Citizens pay a total of more than 20 million euros to public broadcasters in order to have accurate information, therefore it is not possible to justify the claim that 20 percent of their own content is too high a requirement for these media outlets.
This was stated, among other things, by the director of the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services (AMU) during the roundtable "Implementation of the Law on Audiovisual Media Services in Local Public Broadcasters". SunMrs. Bakić.
The roundtable, as previously announced by the Media Center, is dedicated to presenting the model Decision on the Establishment of a Local Public Broadcaster, as well as the model Statute of a Local Public Broadcaster "whose adoption is necessary as part of the process of implementing the Law on Audiovisual Media Services in Local Public Broadcasters".
According to Bakić, the appointment of management bodies, financing and programming of local public broadcasters are among the most important provisions of the Law on Audiovisual Media Services.
"All of this is very nicely conceived in the Law and looks good... The thing is how we will implement it and how firmly and clearly we will insist that these legal provisions are implemented in the spirit of what is written there," Bakić assessed.
She said that citizens pay 20 million euros to public broadcasters to have accurate and verified information.
"I don't see any justification for a media outlet founded to meet the needs of the municipality's residents... that 20 percent of its own production is too high. We have radio broadcasters that have two percent. This is not a temporary, but a long-term situation. More than half of radio broadcasters have less than ten percent of their own production. There are not a small number of people working in these media outlets... The municipality must know that it cannot bring in 20 people who don't want to work every time the local government changes," Bakić believes.

Director of the Media Directorate, Neđeljko Rudović, said that for a year and a half, they have been working continuously with the intention of improving the media image of Montenegro and creating a "normative framework that will be the basis for better media."
"Local public broadcasters make up a quarter of the Montenegrin media scene. We have 15 local public broadcasters and the national Public Service as the sixteenth media outlet, which has over 1.400 journalists. 16 media outlets are owned by the citizens of Montenegro. This means that everyone in these media outlets has a special responsibility...", said Rudović.
He said that many broadcasters were unable to pay their employees' salaries on time.
Rudović pointed out that they have tightened the criteria for selecting members of the Council of Local Public Broadcasters.
"Local public broadcasters have an important and special place on the media scene. We have over 120 registered portals in Montenegro and citizens who use social networks. This means that we are 'inundated' with information on a daily basis and that we need to know where to find accurate and verified information. The responsibility of public broadcasters is enormous," he said.
He stressed that incorrect information and disinformation spread faster than true claims and facts. Rudović said that it is important to know how to find information that is accurate, especially in crisis situations "which, unfortunately, we had 15 days ago."
"It is very important that we understand that local public broadcasters are owned by citizens and that we have certain obligations towards them," said Rudović.
Media Center Director Goran Đurović said that the founding acts of local broadcasters must be harmonized with the Law on Audiovisual Media Services within nine months.
According to him, the models were created within the project "Participation of non-governmental organizations in the professionalization of local public broadcasters", which aims to have the municipal assemblies of 14 local self-governments adopt and implement these general acts in local public services.
As Đurović said, the goal of drafting the model act is to accelerate and facilitate the process of harmonizing the obligations of public broadcasters with the new Law on Audiovisual Media Services.
One of the key changes, he said, concerns the Council of Local Public Broadcasters.
"In accordance with the new Law, authorized and nominating members of the Council are non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the fields of education, media culture, environmental protection, sports organizations, local associations of businessmen or employers... As part of the remaining activities within this project, the Media Center will hold meetings with authorized nominators of Council members in all 15 municipalities...", said Đurović.
He said that "their job was to create conditions to enable the reduction of inappropriate party influence on the work of local public broadcasters."
"This does not mean that the model is bad, but that we as a society need a little more time to think about who among us should be in the top positions of management structures," Đurović assessed.
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