A group of 40 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) submitted today to all parliamentary clubs proposals for amendments to the Law on Audiovisual Media Services and the Law on the National Public Broadcaster-Public Media Service of Montenegro.
The announcement of that NGO group was delivered by the NGO Media Center.
As they said, the goal of the submitted proposals is to contribute to the adoption of better quality media laws, which with their provisions create preconditions for improving the independence of the work of the public media service RTCG and the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services (AVM).
The group of NGOs said that the proposed changes in the Law on AVM Services refer to the increase of the own production of Radio Montenegro and Television of Montenegro.
"Instead of the proposed 20 percent of the public radio broadcaster's own production, we propose to increase it to 40 percent, while instead of the proposed only 30 percent of the TVCG's own production, we propose to increase the minimum to 60 percent. The reason for the increase in RTCG's production is the fact that with 20 million euros allocated from the budget, this public service must produce much more content than is the case now. This is the only way (by legally increasing the volume of own production) that the needs of citizens can be met in various areas (children's programs, culture, education, science...) It is also suggested that the selection of the management bodies of the AVM services be carried out immediately after the adoption of the law. If the goal of the amendment of the law is the professionalization of this institution, then it is not necessary to wait two or three years for the mandates of the existing Council and the director to be changed immediately. procedures," the announcement states.
In connection with the Law on the National Public Broadcaster-Public Media Service of Montenegro, a group of NGOs proposes to reintroduce bans on advertising and teleshopping on TVCG programs in the period from 20:22 to XNUMX:XNUMX.
"This solution was adopted by the working group for the drafting of media laws (which also exists in the current law), considering that the revenues from marketing for TVCG in this term are negligible compared to the total revenues from the budget it generates (currently around 20 million euros) while on the other hand, commercial media, whose total annual budgets are smaller than RTCG, can have a significant source of income," they add.
They point out that the solution they propose is important to accept all the sooner, because the Law on AVM Services increases the minimum of own production of commercial TV broadcasters to 25 percent, so the position of commercial broadcasters, they say, would be doubly worse if TVCG were given the opportunity to use marketing space in the period from 20 to 22 hours.
"Many well-known public media services have a ban on broadcasting marketing between 20:22 p.m. and 20:XNUMX p.m., and some have a complete ban on advertising, such as the BBC. Also, on public media services in Sweden and Germany, advertising is prohibited after XNUMX:XNUMX p.m., on weekdays and during holidays The situation is the same in the Netherlands and France. When determining public policy, care should be taken to find optimal measures that will lead to an increase in the production of commercial media in order to provide better information to the public, and on the other hand, that will enable fair conditions on the market. in the announcement.
Also, the NGO group proposes to increase the number of members from nine to 11, as agreed by the working group for drafting media laws.
"The Council of the RTCG had 11 members since 2002, after the adoption of the first modern European law on media public service. The number of members of the Council should be viewed in the light of the role of this body, which, in addition to the management role, also has the function of representing the widest possible range of interests of different segments of the community, which suggestions should contribute to better program content. It is also proposed to include a representative of the Bar Association, which should bring the necessary knowledge to this body in order to reduce illegalities in the work. It is possible that the legal profession was more represented in the Council the current Council would not make illegal decisions when appointing the general director of RTCG," the announcement reads.
The group of NGOs also proposed to tighten the criteria for the selection of members of the Council, the general director and directors of organizational units with five to 10 years of work experience with the VII1 level of qualification.
"The new law should contribute to the greater professionalization of the RTCG and the fulfillment of the goals prescribed by law. It is not logical that better management in the RTCG can be achieved if people with less work experience are appointed to the Council and as the general director. On the contrary, it is more likely that they will persons with more professional experience, with the prescribed VII1 degree, contribute to more responsible decision-making than persons with less professional experience. Higher quality in the work of institutions is not achieved by making the criteria more stringent. The current law stipulates that the general director should have VII1 degree of qualification and at least 10 years of work experience. The goal of choosing the general director of RTCG is not to apply as many candidates as possible, but to choose a person with as much professional experience as possible, because this is a way to achieve higher quality in the work of the public media service If the goal was to apply as many candidates as possible for the position of general director, then it is best to remove all criteria and to allow all able-bodied citizens to apply for this position," the announcement states.
"The group of NGOs requests that, immediately after the adoption of the law, the procedure for electing a new Council of the RTCG with a larger number of members and a new general director of the RTCG is carried out," it concludes.
The proposers are:
Media Center, Goran Đurović
Media Union of Montenegro, Radomir Kračković
Union of Free Trade Unions of Montenegro, Srđa Keković
Center for Investigative Journalism CIN-CG, Milka Tadić Mijović
Action for human rights, Tea Gorjanc Prelevic
Media Institute of Montenegro, Olivera Nikolić
NGO Juventas, Ivana Vujović
Center for Civic Education (CGO), Daliborka Uljarević
Association of Youth with Handicap (UMHCG), Marina Vijačić
NGO Prima, Aida Perović,
Association SPEKTRA, Jovan Ulićević
Center for Monitoring and Research (CeMI), Zlatko Vujović
Alliance for equal rights of LGBTI persons ERA, Danijel Kalezić
Montenegrin Women's Lobby, Aida Petrović
Montenegrin LGBTIQ association Kvir Montenegro, Staša Baštrica
Society of Montenegrin Publishers, Vladimir Vojinović
Center for Women's Rights (CŽK), Maja Raičević
Center for the Development of Non-Governmental Organizations (CRNVO), Zorana Marković
Union of Young Entrepreneurs of Montenegro, Uroš Bulatović
Montenegrin PEN Center, Milan Marković
NGO NADA-Herceg Novi, Marina Vuksanović
NGO Association of parents of children with developmental disabilities - Podgorica
NGO Association for Affirmation and Support of Youth - Podgorica
NGO Association for support of children with developmental disabilities and their families of Montenegro - Podgorica
NGO Vuča - Berane
NGO Vunov lom - Berane
Non-governmental foundation - "Help - action for the north of Montenegro", Andrijevica
NGO "Bankrupts in Montenegro", Berane
NGO SOS phone for women and children victims of violence in Bijelo Polje
NGO Manifesto
Bielopolska Association of Non-Governmental Organizations
NGO European Youth Center of Montenegro
NGO Agro Center
NGO Bjelopoljski Democratic Center
Association for the Protection of the Rights of Workers and Unemployed Persons of the Municipality of Bijelo Polje
NGO E-Roma
Association of Roma Novi put
NGO Democratic Progress
NGO Green action
NGO Ecological Society, Breznica
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