice
of America programme “America calling Serbia.”
“There is a chance that
such a decision will not be made, providing that ‘Voice of America’ changes
its editorial concept, raises its technical and professional standards,
and modernizes the visual identity of the programme,” Cotric, a high Serbian
Renewal Movement [SPO] official, told journalists.
He assessed that the Voice
of America programme “in no way fits into Studio B’s programming concept,
as adopted by the Executive Board.”
When asked what the SPO
found annoying in the Voice of America programme, Cotric said that it is
the “favouring of extra-parliamentary or very non-influential parties that
have only one or two representatives” in the Serbian assembly.
“The parliamentary parties
should be represented in current affairs programmes according to their
strength, and it is known which parties are parliamentary,” Cotric said.
He said that the agreement
with the Voice of America is “very unsuitable” for Studio B, which receives
“neither dinars nor dollars” for giving up its time slots and frequencies.
Beta news agency, Belgrade, February 3, 1998