Articles 43, 44, 59 and 104 of the Law on Electronic Media have not been implemented for years, and the consequence is the collapse of the market, which will cause many other problems.
This was said today, at the conference "The position of electronic media in Montenegro", said the director of the Media Center, Goran Đurović.
He said that the recommendation of that non-governmental organization is that it is necessary to apply the law to everyone in the same way, so that the Agency for Electronic Media (AEM) does not force the broadcasters to do their job.
He reminded of the importance of adopting the first Media Strategy, in order to create a better environment, but also of creating the obligation of AEM to do more research so that one of the key factors for the allocation of money from the Fund for Media Pluralism would be the trust of viewers, listeners and readers. Đurović pointed out that systemic support for public and commercial broadcasters is also necessary, as well as improving the quality of the AEM Council...
Presenting an analysis of the application of legal provisions in the field of electronic media and the work of AEM, Đurović said that the electronic media market is not fair because there are large debts of commercial media that do not pay broadcasting fees.
"The situation is additionally complicated because AEM signed the reprogramming protocols," he pointed out and added that this bad practice has been going on since 2014. He emphasized that the budget for the last three years was reduced by 215.000 due to the bankruptcy of the broadcaster, and that probably another 60.000 euros will be lost because the broadcasters did not pay the fee, and AEM did not take any action, nor did it revoke the broadcasting license.
Đurović said that in 2020 and 2021, AEM did not use legal powers and temporarily or permanently revoked the broadcasting license due to violations of the law related to non-observance of the broadcasting license.
"The implementation of the Law in 2021 was better, so warning measures were issued against almost all broadcasters with national and regional coverage, as well as against local public broadcasters," he said.
Đurović reminded that AEM imposed 2015 measures on Pink M Television from 2018 to 39, instead of temporarily and then permanently revoking the broadcasting license.
In 2020, five warnings were issued due to violations of program standards prescribed by the Rulebook on Program Standards in Electronic Media, and 29 objections were filed, while last year AEM issued two warnings and rejected four objections.
Vuković: Broadcasters are faced with restrictions, the financial situation dictates production
AEM Director Goran Vuković assessed that it is necessary to harmonize media laws in order to obtain a comprehensive media framework...
He said that they are not satisfied with how much broadcasters invest in their own production, clarifying that there are objective reasons for this, although they do not condone them...
"The situation in the media follows the social situation, especially the financial situation... Broadcasters are faced with restrictions and the financial situation dictates production and the level of their own production," he said.
Vuković said that AEM reacted on occasions when license obligations were drastically reduced.
"AEM will pay special attention to local public services. The role of the Media Pluralism Fund is such that they should be strengthened," he pointed out.
Relatively serious information, tabloid approach on portals
The General Director of the Directorate for Media in the Ministry of Culture and Media, Neđeljko Rudović, assessed that the situation in commercial media is the same as in local public broadcasters.
"The owners say that they need from 1.5 to 4.5 million euros to be able to maintain the existing program and not to incur debts, and the total income from marketing for television stations is from XNUMX to XNUMX million euros. We have three televisions with national coverage and public service and you can imagine what that market looks like and how realistic it is for them to survive...", believes Rudović.
At the panel on the state of electronic media, he said that from the aspect of respecting the Code of Journalists in Montenegro, we have a relatively serious information program in the leading media, and that we have no problem with the tabloid approach in the traditional media. However, he said that this problem exists on portals, especially those that do not want to be part of the legal system.
Strict application of the law would mean shutting down the media
The President of the AEM Council, Branko Bošković, pointed out that the use of hate speech is generally on the rise everywhere, but that Montenegrin electronic media have remained sufficiently immune to this phenomenon, with few exceptions.
"Banning broadcasting is not a popular measure for me... One was passed in January, which in my opinion was justified," Bošković said.
He assessed that the Fund for Encouraging Media Pluralism has finally come to life and that the recent distribution showed that broadcasters who met the conditions tried to reward them in the best way.
Bošković also believes that it is not a good moment to strictly apply legal solutions in certain areas, because electronic media are in a very unenviable situation, when strict application would mean their shutdown.
Members of the council of people who have no connection with the media
The general director of Radio-television Nikšić, Nikola Marković, assessed that the way of financing local public broadcasters must be changed with new legal solutions, because only absolute financial independence guarantees absolute freedom of the media...
He said that there is a paradoxical situation that the state, as the founder of local public broadcasters, essentially does not take care of the media it founded, allocates small funds, exerts pressure or punishes the media by not paying funds during the change of government.
"This leads to a bad position and bad production..." Marković pointed out.
He said that he was sorry that there was no RTCG representative at the meeting in order to compare the situation in the public service and public local broadcasters. He explained that the state allocates around 16 million euros from the budget for RTCG, while local programs are financed with program content, and that there is a completely different approach to financing, which is why local broadcasters are in a more difficult position.
Marković pointed out that, in addition to funding, the law must also be changed when it comes to decision-making.
"You have a situation where the legal solutions are set up so that there are people in the councils who have no connection with the media... The problem is that such serious matters are decided by incompetent people and there is no luck while it is part of a political agreement," he pointed out.
He explained that he has no illusions that these bodies will be able to free themselves completely from political influence, but that solutions should be found so that, for example, it could not happen that someone is a party councilor today and a council member tomorrow.
Marković concluded that it is the media community that should regulate the standards and criteria for the selection of RTCG council members and local public broadcasters.
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