From Bosnia and Herzegovina

No Young Generation in Journalism

Interview with Senada Ćumurović, Director of Radio BH1, By Radenko Udovičić

On the 8th of May this year the Radio BH1, public radio with nation-wide reach for BiH, and the BiH Federation Radio went on the air. These two radio outlets came as result of the transformation of former BiH Radio, which started as early as June 1998, initiated by the High Representative’s decision on transformation of radio transmitting system in BiH. Due to political obstructions in both entities, it took almost three years to implement new concept of a public radio. Bosnia and Hezegovina now, al least when radio programmes are concerned, belongs to the wide European family which tends to put public broadcasts into the service of citizens, and not into the service of the state, i.e. current authorities, as we witnessed until recently.

It's been four months that Radio BH1 is up and running, which was our occasion to interview Ms Senada Ćumurović, acting director of Radio BH1. Ms Ćumurović is an excellent journalist belonging to so called middle generation, who spent many years working in former BiH Radio; she also worked as assistant in the Journalist Department of the Faculty of Political Sciences in Sarajevo and lecturer in the Mediaplan School of Journalism. Her notable experience in journalism helped her in the unrewarding work of assembling the BH1 public service editorial team, aggravated by numerous political and inter-guild barrears.

MediaOnline: What is your assessment of work of BH1 Radio, how close is your station to the idea of a public service, which BH1 is supposed to be?

ĆUMUROVIĆ: We are not in possession of exact details, i.e., a genuine inquiery has not been done. However, according to reactions by audience and our colleagues from some other media, I believe that a signifficante and good work has been done in the course of these four months, regarding that it was only in May that we started to work in unbelievable circumstances. I think we did a lot in designing this Radio as a public service.

MediaOnline: Often times people view public service as a ballanced informing on political events. But, a public service includes also both educational and childrens' programmes. Some time back, 'Media Online' conducted monitoring of informative programme only, while some among the audience think that, when other issues are in question, the station has no scheme completed.  Can we view this work as an experimental phase and can we expect additions to the present programmes?

ĆUMUROVIĆ: I've heard no objections. However, all programme segments will naturally have to be further developed. The work done so far can be seen as an experiment only from the point of view af an entirely new project, a new approach to work. But when our work is concerned, it is not an experiment. We are fully aware that the scheme and the programme must be further developed. It is only natural that in this first fase we might have concentrated mainly on informative programme, knowing that probably the interest of publicity, and the pressure as well, will be the strongest in that segment; for that reason some other parts of the programme might have been slightly neglected. 

As the matter of fact, I am having great difficulties with these other programmes these days. Simply, and unfortunately, in BiH and Sarajevo, much of the personnel of these branches have dispersed. At the same time, young journalists were not coming. The situation is the same in informative programme, but all the media that started during the war or immediatelly after it  still had a certain level of informative programme and a certain level of amusement programme; the personnel was being profiled and formed thereby, through work. However, almost no medium, not counting the two remaining public services, had any educational programme you mentioned. I mean, they had not a single serious childrens' programme as a concept, and not as one broadcast per a week. So, we are having huge problems in finding personnel and designing a modern educational program for children. When I say modern, I mean a programme that fulfills its function, which is adjusted to the medium which broadcasts it and which is, of course, amusing and interesting for the group it addresses. 

MediaOnline: How to overcome that problem of finding out experienced professionals for certain segments of the programme? Woud education of new personnel be helpful? Graduate students of the University and some other Journalists' Schools seem to have a good base, but they lack experience. Is there any other strategy in your house in place for solving this problem? 

ĆUMUROVIĆ: A job like that cannot be placed on one public service or on the University only. This is a wider social issue indeed, as dispersion of personnel in all segments of our society is immence. It is rather obvious in journalism and, because journalism is in front of the eyes of publicity, people hear how bad journalists they have. As a public service, we surely have to work on forming the new personnel. We are already doing so. We have students on regular practice with us, where they have excellent learning opportunities through work in a system like this, with new and modern basis, however, that is not sufficient. The University needs to do its part, i.e. to change the old approach and ways of work. Graduate students of the University should have not only the knowledge of the theory, but also practical experience. The schools of journalism, which have tended to train young people in journalism in a short period of time should, in addition to the practical, introduce a more serious theoretical education, too. Regardless of our attempts in this Radio to perform a certain education, we still need personnel with completed education, who would responsibely join the programme production process and who would only be given room for further self-development here.

MediaOnline: How have you recruited the personnel currently working in Radio BH1?

ĆUMUROVIĆ: Only the personnel already working in Radio BiH, Radio FERN and Radio RS could apply for jobs here. They submitted their applications and were received. A certain number of people came from orher media, too. Among these people I chose the closest team, managers who lead certain segments of the programme, and they interviewed the candidates and chose their teams. 

MediaOnline: Can journalists who feel themselves confident enough to respond to obligations of a station like this still apply; is the announcement continuously open, or it is closed?

ĆUMUROVIĆ: The number of people we initially received was a minimum necessary to launch a 24-hour programme. During the summer we stabilised certain programme lines; what follows now is staffing of certain programme contents we want to enhance. This requires personnel, too. So, in the course of the next few months, not to speak abot years, this Radio will surely stay open for new recrutements of qualified personnel, who are creative enough, educated and unburdened. It is our committment as a public service to attempt to educate society. And the education is not performed through provision of educational outputs only, but through the entire programme. For that reason we need journalists who are able to work in that direction. 

MediaOnline: Following interviews with journalists from Republika Srpska, Radio BH1 is a relativelly well accepted station there, but people don't see it as their own medium but rather as a foreign station where they can get good information, like in Voice of America, for instance. Is it caused by the fact that no journalists from Republika Srpska are employed in the central studio in Sarajevo?

ĆUMUROVIĆ: The journalists from Republika Srpska do not need to be here in Sarajevo. What we need is journalists from Republika Srpska who live there. If someone is born and lives in Banja Luka, he naturally knows the situation in Banja Luka, and he is not needed in Sarajevo where someone would have to instruct him about locations of different institutions. He is needed in the place where he has good connections that will enable him to make a good story. As we have been on the air for four months only, it is already a great break-through that audience in Republika Srpska, as you said, view BH1 as a medium where they can hear a good and quality information. The question when they will start accepting it as their own radio depends on us and on these people both. They simply have to understand good intentions and wishes that exist here, but on their own part they will have to be open in their views and thinkings towards a service like this.

I need to make a point here. Unfortunately, at this moment we have a very poor signal coverage of Banja Luka. I see it as one of the priorities at the moment. We need to reach as much BiH territory as possible and then, when people have the opportunity to identify themselves in a story coming from this area, I believe the confidence will grow.

MediaOnline: Our monitoring of news broadcasts proves that the focus is mainly on social-economic issues and life stories. Politics is somewhat less present than it was before. Is it a new strategy of the Radio?

ĆUMUROVIĆ: Yes. It is our strategy, indeed. For instance, when we receive information on daily political events, we try to classify them by topics. So, one virtual event is used to extend the issue, to see what it means to people, to see how to draw a story out of it. Now we are even receiving messages by our audience about their problems, so we've decided to take them as our guidelines. If a problem is interesting and if it can meet with interest by a larger community, we work on it. Short time ago a gentleman called us and described the problems he had in returning his property; on this basis a good story was made. This indicates that we respect people's interests, appreciate their wishes and understand their problems.         

MediaOnline: What about broadcasts from the Parliament? What is the current position of BH1 Radio in respect of the Parliament sessions, are there any plans ongoing to enter into a broadcast contract, or you will stay on short, purely journalistic outputs? 

ĆUMUROVIĆ: We do not broadcast Assembly sessions live. Naturally, there are always exceptions to this, but in principle we do not. Being a state-level medium we, of course, pay special attention to the Parliament, but, in the programme sence, all happenings from the Entity Assemblies are interesting for us, as they have impact on the society as a whole. Here we also try to get the essence. For example, enactment or failure to enact a law – what consequences it has for the people of this country. Due to a highly legal vocabulary, or because of the type of communication in the Assembly, the essence usually stays unknown and unclear to a common citizen. Our wider community views Assemblies as sites of combat of this or that politician; that is how Parliament sessions are remembered. Effectively, we need to find out what, for example, Elections Law has brought to people of this country. Maybe nothing, maybe it still brought something. That is our approach to following of the work of the Parliament.

MediaOnline: This shows how much the concept of a public service differs from what a government-run radio was. It is a radio programme primarilly in the service of citizens and not any authorities or politics. However, are you in possession of information that any of your journalists or editors were under any kind of pressure?

ĆUMUROVIĆ: Absolutely no. We had no problems related to classic pressures on journalists. Yet, your question remains complex. Generally speaking, there is a pressure exerted on this entire project. For example, no law has been enacted on PBS (public broadcast service). The issue of our financing is not completely solved. All these are indications that some kinds of pressures maybe exists, i.e., that a state-level public service like this does not conform to the taste of certain groups in the society. Because, it is a signifficant change for people to know that this Radio has a studio in Banja Luka – not only one correspondent but the entire studio with technical devices and a number of people employed. Such situation does not suit some people in this country, I assume.

Radenko Udovičić, editor-in-chief of news agency SAFAX and news editor in 'Media Online'. 
Translation by: O.H. ©Media Online 2001. All rights reserved.

source: http://www.mediaonline.ba/mediaupite/upit3/tekstframe.htm?tekst=/mediaonline/tekst_eng/3468.htm&sifra=3468 
published by: Roland Brunner rbr@medienhilfe.ch date of release on this site: 05-10-2001

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