Establish a fund for newspapers: "Vijesti", "Dan" and "Pobjeda" warn the government about the critical situation in the print media

The directors of three Montenegrin print media outlets, "Pobjeda", "Vijesti" and "Dana", have sent a letter to the Presidents of the State, Government and Parliament, as well as the Ministries of Finance and Culture and Media, calling for an agreement so that print media can survive and continue to operate, and the application of the Law on Games of Chance, which prohibits advertising for domestic media, while such restrictions do not apply to foreign media that are visible in Montenegro.

These media outlets state that after the decrease in circulation due to the influence of electronic media and the decline in advertising, the advertising revenue of the organizers made up from ten to 30 percent of their income, which is why they are at risk of closing down, laying off a significant number of journalists and other employees, and reducing the volume of media reporting. They point out that the law itself is not clear enough, that there are many doubts, that they did not have time to adapt to it, and that the Ministry of Finance has not answered their questions about clarifications of the law for weeks.

We are publishing the media address in its entirety:

While the legislator's intention to align with European media legislation, as well as to regulate the sensitive area of ​​games of chance, is understandable, it should be borne in mind that according to European practice, any restrictions on commercial freedom of the media must meet strict conditions in terms of justification, restrictiveness and proportionality, i.e. they cannot be imposed to the detriment of the legitimate interests of all relevant economic entities. The ban on advertising games of chance in the manner envisaged by the new Montenegrin legislation is disproportionate to the objectives pursued, because the same objectives can be achieved with less restrictive or measures that target the essence of the problem. While supervision and control are undoubtedly necessary in this area, it is necessary to bear in mind that games of chance, in addition to certain negative effects on vulnerable groups, also have significant positive effects on the employment of Montenegrin citizens and the sustainability of the local media ecosystem. A significant impact on the sources of income of the media, in a small market like the Montenegrin one, can lead not only to the disruption of their financial sustainability, but also to a decline in the quality of public information, loss of access to certain content (due to the impossibility of capitalization), information lag of groups that predominantly get their information through a specific media channel and consequently a reduction in media pluralism in Montenegro. In the public debate process, Montenegrin media, precisely with the above in mind, consistently highlighted the recent decisions of the supreme courts of the European Union member states that ruled that broad bans on advertising games of chance are unconstitutional and illegal.

The new regulations have drastically limited the possibilities of advertising games of chance in domestic private media, allowing them to appear only with a logo, exclusively within sports sections, which greatly reduces the available space for advertising in a media format that is certainly under constant pressure and a decrease in circulation, and which, by the nature of its environment, does not target minors as a particularly vulnerable group. At the same time, foreign digital platforms (including social networks) and foreign media have remained completely outside these restrictions, although they represent the main channel of communication for particularly vulnerable groups, and we are already witnessing an outflow of money from the Montenegrin marketing market. With this solution, domestic print media, portals, radio and TV stations that have their own portals have been put in an unequal position, deprived of a significant source of income and exposed to a direct risk to their economic survival due to obvious discrimination - and without any clear cause-and-effect relationship with the subject of regulation. During the public debate, our voice was also not heard, and the joint amendments of the media and organizers, despite promises, were not even considered, let alone adopted. In Montenegro, there is a disproportionately small media marketing market (estimated at around 15 million euros) inhabited by an enormous number of registered and unregistered media outlets (around 200), with a particularly large presence of foreign media entities and participation in revenue sharing.

Estimates clearly show that the new advertising framework will lead to a drop in local media revenues of ten to thirty percent, which media outlets that are already struggling for sustainability cannot withstand without serious consequences. This includes a reduction in circulation, the shutdown of some content, layoffs and, ultimately, the possibility of closing entire editorial offices. This not only threatens the operations of our media, but also pluralism, democratic dialogue and the right of citizens to diverse and objective information.

We are also obliged to point out that, unlike our colleagues from Croatia and Serbia, we did not receive a single day for technical or operational adaptation to the new Law. In the two mentioned countries, a significant transitional period was given to the media to comply with existing marketing contracts and adapt their operations to the new legal solutions. Not only did we not receive this - but the Law was published in the online edition of the Official Gazette with a delay of 4 days, which enters into force immediately, exposing the media to significant negative consequences. Our troubles do not end there either - to this day we have not managed to get answers from the authorities to numerous questions related to the specific application of the legal provisions. The penalties are draconian and that is why we are waiting for clarifications from the authorities, which we persistently do not receive. We repeat that if the legislators, the proposers of the Law, had wanted to listen to us and explain what will happen due to the unclear articles of the Law - it would be, in part, easier to do business today. It is not clear to us, not only because of media pluralism, but also because our three companies are taxpayers who regularly pay all their obligations to the state, as well as employers of three hundred media professionals - how such an approach could be characterized as transparent and non-discriminatory, or proportional to the goal of the new norms.

We are aware of the state's obligation to regulate this area, but we believe that it is necessary to find a balance between the public interest in combating gambling addiction and the public interest in the survival of the domestic media scene and the sustainability of the quality of public information. Therefore, we appeal to you to recognize the seriousness of the moment and to provide a mechanism that would mitigate the negative effects and damage caused by the specific regulation on the sustainability of the media in the Montenegrin market. We believe that the establishment of a temporary support fund for print media (in accordance with the practice that exists for certain other activities) would be a minimal way to mitigate the consequences of legal changes until a sustainable and long-term solution is found. We are also ready to contribute, through dialogue with state institutions, to defining a model that will enable stable financing of the media, with full respect for the principles of responsible advertising and citizen protection.

We are convinced that the preservation of domestic media is of common interest, because without them there is neither an informed society nor a healthy democracy. We expect your support and willingness to jointly respond to the challenges that threaten the survival of private media in Montenegro.