Krivokapić: The goal is to create an environment in which all media will be able to work professionally

The Government has a clear goal, which is to create an environment in which all media in Montenegro will be able to work professionally in a market where transparent procedures and equal rules will apply to everyone, announced the Prime Minister. Zdravko Krivokapic.

The Government announced that Krivokapić is also the Minister of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media Tamara Srzentić and her colleagues started a continuous dialogue with the media today.

The government said that the first in a series of meetings was attended by the general director of Radio Television of Montenegro (RTCG), Božidar Šundić, executive director of Nova M Ivana Šebek, executive director of Vijesti Marijana Bojanić, and editor-in-chief of Prva TV Dražen Živković.

"The government is in the final phase of defining the media support package, which will consist of a public competition for COVID-19 that the Ministry of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media will soon announce, and that other measures are being considered," Krivokapić pointed out.

He said that, together with Srzentić, he launched the Continuous Media Dialogue in order to, through a series of open and constructive meetings, solve the perennial problems of the media community in Montenegro, which relate, above all, to the unequal status of the media in the media market, but the improvement of the institutional and the normative framework in which the media operate.

"This Government wants, regardless of editorial policies, to define clear procedures and rules so that funds from the budget of Montenegro, which are allocated for media content, are distributed in a transparent manner," Krivokapić said.

He added that the Government has already started activities on the creation of the Media Strategy.

"But the goal is not to pass documents that do not have adequate application, but those that will be implemented in practice and whose effects will be measurable. I am aware of the objections that accompanied the adoption of media laws and all these issues must be considered in the coming period through the improvement of the existing ones solutions or creating new ones", said the Prime Minister.

Srzentić said that the media in Montenegro should have an adequate environment in which they operate so that they can do their work unhindered and professionally.

"In the coming period, through this mechanism and through the surveys we launched, our goal is to recognize the needs and problems of the media community. If we don't ask and listen to you, then public policies have no purpose either. We need to join forces and work together to improved the environment for the work of the media, but also constructively solved the problems of the community", assessed Srzentić.

The Government announced that media representatives welcomed the initiation of a dialogue aimed at solving the problems of the media sector, and pointed out the financial problems they are facing due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"They also pointed out that in the coming period, it is necessary to systematically approach the solution of the problem, through the improvement of media regulations, and the introduction of a transparent approach in terms of financing from public funds," the announcement reads.

The Government said that the goal of the Continuous Dialogue with the media is to obtain information about the biggest challenges from a systemic point of view, in order to achieve long-term solutions to the challenges faced by all representatives of the media community in their work.

"Respecting epidemiological measures, Prime Minister Krivokapić and Minister Srzentić will continue to meet with representatives of the media in the coming period," concludes the Government announcement.