BELGRADE, 19.04.2018. – Serbia’s information commissioner, NGOs, and experts have criticised a draft law that they say will make it easier for institutions and companies to withhold important information from the public.

Serbia’s Ministry of State Administration has come under fire for proposing a law that many experts fear will allow institutions to avoid answering freedom of information requests, while totally exempting state-owned commercial companies from the obligation to do so.

The draft law, presented on March 22, allows institutions to initiate court proceedings against the information commissioner’s decisions, potentially delaying or completely blocking implementation of his orders to give documents and information to those who seek them.

“This would practically kill the right [to free access to information],” Information Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic told BIRN.

In Serbia, investigative journalists, watchdog groups, and citizens can file a complaint to the commissioner when public institutions or companies ignore or refuse their requests to provide them with information of public importance.

The commissioner can then order that institution to comply, and issue fines if they refuse to do so.

However, Sabic warned that the new draft enables institutions to delay or block his decisions until the processes end before the Administrative Court.

NGOs have also argued against the problematic articles in discussions with the ministry.

“We believe the process of obtaining information would be considerably slowed down because institutions will initiate undue legal proceedings,” lawyer Katarina Golubovic, from the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights, YUCOM, said.

She told BIRN that while the same possibility exists in some European countries, the problem in Serbia is the common practice of the state and its bodies of using every possible regulation that might delay court proceedings.

Svetozar Rakovic, from the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia, IJAS, says a case before the Administrative Court can take “months, or maybe up to a year”. The change “would cause total chaos,” Rakovic told BIRN.

Draft fails to fix some existing problems:

While the draft law aims to establish judicial control over the commissioner’s office, Sabic says mechanisms are already in place. If the public prosecutor agrees that any of commissioner’s decisions was wrong, his office can initiate proceedings before the court, Sabic added.

“Only in some 20 cases was the commissioner’s decision annulled, for procedural reasons that were later addressed. No decision was ever overturned,” Sabic said.

Golubovic agreed, adding that almost all of the commissioner’s decisions that were examined by the court were confirmed.

“There is no justification for submitting the commissioner to [additional] legal protection,” she said.

Associations that have taken part in the public discussion about the draft law also stress that the proposed document fails to address some flaws of the existing system.

For example, a controversial part of the existing law, which says the commissioner can be dismissed by an absolute majority of MPs if he or she conducts his/her work “unprofessionally or unconscionably”, has been copied into the new draft.

“The notion that parliament should decide whether the commissioner did his work ’unprofessionally’ […] is controversial; parliament doesn’t have the capacity for this,” Golubovic said.

She added that the draft also does not improve the system of implementing the commissioner’s decisions if and when state entities refuse to comply.

Under both the current law and the draft, the commissioner can only issue fines up to 200,000 dinars, worth around 1,650 euros, which most institutions can pay easily.

Asked to comment on criticism of the draft, the Ministry of State Administration told BIRN that all points made during the public discussion would be considered. It did not address any specific issues, however.

“If there are different views concerning the proposed articles, the responsible approach … [should] include making a balanced and sustainable model,” the ministry said in its written reply.

State-owned companies exempted from law:

Another controversial part of the draft exempts commercial companies with state capital from the law on freedom of information.

According to the draft, both stock and limited liability companies would not have to comply with commissioner’s orders, “regardless of who their owner or shareholder is”.

Experts insist that such companies are of public interest, and are often afflicted by corruption, and so need to be monitored.

Around 40 Serbian NGOs and some media outlets have already signed a petition calling for the removal of this provision.

Their complaint notes that this provision would mean that important state companies working in telecommunications, energy and road infrastructure would not now be obliged to answer to freedom of information requests. The current law applies to these companies.

“We can definitely say this would be a step backwards,” Golubovic said, adding that this provision had also been criticised by experts from SIGMA, a joint initiative of the OECD and the EU, which took part in the public debate about the law.

BIRN asked SIGMA for its views but received no comment by the time of publication.

The ministry explained that this provision was added to protect these companies’ competitiveness. It said the “obligation to publish sensitive business information… reduced their ability to do business in the open market”.

Svetozar Rakovic, from IJAS, called the explanation absurd. “If Serbian Railways [a stock company] were exempted, that would be a terrible problem,” he told BIRN.

The same would apply to other companies, such as Koridori Srbije Ltd, which is responsible for constructing highways, or DIPOS Ltd, which leases and maintains state-owned real estate, Rakovic added.

Katarina Golubovic also finds the explanation “problematic”, since companies are already legally exempted from revealing their trade secrets. “The problem is with [withholding] other information that the public does have an interest in,” she said.

Public discussion on the draft law will run until April 19, after which the ministry will consider the opinions it has received and send a final draft to parliament.

PODGORICA, 19.04.2018. – A survey by the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (SMCG) on the expectations of journalism students has shown that almost 90% of them believe that getting a job in the profession will not be easy. Almost a third of the students do not see themselves doing this profession – instead they see themselves in PR or some other vocation. A survey was presented at the EU Info centre.

“Half of the journalism students would love to work at TV stations, and a third would like to deal with entertainment topics,” said the author of the study, Bojana Laković Konatar.

The survey found that 45% of students enrolled to study journalism because they wanted to be socially engaged, and 43% because it is their “dream job”. Only 7% were motivated by the salary. This means that students have a high opinion about this profession even though they do not perceive journalism as profitable. They are guided more by the desire to change something and to work in the public interest than by personal gain.

“When it comes to the expectations from their studies, the largest proportion of students expect to become trained in media work (40%), 26% expect to establish contacts at university and find a job in the profession – this is most expected by first-year students. Twelve percent of the questioned students, mostly from the second and third years have no expectations,” said Laković Konatar.

She said that almost everyone interviewed had practical experience in the media and were mostly satisfied with that experience. Forty-three percent of respondents rated the practical experience as good or very good, while 21% of them thought it was neither good nor bad.

“Fifteen percent of the respondents rated their practical experience as bad, while 7% of them rated it as very bad. Students’ opinions were also divided regarding the reasons why the practical time was good or bad. Thus, only 27% of respondents said that the media was sufficiently dedicated to them. On the other hand, 26% of students said that the media could not do that. The same percentage of them believe that media employees know how to pass on their practical knowledge, while 5% of future journalists said that their senior colleagues did not know how to do that,” Laković Konatar pointed out.

She also said that almost half of the surveyed students wanted to continue to work in journalism after graduating (45%). Still, 17% of them want to transfer to PR and 12% to find a job in another area. Also, 16% point out they will not insist on staying in the profession, but will work in any area in which they can find a job.

When it comes to assessing the answers according to the year of study, it is mostly first-year students that want to continue to work in journalism. Those who want to shift over to PR are mostly students in their second and the third years of study. The research has shown that it is mainly those who are satisfied with their practical experience that want to be involved in journalism. On the other hand, the majority of those who want to shift to PR are students who rated their practical experience as bad.

If they could choose, half of the students would like to work at a TV station, while print media features in second place. Next are portals, while the smallest numbers of students would like to try radio journalism. Students were asked to indicate which areas they would like to be involved with the most – of most interest to them are social and cultural topics. It is interesting that a large number of respondents indicated entertainment topics as their future interest (36%), rather than politics (32%). A possible reason for this is the fact that in recent years more and more media companies have based their programmes on news related to show-business.

Despite an obvious affection for journalism, students are pessimistic about the possibility of employment in the profession. Thus 62% of the respondents indicated that graduate journalists have only a partial possibility to be employed in the profession. Almost a third of the respondents (27%) said that, for graduate journalists, the opportunities for employment in the profession were very low. Only 11% of respondents believe that they will have good opportunities for employment.

When it comes to expectations from a future job, half of the students hope they will be able to advance in their career and earn enough for a “normal” life.

When it comes to the position of journalists in Montenegro, more than half of the respondents consider it unsatisfactory or bad (51%), while 42% rated the position of journalists as “neither good nor bad”, and only 7% say that it is very good or satisfactory.

The survey was conducted via a questionnaire from 10 March to 10 April on a sample of 100 respondents: 25 students from each of the first, second, third and fourth years of journalism studies at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Montenegro. This equals a half of the total number of enrolled students per study year.

PRISTINA, 18.04.2018 – Kosovo’s Assembly elected on Wednesday two persons that became members of the Kosovo’s Independent Media Commission.

Violeta Hyseni-Kelmendi was elected from the Albanian community that gained 54 votes from the 120-seats in Parliament.

Maja Slavic, from Serbian community was the second member that received 58 votes in favour.

The Parliament has repeated the vacancy for the third member that comes from other communities (Turkish, Roma, Bosnian) because two candidates did not receive enough votes.

The mandate of IMC member is three years.

SARAJEVO, 09.04.2018. – Uloga lokalnih medija za svaku zajednicu je od izuzetnog značaja. Oni bi morali biti spona između lokalne zajednice i javnosti i djelovati kao sredstvo komunikacije između opština ili kantona i građana. Pored ovoga, mediji bi trebali biti i svojevrstan forum na kojem građani mogu izraziti svoja gledišta i stavove o nekim za njih važnim pitanjima.No, da li je to tako u Bosni i Hercegovini, i da li je tako nešto moguće u situaciji u kojoj su ovi mediji izloženi stalnim političko-finansijskim pritiscima? 

Finansijska zavisnost od lokalnih vlasti i lokalnih političkih finansijskih centara moći predstavljaju glavne prepreke sa kojima se suočavaju lokalni mediji. Sve to, naravno, ima direktan uticaj na njihovu finansijsku održivost.

Svaki kanton i svaka opština imaju lokalnu radio ili TV stanicu, koje su dijelom finansirane iz lokalnih budžeta. Pored javnih, u BIH djeluje na stotine privatnih radio i TV stanica na lokalnom nivou. Većina njih je politički i finansijski ovisna ili od vlasti ili od vlasnika velikih kompanija koje ih finansiraju. Pored toga lokalni mediji, prije svega oni javni, često se veoma malo bave lokalnim temama od interesa za zajednicu u kojoj djeluju.

“U sarajevskoj regiji (Sarajevo i Istočno Sarajevo) postoje četiri TV stanice koje bi se mogle smatrati lokalnim (TV Vogošća, TVSA, OSM TV i TV Alfa) i pet radio stanica (Radio Vogošća, radio Istočno Sarajevo, Radio ASK, Radio Avaz i Radio BA). Po dvije TV i radio stanice spadaju u javne (TV Vogošća, TVSA, Radio Vogošća, Radio Istočno Sarajevo), dok su ostale stanice u privatnom vlasništvu”, kaže izvršni direktor platforme analiziraj.ba Amer Džihana.

On smatra da u današnjim uslovima skoro da i ne postoje lokalni mediji jer se putem kablovskih i internetskih platformi doseg „lokalnih“ medija proširio na područje cijele BiH. “Ipak, unatoč ovoj promjeni, lokalni mediji svojim djelovanjem ipak adresiraju publiku određenog lokalnog područja jer nemaju produkcijskih kapaciteta za pokrivanje većeg područja”, dodaje Džihana.

A kako to praktično izgleda, na primjer u Kantonu Sarajevo, možda najbolje govore brojne rasprave kantonalnih skupštinskih zastupnika kako Televizija Sarajevo ne izvještava kako bi trebalo to da radi, tačnije kako bi oni to željeli. Takvi javni istupi lokalnih političara predstavljaju direktno kršenje slobode medija.

“Ono što zabrinjava kad je riječ o uticaju na lokalne medije od strane vlasti jeste općenito stav javnih vlasti da uslijed činjenice da izdvajaju određena finansijska sredstva – budžetska,  za medije, imaju pravo uticaja na agendu, sadržaj i pristup u izvještavanju tih medija. Drugim riječima očekuju da se izvještava o temama koje oni smatraju važnim i na način uklapanja činjenica u kreiranje njihovog dobrog imidža”, objašnjava profesorica Fakulteta političkih nauka u Sarajevu Lejla Turčilo.

Ona dodaje da imenovanja na rukovodeće funkcije u tim medijima, a koja ovise o bliskosti sa političkim partijama koje su u vlasti ne doprinose kvalitetu lokalnih medija i njihovog izvještavanja.

Jedan od slikovitih primjera pod kakvim su političkim uticajem lokalni mediji je i onaj iz predizborne kampanje za lokalne izbore 2008. godine, kada je slučajno ili ne na Televiziji Vogošća objavljeno niz obećanja kandidata za načelnika te opštine, a koji su se ticali organizacije i ulaganja u tu televiziju. Ove podatke kao dio predizbornih obećanja objavio je Istinomjer.

I Amer Džihana kaže da nema sumnje u to da postoji snažan utjecaj lokalnih vlasti na medije u lokalnim sredinama koji se finansiraju iz budžeta.

“Za razliku od javnih RTV servisa na nacionalnom nivou, kod kojih postoji zakonski okvir koji garantira uredničku nezavisnost te uspostavlja niz mehanizama koji bi ovo načelo trebali osigurati u praksi, kod javnih RTV stanica na lokalnom nivou takvi zaštitni mehanizmi ne postoje. Imenovanje vodećih ljudi lokalnih medija, kao i određivanje budžetskih sredstava, u rukama je lokalnih vlasti, koje onda koriste ove mehanizme da osiguraju poslušnost lokalnih medija”, objašnjava on.

Pored očiglednog uplitanja politike u rad i uređivačku politiku lokalnih medija, javni lokalni mediji nisu proaktivni u objavljivanju dokumenata o svom poslovanju, iako im to nalažu entitetski zakoni o javnim preduzećima.  Pokazalo je to i jedno od istraživanja koje je objavio Mediacentar Sarajevo.

U ovom istraživanju navodi se da entitetski zakoni o javnim preduzećima nalažu da su javna preduzeća – time i javni mediji – dužni informacije o svojoj organizacijskoj strukturi i finansijskom poslovanju učiniti dostupnim javnosti preko web stranice ili na neki drugi način. Od dvadeset javnih medija kojima je Media centar poslao upitnik, na svojim web stranicama njih 19 nemaju objavljene informacije o svom finansijskom poslovanju, a samo jedan ima objavljene informacije o organizacijskoj strukturi.

Ovo istraživanje pokazalo je također, da javni lokalni mediji izvještaje o poslovanju na razmatranje šalju samo svojim osnivačima, kantonalnim i lokalnim skupština, i to po obrascima koje bi trebalo da dostavljaju općinske i kantonalne službe.

Postoji i druga strana medalje, kaže profesorica Turčilo, budući da lokalni mediji pored finansiranja iz budžeta i komercijalnog oglašavanja sklapaju i posebne ugovore o medijskom praćenju na primjer određenih općina, što podrazumijeva izvještavanje o aktivnostima općinskih vlasti.

“Tako se komercijalno promoviranje određenih općinskih organa građanima predstavlja kao “čista” informacija, a one općine koje recimo ne sklope takve ugovore sa lokalnim medijima bivaju izostavljene iz medijskog pokrivanja, što je svakako suprotno interesu građana i pravu građana da dobiju informacije o lokalnim zajednicama”, navodi Turčilo.

Poseban problem predstavlja i činjenica da se lokalni mediji često bave temama koje nisu lokalne. Analizom sadržaja televizija koje bi se, u svom informativnom programu, trebale baviti prije svega lokalnim temama, poput Televizije Sarajevo ili Televizije Istočno Sarajevo, vidljivo je da u informativnom programu preovladavaju teme koje prevazilaze lokalno.

“Izvještavaju o temama od izmjena Ustava do globalnih pitanja (vanjske politike), dok puno manje ispunjavaju svoje društvene funkcije, poput kreiranja dokumentarnog, obrazovnog, dječijeg programa. Neke od TV stanica imaju takve programe, ali o kvalitetu sadržaja bi se moglo diskutovati. No, kad je o informativnom programu riječ selektivnost u pristupu koja često nije zasnovana na javnom interesu je doista veliki problem”, dodaje profesorica Lejla Turčilo.

S druge strane Amer Džihana smatra da lokalni radijski servisi koji su u javnom vlasništvu imaju programe relevantne za lokalno stanovništvo, što često nije slučaj nije slučaj sa privatnim lokalnim radijskim stanicama koje uglavnom emitiraju muzičke i reklamne sadržaje.

“Na primjer, centralna informativna emisija TVSA u 18.30h okrenuta je prvenstveno lokalnim sadržajima i donosi informacije koje se ne mogu naći u medijima koji su okrenuti ka nacionalnoj populaciji. Pored informativnih programa, ovi mediji donose i druge, relevantne lokalne sadržaje (sport, kultura, privreda itd). No, sasvim sigurno da se lokalni mediji ne bave baš svim pitanjima koji su relevantni za lokalno stanovništvo”, dodaje on.

Prema njegovom mišljenju i kada se obrađuju određene teme ne postoji pristup istraživačkog novinarstva, što je djelimično uzrokovano nedostatkom kapaciteta ovih medija, a većim dijelom nastojanjima uredništva ovih medija da se ne zamjeraju previše lokalnim vlastima.

Finansijska ovisnost jedan je od uzroka uredničke ovisnosti javnih medija. Istraživanje Mediacentra Sarajevo navodi da je urednička neovisnost u nezavidnom položaju u medijima koji se direktno finansiraju iz budžeta opštinskih i kantonalnih vlasti.

Odluke o izboru i smjenama direktora i urednika u javnim lokalnim i kantonalnim medijima su pod direktnim uticajem lokalnih i kantonalnih vlasti, te su nerijetko instrumentalizovane u skladu sa političkim interesima.

“Politički pritisci ogledaju se kroz imenovanja na uredničke  pozicije i menadžment funkcije, kao i u spremnosti ili nespremnosti lokalnih vlasti da sarađuju sa lokalnim medijima ako oni ne izvještavaju pozitivno o njima. Ekonomski pritisci za lokalne medije isti su kao i za druge medije, a uglavnom se manifestuju kroz povlačenje reklamnih sadržaja u slučaju izvješavanja koje nije u interesu oglašavača, što uzrokuje cenzuru i autocenzuru”, kaže profesorica Turčilo.

Teška ekonomska situacija u zemlji, objašnjava Amer Džihana, a pogotovo u medijskom sektoru koji je usitnjen i općenito raspolaže sa skromnim finansijskim sredstvima, dovodi gotovo sve medije u tešku ekonomsku poziciju.

“Takav je slučaj i s lokalnim medijima. Mediji općenito nisu u poziciji da kritički izvještavaju o svojim oglašivačima, pa ni o onim područjima u kojima njihovi glavni oglašivači imaju interese”, dodaje on.

Na sličan način, kako objašnjava, osiguranje medijske poslušnosti postalo je nešto čemu općenito teže bh. političari, pa se koriste svi raspoloživi mehanizmi da se to i osigura.

“Imenovanje odgovarajućih ljudi i osiguranje finansijskih sredstava za rad javnih medija, predstavljaju osnovne poluge kako se ti ciljevi ostvaruju. Ukratko, nemamo razloga vjerovati da lokalni javni mediji djeluju nezavisno sve dok se ne osigura njihova institucionalna nezavisnost i transparentno finansiranje”, zaključuje Džihana.

BEOGRAD, 18.04.2018. – U Evropskoj komisiji su primetili da u Srbiji ima ekonomskih napada na medije, kao i puno slučajeva samocenzure. Oni traže i da glavna udruženja učestvuju u izradi nove Medijske strategije, kaže Suzana Grubješić za N1.