Watch and Shut Up

Encouraged by the example of Dr. Mirjana Markovic who attacked the independent media with greater venom than ever before, the politico-journalistic exponents of the ruling conjugal couple are returning to the rhetoric and the slightly forgotten qualifiers of 1992 and 1993 with epithets like "traitors", "foreign flunkies", "sycophants"... Milorad Komrakov, the president of the pro-government Society of Journalists of Serbia (UNS), having forgotten that several hundred of his colleagues lost jobs in recent years at the Radio Television Serbia (RTS), where he now works and where Dr. Vojislav Seselj’s extensive singling out of "nationally undesirable journalists" and "Serbian traitors" was liberally aired in the evening news—having forgotten all this, Komrakov began to audibly bewail the sad fate of journalists and producers of local media who got the boot or were reassigned, and whose original employers were taken over.

At the same time, the only paper factory in the country, Matroz of Sremska Mitrovica, is promising that it can fulfill the demand of all domestic journals. This indirectly confirms the unofficial news that a limitation on the import of paper for newsprint is in the making, which would at once free Matroz of its surplus and also go for the jugular of those journals which print "unsuitable news". The distribution network for the daily Politika (by far the most extensive with approximatly 1500 kiosks throughout the country) is increasing its rebate to 40%, forcing many journals ("Vreme", NIN, "Nasa Borba", "Duga", "Intervju"...) to forgo the services of "Politika" at the risk of not appearing at all in smaller towns.

As if by consensus or according to someone’s order, inside of a week conflicts arise in several Belgrade journals: "Duga" is abandoning its photojournalistic documentation of the citizens’ protest; rumors are circulating about the possible replacement of the editor in chief of BIGZ, and bout the divvying up of this publishing house; according to his competitor, "Demokratija", the director of "Blic" is making statements about money laundering at his company, statements which he quickly retracts — this does not prevent "Politika" from recanting on a daily basis the opinion of an "anonymous expert" regarding "money laundering" at "Blic"; the Board of Directors at NIN are replacing the editor in chief, Dusan Velickovic, because of which the majority of NIN journalists are going on strike, insisting that the replacement of Velickovic is the result of outside pressures being exerted on the editorial staff.

In contrast to "underground tactics" applied at NIN, "Blic" and "Duga", BK Television is subject to a frontal attack: RTS has denied it the use of its transmitters in Misenluk, Crni vrh, Goles, Jastrebac and Venac. The general manager of RTS, Dragoljub Milanovic, cites as reasons for this "the expansion of system connections at RTS", as well as outstanding BK Telekom accounts with his company. As BK Television reacted by calling upon Milanovic’s admission that "mutual demands and obligations of RTS and BK Telekom are resolved", and by claiming that what is at stake is the suppression of the freedom of the media, Dragoljub Milanovic decided on a rebuttal. From a statement of March 10 of this year, among other things, he points out that "The very act with which BKTV decided to present to the public the annulment of its agreement, and the media campaign which it is waging against RTS throughout the entire business world that BK Television constantly calls upon, are sufficient reasons for discontinuing all business cooperation." Thus the actual reason finally comes to light.

"I think that the real reasons for such actions on the part of RTS lie in their fear of competition," Radojicic-Potparic, director and editor in chief of BK Television told "Vreme". "According to the latest poll conducted by the agency Markplan across the entire territory of Yugoslavia, out of a representative sample of 2404 people questioned, those who believe our television are in the majority (18.4% of those questioned), whereas local stations are in second place with 4.5%, and RTS places third with only 4.1%... It seems to me, therefore, that the request on the part of RTS to annul the agreement of commercial and technological cooperation with BK Television is directly related to clause 6 of the Law of Information, which does not permit private owners to transmit radio and TV programs to more than 25% of the population of the Republic."

Beside this restriction, the part of Article 6 which does not permit private companies to own more than 20% of journals in the Republic attracted the greatest attention at the presentation of the first draft of the Law of Information, made public at a press conference on March 10. This restriction is widely interpreted as the strengthening of the monopoly held by RTS and its associated public media. In the draft there is also a decree that all media which receive aide from abroad must explicitly state so in every issue they publish, as well as in every radio and TV program they broadcast. In independent press circles this decree was immediately branded the "police line" of all independent media.

Beside these decrees, it has been noted that the draft of the Law of Information is filled with after-thoughts and awkward formulations, which is sufficient reason for the rough reception it has received among all who chose to voice their opinions regarding its content. These include the producers of the independent media, all significant opposition factions, with the exception of the radicals, the Independent Society of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS), the Independent Society of Journalist of Vojvodina (NDNV)... Admittedly, the question concerns a working copy which, according to the words of the Minister of Information, Radmila Milentijevic, ought to be open to suggestions by all those whom it concerns.

In the draft of the Law of Information there is no mention of how radio-television frequencies will be assigned (the Minister promises that a proposal for the solution to this question will be tabled by the time this number of "Vreme" will have appeared on the newsstands); nor, which is highly significant, is there any mention of RTS — a separate law is being expected for the radio and television. Besides that, the restriction to 25% of the public for the private medias under single ownership can be easily bypassed by a system of "links", just as the restriction on foreign investment of at most 49% in national medias is dealt with in similar fashion.

Thus, as the draft of the Law of Information does not solve any significant problem, the question arises, why the hurry in making it public? Perhaps the answer should be sought in Ms. Milentijevic’s prior submission of the summary of the contents of the first draft to all directors of foreign diplomatic missions in Belgrade who gave their blessing, with the qualification that the opposition should be included in the drawing up of the final version and in the discussion on how the law, after it is ratified, should be implemented. As we learn, the Minister managed to mutter a promise that the first "positive steps" will be taken, and that by the next ministers’ meeting in Brussels on March 24 Yugoslavia could be allowed preferential treatment in the areas of trade and commerce. When one takes into consideration the European Community’s tabling of a law permitting pluralism of media which will limit the influence of media magnets like Berlusconi and Mardoka to 30% in the area of a single medium, and to 10% for those that operate in several media, the intentions of the Serbian Government become clearer: to somehow "fight their way" to commercial exemptions by demonstrating to the civilized world that even here the monopolies of powerful private companies are regulated.

Such decrees against monopolies in Serbia are nothing short of comical, since the authorities and the companies under the control of the regime for all practical purposes posses monopolies over all systems of communication — over assigning of radio-television frequencies, placing of transmitters, manufacturing of paper for newsprint, press distribution and selling, control of the biggest publishing houses... Radmila Milentijevic forgot to point out such details as in press conferences in New York and Washington she waved her packet of independent journals as proof that in Serbia there is a budding of "a thousand media flowers".

The real situation is slightly different. "The situation of the medias in Serbia is hardly rosy", states Prvoslav Plavisic, director of the Center for Research of Public Opinion, Programming and Audiences at RTS. "Before the war we were next to last in Europe (in front of Portugal) in our media presence, that is in the number of copies printed per capita, in the number of TV sets per household... In recent years the number of copies printed has been rising, although the average number of copies per edition has been dropping off, which is contrary to trends in the developed world. The numbers of copies printed are small, and the readership is weak. According to our research, half the population does not read the press, a quarter reads on a regular basis, while others do so sporadically".

These figures do not surprise: according to the 1994 census, 34% of the Serbian population has no education, or has not completed elementary school. Another quarter have completed elementary school, 32% have completed high school, while 9% have completed training school programs or university degrees. When it is observed that Albanians have refused to participate in this census and that traditionally education in Kosovo is behind the rest of the country, it becomes clear that the real situation is even worse.

As they do not like to, or do not know how to read, Serbians watch TV: 87% of the population above age 10 regularly (five to seven times a week) watch TV, 68% listen to radio, and 22% read regularly. According to the research conducted late last year by the Center for Research of Public Opinion (before the mass protests because of local elections), 95% of the population watches Channel 1 of RTS, 91% watches Channel 2, and 86% watches Channel 3. Other television stations (Pink TV — 60%, Politika TV — 35%, BK Telekom — 33%, NS Plus — 29%, Studio B — 25%...) lag behind mainly because they can not be seen in the greater part of Serbian territory. Because the biggest stations are concentrated in Belgrade, the situation of the media in the capital is considerably different: Studio B is watched by half the citizens of Belgrade, while Politika TV, Palma TV, and BK Television are watched by 40%, Pink TV is watched by 30%, while the three RTS Channels of RTS are watched by 20-25% of citizens of Belgrade. For this reason RTS programing throughout Serbia is untouchable — the viewers watch only what is available.

The most regularly watched information program in the country is, of course, the RTS evening news: sometimes it is viewed by five million people, and on a regular basis, by three million, which far outnumbers the totals of all published copies of all daily newsprint in the country.

"The numbers of viewers and listeners of electronic medias are on the rise, even though their credibility is on the decline — more people are watching TV, but less viewers actually believe what they see", explains Prvoslav Plavisic. "A quarter of the population believes everything they see, a similar percentage expresses disbelief, while 40% are merely skeptical. To the question ‘Has TV changed your opinion on some issues?’ only 10% of those asked gave a positive answer. The problem, however, is that a large number of people would have no access to information without television. Its influence continues, despite issues of credibility."

Otherwise, 2319 newspapers and journals are published in Serbia, while there are 14 television and 87 radio stations that broadcast legally. The government controls nearly all, either directly or indirectly. According to the estimates of the Ministry of Information there are another 20 television and 100 radio stations that broadcast illegally in Serbia. The authorities do not harass them mainly because they steer clear of politics.

"The number of TV stations has grown incredibly, but this has not had the effect of enriching our information flow," claims Prvoslav Plavisic. "The majority of these new stations lack their own production teams, and lack any kind of informative content, except for that acquired from informational services. These stations are mainly geared toward entertainment programming that lures away a considerable number of viewers with the end result that the population is less and less informed."

It is noteworthy that, by contrast with other, more active media regions, Vojvodina, despite being the most developed region and the greatest "consumer of information," remains in deep provincial isolation. There are no local TV stations, there is no independent daily press, and in the past 9 years Novi Sad has seen the appearance of only two independent weeklies — "Nezavisni gradjanski list" and the tabloid "Svet". Admittedly the new city authority in Novi Sad is attempting to form local radio, television and a weekly journal. That, however, is not free.

Having taken over power in the biggest cities throughout Serbia, the coalition "Zajedno" has assumed control over those local media which did not manage to quickly change their status and to come under the protection of RTS. Nearly all producers have been replaced (some were even fired), and new people have been put in their place. A part of the public has been seized by fears that the behavior of the new authorities toward local media will not differ greatly from that "under the old regime", fears fueled by harangues of the government media. Prvoslav Plavsic also warns that the media are becoming a prize for which fierce battles will be fought — political battles, not civilian ones.

"In Serbia the systemic concerns with media are background, surfacing only in political conflicts. Some factions (the radicals, for instance) openly admit that once they assume power, they will manage everything under their jurisdiction. That is the reason behind the penetration into and the abuse of the media, instead of their support toward their ultimate democratization. I fail to see significant differences between the views of certain factions, even though it is clear that the factions in power are most to blame for this state of affairs".

It is a fact that new city authorities throughout Serbia, even if they wished, could not make any worse the situation in those media that are under their control — the Socialists and JUL have already made a thorough job of it. Some news from the provinces are somewhat encouraging: the local journals "Velika Kikinda" and "Zrenjanin" are already printing nearly twenty thousand copies, a huge circulation in comparison to the potential readership. "Nezavisna Svetlost" from Kragujevac is also doing well, as are nearly all local journals which are not mere replicas of the journals from the nation’s capital.

Pro-government newspapers are generally losing out to the independents both in quality, and slowly even in circulation. For five, six years already, from the infamous downfall of "Epoha", the ruling authorities are not attempting to create a serious political weekly of national importance that could compete with "Vreme" or NIN. Last year’s appearance of "Dnevni Telegraf", "Blic" and "Demokratija", along with the existing (and best rated) "Nasa Borba", have changed the climate in the market for daily press: the circulations of "Politika" and "Ekspres Politika" have appreciably fallen off, especially during the civilian protests in the past several months. The die has fallen on "Vecernje Novosti" which more and more often prints useful information.

It could be concluded from this that the leading factions are slowly abandoning the press. The electronic medias, on the other hand, are something different, especially state television. The recent inception of the grotesque program "Foreign Chronicle" only showed that the authorities will not budge an inch from the existing, political approach to production at RTS. It is left to Dr. Ratko Markovic to amuse himself by altering old laws, and writing new ones, which will not change anything.