Bosnia and Herzegovina
Media Analysis (by IREX-ProMedia)

April 2000

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, independent and self-sustaining print and broadcast media are critical to the ongoing process of national reconciliation, economic restructuring, and democratization. The development of independent media bodies, however, is all too often hampered by controlling political interests, usually consisting of ethnically based ruling parties that have placed a priority on consolidating power and resisted serious reforms. Often, the same political actors that used the media to pursue their war aims during the 1992-95 conflict continue to control or influence important media outlets.

The influence of political parties on the media is widespread in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The ruling SDA (Party of Democratic Action), for instance, uses its control over political and economic levers of power to repress and harass independent voices; in Herzegovina, the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) retained tight control up to its recent election loss and, in many respects, treated the region as a virtual province of Croatia. In Republika Srpska, furthermore, the battle between hard-line nationalists and moderates continues, further aggravated by the diplomatic standoff between the West and Yugoslavia. On the other hand, small successes have started to develop step by step: a single currency is taking hold and slowly displacing the Yugoslav Dinar and Croatian Kuna; travel and trade between entities are increasing; and some key reforms seem to be moving forward, even if slowly and under heavy pressure from the international community.

I. ANALYSIS OF CURRENT MEDIA SITUATION

Drawing on its experience from ProMedia I, IREX has developed an analytic tool "Attributes of a Successful Media System in a Free-Market Democracy" which we use to describe both the present developmental stage of Bosnian media and the model media system IREX aims for in its media assistance work. Based on IREX’s 1997 privately-funded assessment of the progress made in Bosnia we make the following general conclusions, expanded upon below:

1. Poor business management practices, the over-saturation of the media market, and a weak economy frustrate progress toward financial sustainability.
2. Despite some courageous journalism, the overall quality of journalism remains low.
3. Bosnia’s journalist associations remain split along ethnic lines and are relatively ineffective; inchoate broadcaster and publisher associations are not yet effective.
4. The legal and regulatory framework is under development, and governments and parties use the opportunity to harass and intimidate media.
5. A variety of media is available and accessible, but media remain largely tied to their entity and ethnic group, and therefore don't reflect the full political or ethnic spectra of Bosnia.

1. Poor business management practices, the over-saturation of the media market, and a weak economy, frustrate efforts toward financial sustainability.

Currently, the Bosnian media market is over-saturated. The Independent Media Commission (IMC) has identified 268 broadcast organizations using nearly 700 transmitters, giving Bosnia one of the highest per capita concentrations of broadcasters in the world. The print situation is the same: Sarajevo, a city of 350,000, has three daily newspapers and five newsmagazines, far more than it can support.

However, the media market is entering a period of consolidation. The IMC is completing licensing of broadcasters and will begin efforts to curb piracy, which may put many small broadcasters out of business. The ongoing evolution of publicly funded state/public broadcasters will squeeze unaffiliated local stations. In reaction to these market trends, political parties are consolidating their control over media outlets. The ruling SDA is creating Bosniak Radio-Television (BRT) and is working to tighten its grip on the Sarajevo print market. Meanwhile, the HDZ seeks to maintain control of Erotel (a network targeting Bosnian Croats), and radical Serb parties are competing for control over RTRS (Radio Television Republika Srpska) as well as local broadcasters and papers.

Most independent media lack the management skills necessary to survive this period of consolidation. They are either overstaffed or improperly staffed; lack the business skills and financial capital to operate efficiently; and have developed a ‘donor dependency’ that causes them to postpone difficult business decisions in favor of seeking additional donor support. Further complicating the "retail" picture (the situation at individual media outlets) is the lack of supporting infrastructure for the media sector, including regular access to objective market research, efficient private and independent printing capacity, and independent distribution systems.

2. Despite some courageous journalism, the overall quality of journalism remains low.

Years of conflict and the resulting "brain drain" have deprived Bosnia of many talented and experienced journalists. Many young journalists received their on-the-job training during the war years, and in that environment they were mostly concerned with supporting "their" side in the conflict, not reporting objectively on all views. Now, in the post-war reconstruction era, print and broadcast journalists still remain excessively focused on the politics of "capital" cities (Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar). Stories written and aired by Bosnian journalists exhibit little imagination in presentation, undergo little research or fact-checking, and rely heavily on press conferences and official statements. To compound matters, technical facilities are often inadequate for modern news gathering and production. Minimal computerization and Internet access at media outlets limit the ability of journalists to adequately research stories—research necessary to pursue analytical or investigative stories.

3. Bosnia’s journalist associations remain split by ethnicity and are relatively ineffective; inchoate broadcaster and publisher associations have yet to gel and exercise influence.

As one would expect in a country only three years removed from war, Bosnia's six journalist associations are divided still by entity and ethnicity. The international community has been successful in facilitating some willingness to cooperate across entity borders and ethnic interests; IREX, for example, helped the Independent Media Commission (IMC) to sponsor the first joint meetings of the (then) five journalist associations to develop common approaches to dealing with media self-regulation. IREX has also been able to convince journalist associations to hold joint skills training sessions.

The promising nucleus of an editor’s and publisher’s association for the Bosnia-wide print sector does exist: six publishers have joined together to pursue joint ownership of a printing plant, and if that effort is successful, there should be follow-on initiatives. Similarly, a core group of some thirty broadcasters has recently come together to form the Professional Association of BiH Broadcasters. When these associations take off, they will require management training to undertake the kind of roles performed so well by American associations: advocacy and provision of member services.

4. The legal and regulatory framework is under development, and governments and parties make use of opportunities to harass and intimidate media.

Licensing and many other regulatory controls on the media remain within the purview of the international community, primarily through the IMC. The IMC is currently licensing broadcast media and will develop the requisite body of accompanying administrative law. Freedom of information and fair libel laws have also to be written and passed. Video piracy remains rampant and is a major obstacle to foreign advertising; tax burdens on media are onerous and unfair; ownership is not transparent. Independent media are discriminated against by advertisers who come under extralegal government pressure; Dani, for instance, saw its ad sales drop from 11 to 2 pages after it published an expose of government corruption. Conversely, state broadcast media, particularly in the Serb entity, continue to function as government spokesmen despite the international community’s attempts to transform them legally into western-style public broadcasters.

In this environment, however, the efforts of the IMC and the slowly growing involvement of the local media community provide numerous opportunities. IREX, through the law firm of Covington & Burling, has already provided the IMC and the local media community with an analysis of libel law in the European context; reviewed draft licensing policies and procedures; advised the IMC and local media community on the role of self-regulation versus government control; and suggested revisions to the draft law establishing Federation (Public) Television. Much more assistance is needed and has been requested by the IMC, in areas ranging from copyright regulations to Internet development, now hampered by the monopolistic PTTs (the state-owned telecom).

5. A variety of media is available and accessible, but most media remain tied to their entity or ethnic group and don't reflect the full political or ethnic spectra of the country.

As noted above, Bosnia actually has more media outlets than its weak economy can support. Numerous papers and newsmagazines are available to readers throughout the country and most households receive several television and radio stations. Most parts of Bosnia also receive broadcasts from Croatia, Montenegro, or Serbia, and satellite and cable are available to a limited audience.

On the face of it, one could conclude that citizens have access to a wide variety of views and that the media reflect national political and socio-economic spectra. However, the very dominance of state and party-political broadcasters results in a preponderance of narrow and slanted views. RTVBiH (Bosnia’s state broadcast network), for example, has three times OBN’s (Open Broadcast Network – a network striving to air equal coverage for all three parts of Bosnia) share according to a 1998 survey by Mareko Index Bosnia. Recent moves by the IMC to make RTVBiH into a public broadcaster have spurred the SDA to create a party-funded alternative, Bosniak Radio Television International, in order not to lose its propagandizing tool. On the print side, independent papers have lower circulations than papers controlled by the ruling parties. In Sarajevo, for example, the two "independents," Oslobodjenje and Vecernje Novine, have a lower combined circulation (25,000) than the SDA-controlled Dnevni Avaz (30,000). Control of news by state and party is exacerbated by the division of media along ethnic lines, with little crossover reporting, reading, or viewing among ethnic groups or across entity borders.

II. PROGRAM APPROACH AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

IREX has designed a program approach and implementation plan for ProMedia II in Bosnia that addresses media sector weaknesses identified in the preceding analysis, and contributes most meaningfully to USAID/Bosnia’s development goal: "To create a stable, democratic post-war Bosnia Herzegovina with strong institutions and a free market economy."

IREX’s strategic program objective for ProMedia II is: "Professional and financially sustainable independent media in Bosnia provide citizens with the balanced news and information necessary to participate in democratic institutions." To meet this objective, the program will focus on the achievement of four intermediate results (IRs) that will deliver the key components of a healthy media system:

IR 1: Publishers and station managers effectively manage media enterprises

IR 2: Journalists provide citizens with objective, fact-based, useful information

IR 3: The legal and regulatory framework supports free speech and private media

IR 4: Supporting institutions function in the professional interests of independent media

The Bosnian media market is moving into a period of consolidation: not all newspaper and broadcast outlets can or should survive. US assistance, to be properly sequenced, must move firmly into a new phase that exerts the maximum beneficial impact on this process of "rationalization," so that excellence in journalism and a common sense approach to business management become key determinants of winners and losers. Therefore, IREX’s work stresses the following themes:

1. Intensive, on-site training for both managers and journalists at a limited number of independent print and broadcast outlets.
2. Sustained effort to develop a country-wide professional independent news agency.
3. Attention to the institutional and regulatory infrastructure necessary to sustain independent media, including local television production, professional market and audience research, adequate printing and distribution for print media, and free speech protections.
4. Building indigenous capacity to carry on training and consultation in business management and professional journalism at the end of ProMedia II.

How Does Bosnia Rank?

Attributes of a Successful Media System in a Free-Market Democracy

Grading Key: High (4 points): country conforms substantially or entirely to the indicator; Medium-High (3 points): country conforms to most aspects of the indicator; Medium (2 points): country conforms to some of the indicator; Medium-Low (1 point): country minimally conforms to the indicator; Low (0 points): country does not conform to the indicator

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