THE CROATIAN MEDIA

BETWEEN POLITICS AND THE POLICE

AIM, ZAGREB, February 24, 1996

Quoting reputable world sources, HINA has, day after day, been broadcasting harsh reactions of the international public to the recent abolishment of the Belgrade independent TV station "Studio B". Croatian papers readily carry news from Bruxelles or Paris, for example, stating that leading officials of the European Union and UNESCO have strongly protested against the decision of the Serbian government and warned that "our future relations with Belgrade will depend" on the freedom of expression, including the freedom of the press.

It is with much less enthusiasm that this state news agency comments on the developments in the Croatian media, including the most recent ones whilst carefully following the destiny of "Studio B". And the developments are versatile, at different levels - from true excesses verging on scandals and seemingly banal misunderstandings which will (probably) soon be resolved, up to announcements of legal decrees the true meaning of which only the future will show. In the past few years journalists have, under the pressure to assure their bare survival and of requirements imposed on them by the dramatic reality, omitted to regulate in sufficient detail many important professional issues - from elementary vital ones to the relationship towards sources of information and the broader environment, to professional responsibility and even forms of simple human solidarity. It is little comfort that there were many obstacles in their way, often condensed into the syntagm that the best journalist is if not exactly a dead then at least a desirably dependent one.

THE CASE OF CONTRACTS

At a time when the entire Croatia is being shaken by a wave of strikes, also very turbulent was the recent press conference of the Trade Unions and the Croatian Society of Journalists devoted to the material standing and defence of the dignity of the journalistic profession at which an almost incredible repertoire of all possible tricks used by employers to keep the employees under their thumb was presented. The four-year unsuccessful efforts of journalists to get collective contracts through trade unions, which would protect them from the arbitrariness of the employers, forced a large number of undecided and frightened ones to activate themselves after all (and it was said that about 300 journalists joined the trade union in only 15 days!), and finally also led to joint action on the part of the largest media houses - Croatian Television and Radio, "Vecernji list", "Slobodna Dalmacija", HINA, "Vijesnik" and "Novi list". (But, not of the ones with the highest circulations - there were no people from "Globus", "Nacional", "Panorama", "Arena", editorial offices in which even the word "trade union" is undesirable).

The situation in which, despite numerous promises on "European standards", Croatian journalists are the only ones in Europe without collective contracts, has become simply untenable. A few days ago the journalists once again alerted the public to the unenvious status of their profession and the trade unions submitted to employers their minimal requests in which they, among other things, demand salary commensurate to the responsibility involved, a 40-hour five-day working week, at least twenty days of vacation for journalists beginners and the restoration of the right to additional "health vacation", and the right to strike. Irrespective of the fact that the history of Croatian journalism teems with unsuccessful attempts to save the profession from the destiny of a not very promising one in terms of longevity, this trade union action is also in the shadow of other current events. While waiting for the beginning of negotiations with employees they are pushing into the forefront various bizarre circumstances under which the journalistic job is sometimes performed and even the impossibility to work at all.

THE CASE OF CONCESSIONS

Friday, February 16, was the deadline for the signing of concessional contracts for private radio and TV stations. It was a day of great excitment in many editorial offices faced with the quite realistic possibility of having to shut down their transmitters already the following day. Thus, the team of Radio 101, the most listened to Zagreb station, managed to bring before its mikes the Deputy-Minister of Shipping, Trade and Communications, Dominik Filipovic, and in a live interview extract a promise on the extension of the deadline for an additional month for itself and 19 other radio stations which did not sign the contract on time. At least that was the conclusion that could be drawn after the mentioned programme, although it has not yet been officially published anywhere who and under which conditions got that temporary licence. It is also unknown why 19 stations did not fulfill the legal requirements on time.

It is also not known when the Council for Telecommunications will meet to discuss the possible revoking of concessions and calling of new competitions. In the meantime, the programme will be broadcast in the hope that everything will be all right. It was explained to Radio 101 for example, that it could not get the licence because owhership relations have not been solved, since the city of Zagreb has a share in both Radio 101 and in Radio Zapresic, and that is not allowed by the law. After the denial of the officials of "A Hundred and One" that it was not true as Zagreb had renounced its ownership of Radio Zapresic, Deputy Minister Filipovic was at a loss - this essentially changed the picture! The decisive thing was probably the fact that the people from Radio 101 were ready to raise hell in defense of their reputation as an independent medium. They first sent a fax to Prime Minister Matesa, so as to refresh the memories of those in charge.

As far as Karlovac radio is concerned, it is known that (for the moment) it has fallen victim to the faction struggles within the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) in the city of Karlovac and the Karlovac region. On the other hand, Radio Otocac, which did not get a concession on the regional level (Gospic got it) has been on the front pages for days, enjoys the support of political parties, petitions are signed on its behalf, and there are rumours that they will go as far as the president of Parliament. Then there is the case of Radio Labin Art Express (L.A.E.) which is still waiting for its (revoked) broadcasting licence, although it got the support of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), with the inescapeable involvement of the Soros Foundation and the Council of Europe in the story. Thousands of appeals, protests and petitions have probably already reached the desks of the President of the Republic, the Minister of Shipping, Trade and Communications, the Minister of Internal Affairs, especially as the call to protest emphasized that the "Council of Europe will surely follow this example, as well as the overall media situation in Croatia, the fulfilment of the requirement on the freedom of the press and expression, before bringing a decision on whether to admit Croatia to its membership..."

THE CASE OF "NOVI LIST"

And vice versa, as an example of media openness is another case which has been making the headlines for over a month, needless to say filled in daily with new details, and becoming more complicated by the minute. First an anonymous author from "Globus" wrote that in the building of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, Borislav Skegro, Vice-President of the Government, threatened first verbally and then with a gun a lady journalist from the Rijeka "Novi list", Edita Vlahovic, telling her that she should be killed because he was dissatisfied with her texts. The weapon belonged to a security officer and several eye witnesses were pressent. However, the several times repeated interpretations of the two main protagonists fundamentally differ. Borislav Skegro claims that "the story is a pure fabrication" as "he never threatened anyone with a gun", while journalist Vlahovic sticks to her version of the story and announces court action demanding a 100,000 kuna indemnity.

The editorial office and the organization of journalists have sided with the journalist. The Government has not sided with Skegro. At the last session of Parliament, Prime Minister Matesa was directly asked about what he intended to do in connexion with the "Skegro case", but the Prime Minister referred the case to court, with full confidence. And while Skegro keeps repeating that a made up journalistic story is in question, and opposition parties are calling for his resignation, "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" writes about yet another Balkan bizarre event, namely " a Croatian politician threatening a baby-faced woman journalist"; the same is the case with "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" and probably some other papers as well. Croatia's "reputation" is improving.

THE "FERAL" CASE

At about the same time when relations between the vice-president of the Government and "Novi list" approached the absolute zero, this was the only paper which published an unusual barrage correspondence between the Split weekly "Feral Tribune" and the Public Relations Office of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia. Claims by the "Feral" presented in "Novi list" of February 20, that "the preceding week policemen visited the flats of neighbours of "Feral's" editors enquiring about whom they associated with, their visitors, where and when they went, what they talked about, their material position, even what they did during the war and if they joined other tenants in the shelters", were responded to already the following day.

The head of the Public Relations Office of the Ministry of the Interior, Zlatko Kuretic categorically denied any "secret espionage methods" and claimed that the officials of the Ministry of the Interior were adhering to the law and behaving in the way envisaged by the law, i.e. that "there was no police investigation, which was seriously and thoroughly checked, so that it is impossible to understand on which facts the editorial office of "Feral Tribune" bases its claims". (...) The Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia categorically refutes the claims presented in the press release of the "Feral Tribune" editorial office, as totally false, and judging by everything, aimed at accusing the officials of this Ministry of behaviour as would draw a picture of Croatia as a "classical police state"".

For the time being, this unusual debate ended with a new report of "Feral Tribune", which will not go back on its claims, but even calls upon witnesses to come forward, explaining that the editorial office did not expect anything but denials in response, because their allegations most probably do not refer to the Ministry of the Interior but rather to UNS (Bureau of National Security). It ends with the provocative conclusion that they truly believe this to be "a classical police state", judging by their own experience and fears on which they wrote in their first address to the public, stating that Croatian police officers "are plotting against papers and journalists". That is why they are probably publicly corresponding with the police out of caution!

A glimpse into the Government's "workshop of law" where a "mini reform of the penal code" is being decorated with a fresh coat of paint, will not bring much comfort to anyone. Namely, among other things, this reform envisages new acts subject to punishment. Along with the strict sanctioning of the disclosure of state secrets (up to three years of prison), money launderning, physical extortion of debts, so-called conflicts of interests, etc. it envisages the obligation of the state prosecutor to initiate criminal proceedings ex officio for slander and insult of the President of the State, the President of Parliament, the Prime Minister, the Presidents of the Constitutional and Supreme Courts, not just on their request (as was previously the case), but only with their consent.

Will the blade of stricter laws primarily turn towards the increasingly arrogant "yellow" papers or will it "incidentally" cut down an occasional rare independent ("disobedient") journalistic plant will be seen soon, already by the first reactions in Parliament, when the definite wordings of the laws are submitted for discussion. And also by the speed with which the state embarks on regulating proper conditions for journalistic work and in chasing "slanderers".

MERI STAJDUHAR