The Media in Serbia
Serbia:Jovanka Marić
When speaking of the media in transitional societies, we speak of a specific paradox of democracy. The media are expected to be an active factor in democratization of society - in the development of democratic institutions and democratic political culture - but in order to actually be that, the media must themselves be transformed. The changing of the media is also a long, slow and tedious process and what we nowadays observe as the characteristics of the operation of the media are the reflections of the manner in which reconstruction of the media system proceeds within the framework of social transition in general. In our space, this comprehensive process is all the more complex because we are witnessing changes not only of a post-communist, but also of a post-conflict and post-war society.
Theoreticians of media transition agree that only in societies deeply in the well-advanced phase of post-communist changes characterized by stabilization of democratic system, stable growth of economy and widespread culture of private entrepreneurship, culture of the rule of law and democratic political culture, there is a possibility of creation of a free, autonomous and democratic media system. In our societies, creation of a stable party system, establishment of a democratic system of rule based on a broad social consensus, economic development in conditions of market economy, and adequate economic, legal and political culture, are at a very early stage of development.
In the domain of the media, only the reforms of the "first generation" have taken place: demonopolization of the sphere of the media, separation of the media from the state and dismantling of some of the basic forms of control of the media - and the second phase of changes has just begun, which involves completely new regulation of the system, decentralization and strong pluralization of the media scene, along with increased commercialization, internationalization, and professionalization of the media. This, second phase of general social transition in which a stable new political elite and ruling democratic force are being formed, middle and small enterprises are privatized, economic monopolies are abolished, a class of new entrepreneurs is developed, and in the legal sphere conditions for conducting business are legalized and corruption and crime are curbed, following the experience of other countries, lasts between three and fifteen years.
In order to make the changes in the system of the media successful, a clear strategy of its development is necessary and a highly elaborated communication policy aimed at the establishement of a system of regulation and control which eliminates state and party involvement in everyday operation of the media, reduction of obstacles to the penetration of new media into the market, establishment of transparent procedures for allocation of channels, provision of guarantees of independence of management teams in public media, development of professionalism, evolvement of professional ideology directed towards control of the authorities in the name of the public and representation of diversity of opinions and ideas in the society and a broad range of social, political and cultural values.
Media Situation in Serbia
In Serbia, the reform of the media system was not a top priority project of the first post-Milosevic's regime, which did not have a clear strategy and elaborated policy for it. Since there was no strategy or policy, actions of the authorities in the domain of the media were taken with delay, and most of them were carried out just half way inconsistently. The result is that the media are nowadays unable to set up their autonomous position either on stable commercial grounds independent of dominant political groups or on legal protection of the freedom of expression.
A new legal framework of the media system has not been established yet; more than a thousand radio and TV stations create chaos which share among themselves just a small number of advertisements, they interfere with each other, have no respect for copyright, and produce professionally very low-quality program; privatization of state and social media has not been completed; the media which have based their status on political alliance with the regime or quickly become commercial at the expense of professional quality have conditions for progress, while the media that played a big role in the development of socially responsible journalism and promotion of democratic values and culture are in a much worse position and with no possibility of development; journalists are forced to hold more than one job in order to survive; there is no progress in professionalization of journalism.
1. Legislature in the Sphere of the Media
One of top priority tasks in legal reform is the completion of a new legislative framework for the media, which is supposed to provide basic legal and institutional guarantees of freedoms and autonomy of the media. This includes passing of new laws such as primarily the law on free access to public information, but also the law on advertising, the law on copyright, and the law against monopoly, but also amendments of the laws already in force which are not up to modern democratic standards.
The Law on Public Information passed in an unfavourable political environment (in spring 2003, at the time of the state of emergency) contains repressive provisions which limit the freedom of journalists and should be eliminated. According to statements of the Independent Union of Journalists of Serbia, more than 200 proceedings have been instigated against journalists.
The passed Broadcasting Law which was supposed to enable a radically different regulation in the sphere of electronic media, differs from the draft made by an independent group of experts in the solutions aimed at the elimination of mechanisms of control of the media by the authorities. The number of the assigners of members of the independent regulatory authority is reduced. The number of representatives of civil society is also reduced, which enables significant influence of representatives of the authorities through members nominated by the Republican and Provincial governments and the Assembly.
The solution chosen by the Government and passed by the Assembly has from the start nullified the revolutionary potential of this Law, while subsequent controversies concerning constituting of the Broadcasting Agency Council additionally and significantly decreased the credibility of this authority which should play the key role in the establishment of new relations in broadcasting. The amendment of the Law in the sense of greater participation of representatives of civil society, or reduction of the possibility of political influence would be in the spirit of solutions cherished by democratic countries and recommendations of the Council of Europe. Reinforcement of credibility of Broadcasting Agency Council is also an unavoidable move in the process of reducing the number of electronic media, distribution of channels with national coverage, and constituting of management boards in the system of public broadcasting, which is in the jurisdiction of the Council.
Completion of legislature is a comparatively easy task, because many draft laws have already been prepared and their passing is necessary to get closer to the membership on the European Union. However, passing of laws should be accompanied by measures taken by the authorities for their implementation, which so far was not the case. There is no excuse for the delay in implementation of the Broadcasting Law. The Law prescribed compulsory introduction of radio-TV subscription fee which still has not been introduced. Great difficulties are also expected in the implementation of the law on access to public information, because public services are neither financially, nor technically, nor professionally prepared to carry out their obligations prescribed by law.
2. Ownership
In the system of the media there is still no clear concept or model of changes of ownership relations in the media. Besides private media, there are media which are state and socially owned, but there is no successful model of their privatization or changes of relations that would direct them towards development of a model of public service.
In the beginning, the new regime promised that state media would be transformed (Radio Yugoslavia, Borba Publishing Company, TV YU Info, i.e. Info 24, Tanjug News Agency), but this process is still in its initial phase, prolonging thus the instability in the media market.
The adopted legal solutions in the Law on Public Information which allow foundation of the media by the state, indicate that political elite is inclined to keep the ownership of some media, such as the national news agency. Retaining of state ownership of agency media production could be interpreted as an effort of the authorities to ensure indirect influence on the media, because news agencies are the ones that provide up to half of the media content in reporting about some spheres of social life which are traditionally inaccessible to the public. That is why it is necessary to make precise plans for transformation of the media which are fully or partly state-owned.
Such plans are necessary for transformation of the media which are socially owned and which include mostly local radio and TV stations, but also the media such as NIN weekly and other local newspapers which have retained the old ownership structure and relations.
In Serbia, a successful model of privatization has not been established, so expert assistance and application of experience of countries in transition and other developed countries is needed in the development of a transformation model. So far, successful media proved to be the ones which established political alliance with regimes, either the former or the new one (TV Pink, TV BK, Dnevni telegraf), or the ones in which foreign capital was invested (with indirect help of the state) (Politika Company), and the media significantly assisted by foreign donations (B 92) or capital with a distinct political interest (Nacional).
The change of ownership implies the development of public media according to the public service model. In Serbia, national public broadcasting institution, which was one of the strategic pillars Milosevic's regime relied on, has managed to restore credibility among the public, but many of key problems of its development have not been resolved - its financing, technological and personnel modernization, formulation of the mission of such a national institution.
The development of a public service is a long process, but the delay of necessary radical moves - introduction of compulsory radio-TV subscription fee, reduction of the number of employees, education of journalists for the mission of an instrument of the public, not the regime, elaboration of procedures for the election of personnel for managerial posts - additionally prolong this process at the expense of public interest. In order for this process to be a success, political consensus is necessary about the model of the public service, and social consensus is necessary about subscription of the citizens as the most convenient mode of financing which enables independence from the regime. In order to achieve this consensus, representatives of civil society should be involved, because its interest in institutionalization of public service in broadcasting is the biggest, while the authorities are in a controversial position (they are expected to enable the media to free themselves of their influence).
3. Problems of Development of High-Quality Press
It was expected that the abolishment of political patronage and political repression of the media would create conditions for powerful development of the media which during the years of repression developed socially responsible journalism and were concerned about public interest. The first post-Milosevic government, however, was more inclined to grant amnesty to highly developed state controlled media which were in the service of SPS's project of development of the national state of the Serb people founded on nationalistic patriotism, ethnic intolerance, war policy, xenophobia, etatism, collectivism, and personality cult, than help self-made, small, poverty-stricken and insufficiently developed media which worked abiding by professional standards, exposed problems in the official definitions of reality, stimulated public debate on major social issues and promoted democratic values, ethnic and political tolerance.
The media which on October 5, 2000, literally overnight changed their previous rhetoric, were enabled to continue to use the benefits of their privileged status they had enjozed in Milosevic's regime, so in the liberated market they increased their already existing advantages over the other media.
The daily that once had the highest circulation, Vecernje novosti, which was printed in more than 400 thousand copies in the eighties, then sank to half that during the nineties, now gradually managed to increase its circulation to 300 thousand. It is followed by Blic and new tabloids such as Nacional and Kurir. Politika has also managed to restore its former circulation of 100 thousand copies, while the circulation of daily Danas and political weeklies Vreme and NIN is 22 thousand each.
In new market conditions which are still dominated by political interests, the media which promote high-quality and socially responsible journalism have remained small, underdeveloped and poor. This refers especially to to high-quality non-commercial press. It somehow manages to survive in the poor and undeveloped advertising market, burdened by problems brought about by its low technological, financial and professional resources.
By far the largest share of the profit from advertising is collected by television, since it is the media with the most massive public. Nevertheless, the optimistic part of this story is the fact that the share of the press in the advertising market is gradually increasing and its significant increase is expected yet to come. According to an investigation of Strategic Marketing Agency (in March 2003), television collects 72 per cent of the advertising capital, and printed media just 12 per cent. But, in the end of the nineties, the percentage collected by the press was only 6, in 2000 it increased to 8, and in 2002 it reached 11 per cent.
High-quality, non-commercial press works on the verge of profitability. Production expenses are high, demands for modernization and investments great, and income is low because advertising capital mostly goes to commerucial newspapers with high circulation, while distribution is expensive and inefficient. One must keep in mind that prices of advertising in Serbia are much lower than in neighbouring countries. And the readers of this part of the press are primarily the intellectual part of middle class which was drastically impoverished in Serbia in the course of the past decade.
That is why high-quality non-commercial press manages to survive mostly thanks to exploitation of human resources, i.e. to the low price of professional labour. The employees in these media carry most of the burden of survival of their newspapers. The average monthly salary of journalists in NIN and Vreme is about 230 euros, which is far from enough to cover the costs of living. Financial burden on the media is often reflected on irregular payment of social insurance for the employed. This additionally complicates the position of human resources already exhausted in the course of a whole decade of repression and living and working in unstable conditions. For years journalists in autonomous media were unable to survive on their earnings, but were forced to work on the side. A large number of journalists are still doing more than one job, which reduces their professional achievements.
4. Advantages of Non-Commercial Press
Non-commercial, high-quality press has maintained comparative professional advantages in relation to commercial press. While most of the media have managed to achieve stable credibility as a source of information on politics and developments of public interest, they have made little progress in discharging other duties of the media - control of the authorities in the name of the public, provision of a forum for public debates on public issues, offering a representative picture of different social groups. This multiplicity of functions of the media was best achieved by the ones which had even at the time of the former regime managed to maintain the highest level of autonomy from dominant political interests.
Non-commercial press has maintained its critical distance from the authorities and during the first years of the establishment of new DOS' regime reported on critical views of the ruling policy and its results more frequently than other media. It also serves public interest more comprehensively bringing up in public issues which are not priority for the establishment, but are essential for the critical public. By insisting on confronting different interpretations of the society, the present and the past, on transparency of work of the authorities and on a dialogue of protagonists with different political power, these media promote political culture based on democratic values. They are also a firm barrier against the attempts of repeated contamination of the public sphere by intolerant public speech.
Scarce financial and professional resources, nevertheless, limit high-quality and socially responsible press in better meeting the interest of the public to be informed about issues of public importance. Although these media considerably more than others apply an analytical approach in reporting, analytical journalism is relatively rare, especially on topics which require specialized knowledge. The lack of journalists-specialists in certain spheres, who cherish a thematic approach and point out to problems in their reporting, who consider events in the context of other developments and processes in the society, who explain main problems within a single topic and advantages and disadvantages of the offered solutions or predict future developments, is one of the major problems of high-quality press. On the other hand, due to small financial possibilities, these media are rarely capable to engage experts for certain fields from outside the journalistic profession. This especially refers to reporting on certain new processes in the society, such as the process of privatization, reform of financial and tax system, reform of the army, etc. in which it is essential to be informed about the experiences of other countries in transition.
Among commercial media two types of press developed. One, which includes tabloid and semi-tabloid newspapers Blic, Vecernje novosti, Glas javnosti are characterized by relatively balanced reporting on political developments and topics. Although their political columns are not voluminous, news are comparatively reliable, based on facts, and they offer a comparatively broad spectre of different opinions. However, unlike the documentary, thematic and analytical approach offered by non-commercial media, these media are focused on individual events and persons and appeal on emotions of the public. They strive to appear as "guardians of democracy" but not to be promoters of a reasonable public dialogue on controversial topics of interest for the public. Their rhetoric is simple, mostly dramatic and sensationalistic, but it never goes beyond the limits of publicly predominant morality. However, in dramatic situations which offer opportunities for increasing their circulation, they will voluntarily accept to be used as political instruments and readily promote non-ethical political communication.
The other type of commercial press developed in the course of past two years, during consolidation of nationalistic political forces which claim that the manner in which new authorities conduct reforms in Serbia protect more the interests of the West than those of the Serb people. These newspapers primarily promote oppositionist political speech, speaking in the name of various discontented protagonists and they are turned primarily towards victims of the process of transition. Their content is mostly political in combination with very commercial entertainment. They do not shrink from printing rumours and unconfirmed news and they offer a one-sided opinion rather than reports based on facts. They base their popularity on dramatizing political developments and promotion of political scandals. They use very aggressive rhetoric which is far from all limits of public decency, and they justify it by their effort to control the authorities so they would not abuse their power. A typical example of such a newspaper was daily Nacional, and nowadays, in a somewhat milder form, Kurir and Balkan have taken over.
4. Possible Solutions
The authorities have done very little to make economic status of non-commercial media easier and to create conditions for their development. In the beginning of its rule, DOS introduced a 20 per cent tax for the press and then agreed to abolish it only after a massive joint campaign of the media which complained that this tax was higher than in the countries of the European Union and other countries in transition. The abolishment of this tax, however, has not made the status of the media much better, because distributers immediately raised their prices, and the government introduced some new taxes on labour.
The only hope for the improvement of the position of these media is economic development and the increase of the share of the press in the advertising market. Both are long-term processes and their acceleration is not expected in the immediate future.
One of the possible solutions for the improvement of the position of high-quality media is the investment of foreign capital.
So far interest for investments of foreign capital into the media in Serbia has not been significant. Instability of the political and economic situation and a comparatively poor market which offers little opportunity for making a profit, has not increased this interest, on the contrary, it is decreasing it. Just recently, German company called Grunner and Jahr withdrew from investing into Vreme weekly for economic reasons, and it is still uncertain whether it will remain in Blic company. The only significant company that has entered the market is German WAZ which invested 12.5 million euros into Politika, and recently it has also become the owner of Dnevnik from Voivodina. After the arrival of the new owner, Politika has introduced a coloured edition, increased the volume, it is attracting an increased number of advertisements, and managed to increase the circulation. It cultivates a distant, balanced and moderate style of reporting, but the public criticizes it claiming that under the influence of this model of reporting which is too distant, it displeases nobody, but also it avoids to raise controversial issues and reacts slowly and simply is not interesting, and by doing it, it is abandoning the tradition of Politika which played a significant role in the development of Serbian journalism.
Privatization through investments of capital of local origin seems to be even worse for journalists, because the only ones who are interested in investing into the media are the ones who wish through them to increase their economic or political power, since the economic sphere is still dominated by political interests, and that would unavoidably lead to changes in editorial policies in one direction or another.
Foreign donors who helped the survival of high-quality, non-commercial press in the past, are helping it to survive in the new conditions very sporadically.
One of the possible ways to help high-quality press to survive and develop are state guarantees of different exemptions for this kind of the press, which are customary in countries interested to retain the media which are not necessarily economically profitable but are very significant for national culture. In our conditions, assisting the development of this kind of the press would have great importance not only because it enables pluralism of opinions on the public scene, preservation of tradition, but also because it enables development of critical and highly professional journalism.