BETTER LAWS FOR JOURNALISM?

AFTER MUCH CRITICISM OF THE WORK OF THE STATE MEDIA, ESPECIALLY RADIO-TELEVISION, THE OPPOSITION FINALLY PROPOSES AMENDMENTS TO THE LAW AND MANNER OF CONTROL

AIM, BEOGRAD, March 7,

Long before the first multi-party elections, which were held in Serbia in December 1990, the newly formed opposition parties had many objections to the state media. The state radio and television programmes, as well as the editions of the largest newspaper house, the "Politika", ignored political opinions which differed from the ruling one, even after the adoption of the new Constitution and Law on the Political Parties, which legalized the activity of opposition parties.

The attitude of the state public media did not essentially change even after holding four elections, ones without the participation of the opposition parties. On the contrary, at the peak of the pre-election campaign, at the crucial moment, the Socialist Party of Serbia was expressely favoured. Belgrade Television as well as other RTS (Radio-Television of Serbia) Programmes took the initiative in this unprincipled behaviour.

Whether because they did not believe in the possibility of change or due to their own inertia, the wronged parties did not propose anything concrete till now. But, finally two proposals came to the National Assembly of Serbia. First the radicals gave up their long ago given promise to do the same that the SPS had done, one day when they won: namely, drive away all those who think differently and take the state radio and television into their own hands. Recently, they proposed a new law on radio and television, in which they demand that control over the state public enterprise be returned from the Government to the Parliament which would, on the proposal of Deputy Groups, elect members of the Managing Board, Supervisory Board and the General Director. The Serbian Radical Party proposes a similar method for the appointment of a commission which would be in charge of frequency distribution. The radicals also propose the abolishment of RTV subscription. It would be financed from the republican budget and on a commercial basis.

The other initiative came from the Civil Alliance of Serbia, i.e. DEPOS. Although submitted in the form of amendments to the existing law, it is more comprehensive than the proposal of the radicals. Nevertheless, they concur in respect of the intention to return jurisdiction over RTS to Parliament and establish control over the state electronic media in accordance with developed democratic models. They propose that the Managing Board be divested of authority over the editorial and personnel policies, and the establishment of a Programme Board.

The Managing Board would be in charge of financial operations, investments and maintenance as well as the development of technical capacities, while the new Programme Board would be in charge of realizing the non-party editorial concept, the independence and autonomy of editorial offices and the professional quality of the programme. Half of the members of this Programme Board would be representatives of parliamentary parties, while the remaining members would be independent. Representatives of the staff of this public enterprise would also sit on both Boards, and they also would be appointed by the National Assembly, but on the proposal of the working collective. Till now, all appointments to all bodies of the RTS were done by the one-party government of Serbia, so that the concept of a non-party editorial policy was absolutely out of the question.

Depos also proposes amendments to the Law on Public Information. It first demands the free association of journalists into professional organizations. Until now there legally existed only one association, which has turned into a pro-regime and anti-journalistic organization. Pluralism in organizing champions of the public word is proposed.

The major novelty would be the institution of Ombudsman - an independent professional body which would protect participants in public communications from falsehoods, slanders, biased informing. Those who inform themselves through the state media know very well how many arbitrary and untrue things have been said about different people - journalists, intellectuals, groups of citizens. They also know that these people were never given the possibility to reply to them, despite legal provisions to the right to a denial and reply.

The proposed legal changes would only somewhat mitigate the non-democratic and contradictory contents of legislation in this area. However, judging by the reactions of the ruling socialists, no changes can be expected soon. They assess these proposals as an unacceptable attempt to turn the state media into multi-party media. The SPS proposes that these initiatives not be put on the agenda, because in two months time they will come forth with their own proposal.

This reaction too shows that the socialists will not easily let go of the most influential media, such as the RTS, which was an important participant in the political events in the multi-party Serbia, a participant which is in a position to quickly and easily mould the majority opinion of the electorate.

A tug of war is thus pending in Parliament.

RADE VELJANOVSKI