Development of Public Broadcasting Service in Croatia:

Bill on Croatian Radio-Television Defined

By Gordana Vilovic*

An Introduction and/or the Beginning of the End

Media discussion, conflict, petitions, controversy, harsh words, and even insults regarding the, now it is obvious, inglorious Bill on Croatian Radio-Television (HRT), culminated in mid-January. The bill is like an unwanted child who should not be born at all as it is burdened with many malformations. The finale of the discussion on the bill took place at a session of the Parliament Committee on the Constitution, Operating Regulations and Political System, which concluded that the bill will enter parliamentary discussion, but in an amended form. A dilemma, however, remains – has all this discussion in parliament committees, at Forum 21, Croatian Journalist Society Central Board, Committee on Protection of Public and Integral HRT, Association of Film Workers and many other associations, served the public, for which public television is “created for” in the first place, or perhaps the purpose was only to reconcile the many different interests. The only common conclusion reached in all these gatherings is that the bill is endlessly poor and imprecise, and that no one wants the third TV program and third radio program to be abolished.

More oil was added to the fire by news that a three-member delegation of the Croatian Journalist Society, Forum 21 and HRT visited three presidents in three days: Stipe Mesic, president of the state, Zlatko Tomcic, president of the parliament, and Ivica Racan, president of the government. Are things really that bad that they had to go all the way to Pantovcak (seat of the Croatian president), as during the times of the deceased President Tudjman when all decisions were made “at the top” – from the composition of the national football team to the sale of the paper ‘Vecernji list’? No matter how much the three-member delegation deemed it necessary and justified to take steps such as visiting the president of the state in a desire to save the honor of future public television, such repetition of history and transparent links between the state and the media leave a bitter taste in the mouth. Or, perhaps, President Mesic is expected to play a role similar to that of President Havel during the Czech television crisis? It is obvious that things have come far, but how did this all start?

Public Television is Far Away?

Early last year the majority of citizens of Croatia opted to change the authorities. However, the festive atmosphere from 2000 can hardly be compared with the first days of 2001. The coalition Government, made up of six political parties, shaken by internal disagreement, burdened by difficulties in the form of deep economic problems, wave of bankruptcies and almost 400,000 unemployed citizens, did not enter the new millennium with optimism. On top of all that, the Government is faced with a media vicious circle. Ownership relations in the print media are still not settled, news pages are full of all kinds of scandals, the Government has taken up work on the Bill on Croatian Radio-Television,[1][1] and there is a lot of speculation regarding the transformation and future staffing reorganization of Croatian Radio-Television.

Croatian Radio-Television today operates as a state-run media institution, composed of three parts: television, radio, and transmitters and links. Radio and television broadcast on three channels each, and transmitters and links are used only by Croatian Radio-Television. Within the three radio and television networks, programming is produced in regional studios in larger Croatian cities. The first two programs are informational and political, educational and entertainment, and the third program is, for the most part, filled with sports. According to Market Research Department research from 1998, all three programs cover more than 95 percent of households with TV signal.[2][2] Hence, thanks to transmitter and links logistics, HRT can be watched by almost everyone in Croatia. The situation regarding the radio network is similar. The first and second programs broadcast informative, documentary and entertainment shows and carry live events. The third program is reserved for ‘high culture.’[3][3] It broadcasts exclusively serious music and programs on science, culture and art. ‘Such programming satisfies the intellectual audience and the elite Croatian cultural public, which justifies its existence despite very low ratings.’[4][4] This program is popular among scientific circles. It is used to present scientific works, to announce new publishing enterprises, and so on. In every society, this is a necessary aspect of public radio. For a small number of intellectuals living outside of Zagreb, the third radio program is the only way to be closer to news in science and art. The third part of Croatian Radio-Television are transmitters and links, a very important segment that had given HRT a media monopoly up until now. According to the bill, this part of HRT will be separated and transformed into a trade enterprise, which will make its income independently and operate for all broadcasters in the market, not only HRT.

Finally Public Television?

A priority task in pre-election promises made by the six then opposition parties, which are now in power, is to restructure Croatian Radio-Television from a state-run broadcaster into a public broadcaster. This process has been quite slow and it took almost a whole year to define the bill. The new proposal of its text was announced at the end of last year. The latest proposal, as the previous one in the middle of last year, has provoked heated reactions. In short, discussion in professional journalist circles has shown that no one was pleased with the bill, except perhaps those who proposed it – the Croatian Government. The bill stipulates establishment of HRT as a public institution, not a stock company. This would prevent the possibility of HRT turning into a market-oriented company, but it would not deprive it of the right to make income other than subscription fee.

According to Article 3 of the bill, out of the three existing radio and television programs, two will continue to broadcast. The third radio program will be abolished, and its content will probably be redistributed among the remaining two. Television programming will in the future also be produced on two networks. In a situation when many commercial television stations are being established, the existence of a public television with two channels has a logical justification for a small country like Croatia. Geza Stantic, a prominent Croatian journalist, commenting on the new law aimed at creating HRT as a public service, writes: “In Croatia, public radio and television – in light of the program broadcast and the number of workers (around 3,500 employees) – is too massive. In view of the country’s economic potentials and the purchasing power of the population, it is too costly and not good enough in performing its publicist role.”[5][5]

The Committee on Protection of Public and Integral HRT sent on January 5, 2001, following discussion on the bill, a request to the Government and Parliament to delay passing the law. Among other things, the Committee was opposed to the abolishment of the third radio and television network. The Committee maintains that it is impossible to broadcast the three present programs on two networks. Employees obviously fear that many of them will be left jobless in the transformation of the existing system. “Director Mirko Galic himself has said that many employees are receiving salaries without doing anything (…) As cruel as it may sound, in a situation when many Croatian companies are rationalizing employees to the maximum, why should HRT be an exception?”[6][6]

Certainly, it is important for all citizens of this country to have regular production of objective and balanced information, and a strong educational and entertainment program on public television. And to have this done by competent and responsible journalists, who are aware of the power of television, without any political prejudice, color or pressure. However, haven’t the existing small commercial television stations shown that they are able to produce better quality news with an incomparably smaller number of people?[7][7] Of course, no one wants the surplus HRT employees to crowd the corridors of the Employment Bureau. However, with all due respect for HRT’s special purpose, one may still raise the question of how many large Croatian state giants have been transformed, without even one-fifth of the media space being allocated to the issue of transformation of these companies and the people who were left jobless. One needs to believe that real professionals will always be recognized and will always find their place on future public television and radio.

‘Transmitters and Links’ – A Service to all Concessionaires

Another important change stipulated by the new bill is the proposal to separate ‘Transmitters and Links’ from the present Croatian Radio-Television system. Under Article 29, ‘Transmitters and Links’ shall be a limited liability enterprise. It is precisely this provision of the article that has provoked strong reaction from HRT employees of such proportion that they even threatened with strike, i.e. ‘black screen.’[8][8] The Committee on Protection of Public and Integral HRT is also opposed to separating ‘Transmitters and Links’ without first making an analysis to show the effects and possibly the consequences of separation both for HRT and for public interest.[9][9] Still, it should be emphasized that this provision is essentially one of the better, if not the best point of the law. This article separates ‘Transmitters and Links’ from the HRT system and turns it into a service for all radio and television concessions. However, the new bill does not specify how HRT will use transmitters in the future and whether it will have any privileges, in view of investments made in their construction over the years, in particular following the wartime destruction of many transmitters.

Small commercial televisions would probably welcome the possibility of ‘Transmitters and Links’ becoming a concession service to all Croatian broadcasters. Most of them are today barely able to produce ‘decent’ programming and are de facto on the verge of closing down. Damir Matkovic, former HRT assistant director for public television, has no dilemma regarding separation of ‘Transmitters and Links’: ‘The argument that the state is snatching the third TV channel and transmitters from HRT is simply senseless. The fact, namely, is that the state has given HRT revenue from subscription fee, however not so that we can give ourselves salaries, but so that we can produce programming. Our obligation was to use this money – subscription fee, as you know, is a tax – to build a system of transmitters and links, which will now become a state commodity, just as HRT is a public enterprise. It would be an entirely different story if we had invested money that we ourselves had earned.’[10][10]

Quite unexpectedly, Nikola Percin, director of ‘Transmitters and Links,’ recently strongly supported the proposed separation from HRT and transformation into a trade enterprise. According to him, the reason for HRT’s opposition is the fear that the cost of transmission and broadcasting will increase when transmitters become a separate enterprise. Transmitters will then be able to work for other users as well, which was not possible up until now, because all other users were actually HRT’s competition.[11][11]

Protection of Public Interest

If Croatian Radio-Television will be public, how will public interest be protected, actually how is it protected under the new bill? Now, public interest is protected through the HRT Council, composed of representatives in the Croatian Parliament House of Representatives and prominent people from different cultural and educational institutions and associations. The bill removes any possibility of Parliament representatives or state officials being members of the HRT Council. The House of Representatives Appointment and Election Committee will initiate proceedings for the appointment of 15 HRT Council members by inviting different civil society institutions and associations to submit written and elaborated proposals for the appointment of Council members. After putting together a list of 25 candidates, it will send the proposal to the House of Representatives.

Obviously, the Appointment and Election Committee, in which the ruling coalition has majority, has an important role in selecting the 25 candidates. It is hard to believe that partisan interest will not prevail in the Committee in the initial selection of candidates. Parliament members will then, with a two-thirds majority, select the 15 Council members. The law does not specify the relationship between the selected Council members and the institution that proposed them. Regarding the provision in Article 15, Geza Stantic, commenting on the bill on Croatian Radio-Television, writes: ‘As the ruling party, or coalition, almost never has a two-thirds majority, those who made the proposal emphasize that this technique guarantees a supra-partisan status of the radio-television councilors. In order to get a two-thirds majority, the candidates should suit not only the ruling bloc, but also a certain number of opposition representatives.’[12][12]

In earlier articles on the role of the HRT Council in public radio-television, D. Matkovic underlined: ‘The biggest problem is how to establish a mechanism enabling independent intellectuals, people with public prominence, to sit on the Council, who will consistently promote the interests of the public, not of political options.’[13][13] If we judge by the bill, it seems that the main problem will once again remain unresolved: is it possible to avoid partisan influence on public radio-television through the proposed manner of selecting Council members? However, it is encouraging that under the new law, the HRT Council will no longer appoint editors-in-chief, and will have the role of supervising the implementation of programming guidelines. Instead of giving consent to the financial report as it has done up until now, the HRT Council will only give its opinion on business policy and finance.

What Is Realistic to Expect?

How will the present amended bill fare in Parliament discussion? How many amendments will be accepted? One month of discussion has shown that HRT is in a state of chaos and that everyday skirmishing on the pages of Croatian dailies has only added to the chaos. There are certainly many open issues. The Parliament Working Group is faced with the unpleasant task of taking the discussion and amendments into account and proposing changes acceptable to the majority. For now, there is no dilemma as to whether three radio and television programs will remain and whether ‘Transmitters and Links’ will separate as a trade enterprise. Requests for constituting Croatian Radio-Television as a trade enterprise, not a public institution, which the employees themselves have made, will hardly be accepted. Namely, how can we reconcile a public institution and a profit company, whose amount of subscription fee is decided by the Parliament? It is to be expected that Parliament discussion will be heated!

Discussion so far has focused too much on norms, and too little on improving professional journalistic standards, which are a very important element in creating public radio-television. The level of professionalism at Croatian Radio-Television, at least with regard to informative and political program, is not in accordance with the number of people who create program. Unfortunately, protocol, as an important aspect of valuing a news item, changes slowly and with difficulty. Debts and a chronic lack of money for regular production of drama, film and documentary program, additionally burden the already poor state of Croatian Radio-Television. However, the tragic crown of everything unhealthy at HRT are the conflicts and the unbelievable verbal clashes going on among some so-called prominent professionals and editors publicly in newspapers. After looking at such interviews and views, it can be concluded that discussion on the bill on HRT was for some people only an excuse for harsh public words, and that concern for transformation into a public radio-television is completely irrelevant in comparison to concern for survival of one’s own show.

With the passing of the Law on Public Radio-Television, whatever it may be like, the picture will really start to change. Why? Simply because everyone in state politics and on state radio-television considers themselves impotent due to the present limiting Law, which is overly attached to incumbent policies. Separation of ‘Transmitters and Links’ from HRT may be a big step towards democratization of the broadcasting media system: public Croatian Radio-Television thereby loses monopoly and receives competition in smaller, commercial television stations. This will certain force HRT to undertake changes if it wants to achieve high ratings as a result not only of good program reception, but of quality content as well.

* Gordana Vilovic heads Media Center ‘Freedom Forum’ at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Zagreb.
©Media Online 2001. All rights reserved.

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