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Medienhilfe Ex-JugoslawienProfessionelle
Solidarität gegen Nationalismus und Chauvinismus
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| PERSON RESPONSIBLE: 1. Ms. Milka Tadic, director 2. Mr. Drasko Djuranovic, editor in chief ADDRESS:  19. decembra 19, PO Box 299,
Podgorica, MontenegroTELEPHONE/FAX.: + 381 81 24 007; 43 739; + 381 81 42 479 |
1999 PROJECT FOR MONITOR: SUPPLEMENT FOR THE REFUGEES FROM KOSOVO IN MONTENEGRO |
Media Analyse of Monitor |
SUMMARY:
Monitor the Weekly Newsmagazine was founded in 1990. Monitor and Antena M are the only
media in Montenegro that are not controlled by the (proserbian) regime in Montenegro. Its
editorial policy is defined as: „... to promote the ideas of the open civil society;
to fight for the reaffirmation of the European identity of Montenegro; European values and
standards in politics, culture, economy... against arising nationalism, supporting the
multicultural, multireligious, multiethnic coexistence in Montenegro and Balkans."
BACKGROUND:
Monitor is founded (and funded) by private capital, independent financially from the state
and any political organisation. Monitor has been realising its editorial policy
successfully during all five years of its existence.
It has played very important role in protection of minorities in Montenegro during the
very high pressure they have suffered from the aggressive Serbian nationalism that has
been present everywhere in public life in Ex and this so called Yugoslavia.
Monitor has become the big media, measured in relative terms. Its circulation in
Montenegro (10.000 sold copies) is greater than the circulation of three other news
magazines, coming from Belgrade („Vreme", „NIN" and „Duga")
taken together. Beside the three state-owned media: „TV of Montenegro",
„Radio of Montenegro", and the daily „Pobjeda", Monitor is the most
influential media in Montenegro.
Unfortunately, in conditions of the sanctions and ruined economy, in an adverse
environment for the independent media as today Serbia and Montenegro are, it is very
difficult for the independent media to survive without some help (newsprint, equipment and
finance).
Since Montenegro with its 600.000 inhabitants is a small market, the problems are more
severe. The comparatively high circulation (Monitor’s 1.5% of the Montenegrin
population, while the biggest newsmagazines in Serbia have three times less percentage of
Serbian population), is not sufficient for a financial viability.
Monitor regularly co-operates with the majority of independent media from the former
Yugoslavia. Thus, Monitor and Antena M use the general services of the news agencies BETA
and FONET from Belgrade, STA from Ljubljana, MAKPRESS from Macedonia and STINA from Split.
Exchanging texts and engaging journalists they also co-operate with „Na{a Borba"
(Belgrade), „Oslobodjenje" (Sarajevo), „Feral Tribune" (Split) and
„Novi list" (Rijeka). Monitor and Antena M co-operate with the following NGOs:
NDD (Washington), PRESS NOW (Amsterdam), Swedish Helsinki Committee (Stockholm), Droit de
Parol (Paris) and the Foundation Soros in Yugoslavia. Monitor is a member of the Yugoslav
Association of Independent Press whose seat is in Belgrade.
ORGANISATIONAL BACKGROUND (and working conditions)
Monitor has 24 permanent employees, of which 15 are journalists, 1 accountant, 3 computer
operators, 1 lector, 1 secretary-interpreter, 1 employee in the marketing, 1 typist and 1
employee who is in charge of the distribution. The list of contributors is much longer; it
contains around 60 people: most of them are journalists (cca. 40), 5 co-operate with the
marketing sector, 5 of them take care of the distribution, whereby 2 of them are drivers,
2 part-time lector-readers, 5 typists, 1 interpreter and 2 security workers.
The salaries and honoraria of the engaged people are covered by the profit of the sale and
they rise according to the rise of the circulation (the profit includes the earnings from
the media advertising which is modest for the time being).
As regards the facility, it has always been a problem. Persecuted by the regime, Monitor
had to change its office ten times - it has always been an office or a room situated in
private houses, for in the s0 called social sector we have always been undesirable. During
the heaviest terror, the invasion of Dubrovnik, the house in which Monitor’s office
had been situated, suffered two bomb attacks, which fortunately caused only material
damage. In the past year and a half, from the moment the project of Great Serbia was
abandoned and the turn to the so called peace trace, the pressure and persecution by the
regime have changed - bare measures of constraint and repression now have changed to more
subtle methods of economic exhaustion for the margin to dissolve „on its own".
So, every now and then the authorities, directly or by some of their pawns, bring charges
against Monitor, not to mention the withholding of a part of the circulation on the
occasion of its printing in the state owned presses (which is the only rotational press in
Montenegro), enormous taxes which diminish Monitor’s earning by 50 percent! Another
problem is the purchase of roto-paper. Monitor has never got the ordered delivery from the
only paper factory „Matroz" from Sremska Mitrovica, Yugoslavia, so that we have
been forced to purchase it abroad which enlarged the expenses for the magazine. While the
state owned newspaper got the paper from "Matroz" for 0.7 DEM we paid 1.2 DEM
for it in Slovenia.
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