PODGORICA, 12.03.2021 – The Government is at final stage of definition of the new media support package. This aid will be consisted of the Public Competition for COVID-19, which will soon be announced by the Ministry of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media. Other measures are also considered, said Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic. with media representatives.
The Prime Minister and Minister of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media, Tamara Srzentic, MA, and their associates started a continuous dialogue with the media, and the first meeting was attended by RTCG Director General Bozidar Sundic, Nova M Executive Director Ivana Sebek and Vijesti Executive Director Marijana Bojanic, and the editor-in-chief of Prva TV, Drazen Zivkovic.
Krivokapic said that together with Minister Srzentic he initiated a continuous media dialogue in order to solve, through a series of open and constructive meetings, the long-standing problems of the media community in Montenegro, which relate primarily to the unequal status of the media in the media market, the institutional and normative framework in which the media operate.
“This government wants, regardless of editorial policies, to define clear procedures and rules so that the funds from the budget of Montenegro that are allocated for media content, are distributed in a transparent manner,” said the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Krivokapic announced that the Government has already started activities on the development of the Media Strategy, but that the goal is not to adopt documents that do not have adequate application, but those that will be implemented and whose effects will be measurable. He also said that he was familiar with the objections that accompanied the adoption of media laws and that all these issues in the coming period must be considered through the improvement of existing solutions or the development of new ones.
“The media in Montenegro should have an adequate environment in which they operate so that they can do their job smoothly and professionally. In the coming period, through this mechanism and through the surveys we have launched, our goal is to identify the needs and problems of the media community. If we do not ask you and do not listen to you, then public policies do not have their purpose either”m said Minister Srzentic.
Media representatives welcomed the launch of the dialogue in order to solve the problems of the media sector, and pointed out the financial problems they are facing due to the coronavirus pandemic. Also, they pointed out that in the coming period it is necessary to approach solving the problem in a systematic way, through the improvement of media regulations, and the introduction of a transparent approach in terms of financing from public funds.
The goal of the Continuous Dialogue with the Media, as they announced, is to obtain information on the biggest challenges from a systemic point of view, in order to achieve long-term solutions to the challenges faced by all representatives of the media community in their work.
