On the Ruins of TV Bastille:

The Development of A Public Broadcasting Service in Serbia

 By Vladan Radosavljević*

 Serbia at the Starting Line

There is a Serbian saying that describes unfamiliar situations and all their possible developments: "Maybe it will be, but it doesn't have to be." This proverb can currently be applied to the world’s hopes for Serbia's future development, especially in the media arena. In other words, it's clear to all the actors on the media scene that the one-time state media, especially radio and television, must move in the direction of a rapid, but at the same time precise and well-thought-out transformation. The experience of neighbouring states in the region is treated as a valuable signpost. At the same time, little concrete action is being undertaken.

Old Habits and the Independent Sector

A public broadcasting system by definition promotes values of democracy and human rights as well as cultural and political pluralism, while presenting objective and professionally produced information. This is in fact the goal of Radio-television Serbia (RTS) and of the entire array of local TV stations that were, and still are, state-owned. This goal is difficult and yet simple to realise, distant and yet near. Serbia has had for the past decade one of the most infamous radio-television propaganda regimes, one whose methods--spreading hate speech, remaining politically narrow-minded and deaf to the most basic human rights—outdid even the enviable competition in the neighbourhood. At the same time, the number of workers RTS employs has grown over the years to an incredible 8,500 people, distributed among radio and television studios in Belgrade, Novi Sad, and recently Prishtina. RTS has developed a range of secondary activities, such as producing records and cassettes, offering various services, and renting out its own folk and entertainment orchestras, among other things. Doubtless this state of affairs is exactly the opposite of what RTS should become through an organised and well-planned process of transformation.

            On the other hand, during all those years of terror, and in spite of the passage of draconian information laws before Milosevic’s fall from power, a rich and various media sector remained alive in Serbia, especially in broadcasting. The whole range of independent local radio and television stations, who, which worked for the most part within the structure of the Association of Independent Electronic Media, carried out their journalistic work professionally and honestly. In other words, many of these radio and television stations are in fact already public. These media cherished professional standards. Most journalists did not compromise their principles, and a number of young people learned the profession of radio and TV journalism. The existence of a strong independent sector in the demanding task of transitioning to public broadcasting will undoubtedly speed the process up and keep it moving in the right direction.

            With the aim of aiding the systematic transition of Serbia’s media, the Belgrade Media Centre is working with the Independent Association of Journalists in Serbia, AMEN, the Association of Private TV Stations, the Yugoslav Lawyers' Committee, and other relevant organisations have produced a comprehensive survey of transition models. Based on the experience of others--most importantly that of the countries in the immediate vicinity, the project envisions task forces on various transitional issues: problems of legal ownership, amending obsolete laws and rules in the field of broadcasting, frequency management, codes of ethics, the most important aspects of future information laws, and so on.

            Of course, these ideas about transforming the broadcasting system and other state-owned electronic media would have to be accepted by the new democratic government. By its very definition, the government is unlikely to find these initiatives terribly attractive. On the other hand, ambitious promises designed to reintegrate Serbia into Europe should be considered binding. After all, a small and yet concrete result has already been realised: At the demand of independent, primarily media-oriented institutions and NGOs, the Federal Ministry of Telecommunication voted at the end of December in favour of a moratorium on granting frequencies until new telecommunication laws are put into place.

The New Government's Hesitation

The main RTS building on Takovo Street was still in flames when a group of journalists took it over on October 5, 2000. They then established a crisis headquarters and began broadcasting with the help of a television studio on Belgrade's periphery. This group comprised people who had been fired or marginalized in previous years due to disagreements with editorial policies, and they now direct RTS. The programs they are now producing correspond more or less to the standards of professional journalism, although they noticeably devote a great deal of attention to the activities of the new Yugoslavian president, government, and the leading parties of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS). News is bare-bones, using very few on-the-scene photographs, and graphics reminiscent of practices from years ago.

Although radio in Serbia is in similarly dire technical straits, the reasons for this are entirely different. Television Belgrade's modern television equipment was either destroyed during the NATO bombing or suffered when the building was taken over last October. In contrast, nothing has been invested in Radio Belgrade for years due to its small listenership, but the radio station has managed to put out three all-day programs using only ancient typewriters and not one computer.

            The enormous number of employees is undoubtedly a problem in itself. Among them are those who to a large extent contributed to the decade of politics resulting in extensive wars, destruction, and suffering, and who are ethically and of course criminally responsible in these matters. It seems that this is one of the specifics of RTS's transition process not found in neighbouring countries. One essential step that must be taken is to affirm the guilt of RTS journalists in agitating for war, instigating crimes, calling for lynchings, using extensive hate speech against anything contradicting the regime's wishes, and lying about and hiding the truth on a daily basis. Only after adopting an ethical code that does not give amnesty to prior actions can a public broadcaster serving the interests of citizens and taking responsibility for its own work be established.

            In other words, the future radio and television services cannot resemble the current RTS in any way. Establishing a true public service will not, however, be possible without decisive, even courageous action on the part of the government and the Serbian Council. This looks uncertain. Instead of demonstrating their responsibility and vision for future public television by jumping at the opportunities that are now opening up, the Serbian authorities are having a hard time resisting the privileges that their undisputed ownership of RTS offers. Instead of demonstrating their sense of democratic responsibility by delegating independent experts, the new government intends to appoint mostly DOS members to the Administrative Council of Radio and Television.  This can be assumed from the methods employed in forming Administrative Councils in other broadcasting stations such as Politika, Borba and the local Belgrade radio-television station Studio B. There still remains the hope that such behaviour will only last until regulations are passed that will, among other things, envision administrative councils of experts, media advisors, and a board of directors from the largest and most important public media.

Three Programs, Three Different Decisions

            At the top of Serbia's priority list now is the rapid passage of new and yet adequate media regulations based on high international media standards and ensuring the establishment of a public media in Serbia. There is no doubt that public radio and television in Serbia must in the near future be set up as a public institution, answerable to the public and enjoying institutional autonomy and complete editorial freedom. Such an institution would be financed by public funds, but could also be supported by advertisers and sponsors in order to maintain quality programs and keep up with technological progress in production and broadcasting.

            This proposed model was complemented by suggestions from RTS, mostly from its unions but also from various informal professional circles. They envision the transformation in the following way: The first channel would become a public information service with the task of producing cultural, educational and other programs; the second would be devoted to sports, foreign programs and entertainment; and the third would in this case be offered to the market and would undergo supervised privatisation.

            Naturally, there are other possible solutions. Moreover, this idea only relates to the three radio and television programs of RTS. A whole array of local state-owned radio and television stations awaits a better proposal for its transformation. The future of the influential TV channel Yu Info, which the former government created in order to spread its propaganda into neighbouring Montenegro, remains entirely unclear. This television station with its strong signal and modern equipment is controlled by the Federal government.

            The enormous work of transforming and developing the public sector is now being coordinated from one place: the Belgrade Media Centre. The question now is how to incorporate all the valuable efforts of institutions, organisations, journalism associations, and media experts in order to fulfil their obligations in the best possible way. The idea is to find, through the combined effort of experts from various fields relating to media in transition, the most acceptable solution that could be offered to the government for implementation. Relying on the fact that transitional countries, especially those in the immediate vicinity, have had recent experience in transforming their media from state to public sector, all suggestions and thoughts coming them are welcome and would be valued highly. In order to publicise its activities, the Media Centre along with the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia and ANEM organised various seminars and round tables at the end of last year. Participants included foreign and local experts, and journalists from independent media as well as editors from the current RTS. The conclusions they reached during these meetings were presented both to the public and to the new Serbian government.

            So far, the government has given no concrete answer. An appeal sent out in the past few days therefore calls on the public to put the pressure on.  If for nothing else, then to prevent the resurrection of the radio and television system that was once known among the people as "TV Bastille."

* Vladan Radosavljevic is Editor at the Media Center, Belgrade. ©Media Online 2001. All rights reserved.

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