The Director General of the Media Directorate, Neđeljko Rudović, said that the proposals for new laws on media, public media service and audiovisual media services were sent to the Council of Europe for opinion a few days ago.
"After we receive that and the opinions of the competent institutions in the Government system, the proposals will be, we believe, sent to the European Commission for an opinion in mid-March, after which they will be ready for consideration and adoption by the Government. The Law on Audiovisual Media Services is particularly important to us, because it contains European regulations and that with its adoption, the suspension of Montenegro's membership in the Creative Europe Program will be lifted," explained Rudović.
This was announced at the event of the Ministry of Culture and Media on the occasion of marking the first 100 days of work of the 44th Government of Montenegro, where the results for the previous period were presented.
He added that the Action Plan for the implementation of the first Media Strategy of Montenegro is being implemented, which contains a total of 104 measures that strongly encourage the principle of freedom of expression and ensure an environment for professional and free journalism as the foundation of every society that inherits the values of European democracies.
He pointed out that some of the measures foreseen in the Strategy are the formation of specialized teams, i.e. the appointment of contact persons in the Police Directorate and the State Prosecutor's Office who will monitor and investigate cases of attacks on journalists, the establishment of a Network for the fight against hate speech, online harassment and misinformation, the formation of the National Council for Media Literacy, the introduction of a compulsory optional subject of media literacy for all primary and secondary schools, the digitization of the RTCG archives.
Rudović reminded that in December the Ministry held a competition for the allocation of funds through the Fund for Encouraging Pluralism and Media Diversity, with which it supported the projects of 440 media outlets and three self-regulation mechanisms with 53 thousand euros.
The PR Center writes that it emphasized that the proposals for new laws on the media, the public media service Radio and Television of Montenegro, and audiovisual media services foresee several essential changes, and one of them is that the public sector cannot advertise in media that are not registered.
"The fund for media pluralism has been increased from 0,09 to 0,20 percent and new areas of public interest have been added, including the fight against hate speech and disinformation. The fund can be accessed by a media that is registered and is in the self-regulation mechanism , which has not been banned from broadcasting in the previous six months or whose founder has not been convicted of the criminal offense of spreading hatred. The media's obligation to regulate internal relations by statute has been introduced, including that journalists be consulted before the election of the editor-in-chief," said Rudović.
With the aim of making it additionally resistant to possible political influences, the RTCG Council, as he said, will have 11 members, and two new members will come from the University and the Bar Association.
"A member of the Council needs 10 years of experience in the field relevant to the activity of RTCG, instead of five. The same applies to the general director and editors-in-chief, and to the members of the Council and the director of AEM. In order to thwart political pressure or influence on the Public Service and independently the regulatory body provides that the procedure for dismissing a member of the Council can be initiated only by the Council, not by the competent working body of the Assembly, as is the case now," explained Rudović.
With the aim of fulfilling the public interest by producing media content in Montenegro instead of rebroadcasting mostly programs produced abroad, it was defined, as he said, that the minimum participation of own production is 20 percent, and the Agency prescribes the possibility that that percentage will be increased, writes the PR Center of Montenegro.
"For public broadcasters, national and local, the minimum percentage of own production is 30 percent. In order to ensure that local public broadcasters, a total of 15 of them broadcasting the program, are sustainable and can increase production of public interest, a scale of minimum amounts for mandatory financing from the budget of local self-governments," said Rudović.
The Minister of Culture and Media, Tamara Vujović, pointed out that culture must be recognized as a generator of development and promotion, which contributes to the overall socio-economic development, PR Center of Montenegro reports.
"If we have to define one task that we want to achieve, it is to awaken Montenegrin culture for the future, to create models of support for all actors with high expectations, to create quality, and thereby contribute to economic growth. I would like to be able to help you today to present concrete data on the effect that culture has on the Montenegrin economy, on trends over the years, however, culture has not been managed in that way until now. That is why we are doing research, according to the UNESCO methodology, but we know that investment in culture contributes to overall growth and development, and that every euro invested in culture multiplies. We will manage state money well and carefully," said Vujović.
She reminded that for the current year, an increase in funds for culture and media by 3,6 million euros, or 14,18 percent, has been provided.
Vujović said that the development of culture should follow a stable legislative framework and that the umbrella Law on Culture, as a product of broad consultations and the knowledge of a large number of experts, will provide the best solutions, and will be passed in the last quarter of this year.
"The law and by-laws should give full wind to the development of the sector, and not limit it. That is why we are actively working on amendments and harmonization of by-laws, which will improve and define better procedures. We will also improve the Law on Cinematography and work intersectorally with other departments ", announced Vujović.
She confirmed that the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Natural History Museum will receive a new facility in the green heart of Podgorica, which will be the result of an international competition in which world-renowned architects participate.
"This Government's commitment to this capital project is complete. We need more cultural institutions, small, large, institutional, independent hubs, havens for the unhindered work of artists. We need public-private partnerships in the field of art," said Vujović.
Believing that all cultural institutions reflect the cultural scene of Montenegro, she noted that the National Museum was visited by about 215 thousand visitors last year, which is about 43 percent more than in 2022, and the Maritime Museum in Kotor was visited by about 63 thousand visitors.
According to the PR Center of Montenegro, Vujović said that in the coming period, she will look for the best management model for the sector of creative industries, because the previous policies have not awakened its full potential.
"Cultural and creative industries belong to one of the fastest growing sectors and are the main drivers of economic development, and according to the latest available data, the participation of creative industries in the total GDP in developed countries was about four percent. In our country, we do not have the most accurate data for the latest methodology. That's why the Agreement with our partners, the British Council, for expert assistance is already ready," Vujović said.
She added that at the session of the Government Commission, a decision was adopted on signing the Agreement with the Region of Pula, for the realization of a large reconstruction project of the Španjola Fortress, which after the reconstruction will become another home for art colonies, such as the House of Pekić in Šavnik, the Old Prison in Kotor and the Hab in Old Bar.
"We need new, even better competition policies to support festivals, creators, non-governmental organizations. I promise that we will improve the competition policy so that citizens' money is spent in the best way. We will work intensively on improving working conditions and the status of artists, as well as creating conditions for the work of professional associations, which are now registered as non-governmental organizations and do not have the possibility of support from the Ministry," Vujović said.
She added that the administration she manages will always focus on children, young people, creators and artists, but also on creating an atmosphere in society where creativity will be rewarded and not hindered.
"Cooperation with UNESCO at the highest level is our obligation and task, to which we will give full attention. Since taking office, we have marked all UNESCO days, sent a report on Kotor, signed the Agreement on the reconstruction of the pavilion in Auschwitz," said Vujović.
She is clear that culture and media have equal importance and space on the Ministry's agenda, so the normative framework will be improved in the media sector as well, as she added, according to the PR Agency of Montenegro.
"This administration and the Government have set it as a priority. The remark of our international partners is justified, who say that many ministers who were in charge of the media, a decade ago, promised that media laws would be adopted, but that did not happen. We will to do it. But we are not doing it for the sake of the EU, but for us, because the Media Act from 2012, when there was no half of the challenges that exist now in the media world. That is why we will hurry," Vujović is sure.
She said that she publicly condemns any form of violence against any journalist in Montenegro and strives to establish a standard of behavior for responsible reporting and to stop any kind of discrimination in the media space, regardless of the actors and their political or other commitment.
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