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ASSOCIATION OF LOCAL INDEPENDENT MEDIA
”LOCAL PRESS”
Kragujevac
Branka Radicevica 9
381/34/333-116; 334-746
svetlost@ptt.yu
Association of Local Independent Media “Local Press”
started working in the second half of 1995. It gathers local media with
informative-political character. In the beginning, there were 15 members,
together with Montenegro media. Number of members was growing each year, and the
papers became more serious and better, and frequency changed in such a way that
two-weeklies became weeklies, and monthlies became weeklies. Today, Association
of Independent Local Media “Local Press”, without its Montenegro members who
founded their own Association, consists of 21 members. During the last period,
there were more papers that were interested in becoming a part of this
Association.
Considering the frequency of going out, Association is
today made up of 9 weeklies, 8 two-weeklies, three monthlies and one daily paper.
Last year at the same time there were seven weeklies, eleven two-weeklies and
three monthlies with circulation of about 260.000 issues. With a daily paper,
circulation is considerably larger and now it is 300.000 issues per month.
In the period before the
elections, one more weekly and a two-weekly were going out as daily papers. Some
two-weeklies changed their frequency to weeklies. After the elections, they all
returned to their old frequencies, in the first place because of lack of
financial means, and also because of the enormous effort that those small
editorials had during that period. Namely, because of lack of financial
means, editorials tried to provide larger volume and circulation.
Research on influence of local
media showed that, during the last year, the most influence had local media. The
former elections proved this statement. After 24th September, only in two towns
SPS won at local level. In all other areas DOS won. This is the most evident
proof of local media influence and their contribution to democratization of our
society.
Popularity of local written
media far overcomes number of sold issues, according to experience. A cause for
such a situation is a bad standard of life of our readers. According to some
polls, we estimate that popularity of those media is 4 or 5 times bigger than
the number of sold issues.
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CONDITIONS IN SURROUNDING
Political and economic pressure upon local media reached
its climax during 2000. Written media suffered different kinds of closing down
in financial sense, with the aim to shut all the media down. Disturbance of
liquidity went on, through the well-known Law on Public Information. Newspapers
that already had problems with survival on the extremely non-economic market,
came up with bare surviving. Expenses of rent, phone, electricity, petrol
that could be bought only on black market, went up all the time. On the other
hand, incomes were not bigger, because of poverty among people, and more and
more advertisers were afraid to advertise because of political threats. Problem
with paper was especially present during February. We wrote to Fondations we
cooperate with, and first donations came in the middle of March. It helped
us a lot to cut our expenses and achieve economic stability.
In the second half of the year, right after the
elections were scheduled, the problem of paper purchase appeared. Namely,
although paper was paid in advance, different ways were found to stop its
arrival to Serbia. In the first place, import taxes on offset paper were bigger,
so that paper could have been imported, but taxes were not 17 %, but 43% now. Of
course, this made a kilogram of paper more expensive. On the other hand,
possibility of buying Berane paper from Montenegro, that was much cheaper, was
almost impossible, because of difficult import of raw materials form Serbia, and
also because of inability to cross the border between Serbia and Montenegro. At
the same time, newsprint could not be bought, as media under government control
had priority. Political pressure upon independent media reached its climax
during August and September. Those media were called foreign elements, traitors,
initiators of NATO bombing. We estimate that in the following year political
conditions will be better, and that we will have problems in making economic
business healthy.
The aim of the program is
to make conditions for local, independent media to survive and spread their
influence in very difficult business conditions and in a completely destroyed
production. We think that in that way we contribute to democratic changes in the
moment when they started, but not strongly enough. In the following year there
certainly will be problems in the functioning of the country, so that our aim
would be to contribute to stability of democratic changes through objective and
precise information.
Program mission is a rebalance of business, caused by
difficult economic conditions and survival of independent media on the market.
Our goal in 2001 will be to help integration of Yugoslavia into Europe, creation
of free market, privatization of public properties, stabilization of
Montenegro-Serbia relationship and in that way to enable return of Yugoslavia in
Europe. For realization of these goals, we need help, especially in paper
provision, part of equipment and some expenses.
From received donations, Association members founded an
Urgent fond, Fond for legal help, they invested in improvement of equipment,
modem network, mini presses, education of cadre.
In our plans we count on help of
former donors: Swedish Helsinki Committee, Press Now, Medienhilfe
Ex-Jugoslawien, NPA, Fond for an Open Society in Serbia, Open Society Insitute
– Media Network Programme.
Association of Local Independent Media “Local Press”
is made up of private companies, in the first place, and after that public. In
all papers there are about 300 permanently employed, mostly highly educated, and
about 400 associates.
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Zürich, Switzerland