Switching off

For a long time, it hasn’t been easy in Belgrade.  Certainly, every dweller of the capitol would give this kind of grade, but it’s difficult to give facts that are expressed from the highest places.  President and Director of JUL, Dr. Mirjana Markovic, at the election conference for JUL's Belgrade Council in Sava Center worriedly threw her attention upon this state of affairs in Belgrade.

“In the battle against the former Yugoslavia as in the battle against this Yugoslavia, which is waged outside of it, the main front both times has been Belgrade,” she said. Dr. Mira continued, “Being that new wars are waged all the more with special weapons, of which the most efficient is information, it is no wonder to us that it is most brutally practiced in Belgrade.”

Proof that the words of our comrade the doctor were taken seriously can be seen in public competition for permits providing the temporary use of radio frequencies and television channels that the Federal Ministry for Telecommunication announced in February of this year.  On Friday, May 15, the ministry announced a list of 174 radio stations, lucky winners for a year, and 73 television stations who will broadcast programs for two years (if there are any programs to broadcast). Somewhere around 200 radio and television stations were left without permits and among them were practically all members of the Association for an Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), with the exception of Radio B92 and TV Pancevo.  Some stations whose broadcast was unknown  until now received permits.  For example, Radio 10, Radio SKC from Belgrade, Radio FAN from Pozarevca whose founder is, as is rumored, "Madonna company" (sic!).  Also interesting is the until now non-existent radio and television Inter Speed whose founder, approximately, is at the same time a firm known for it’s free-shopping on the Macedonian border, for it’s automobile club AMSK Inter Speed, for whom Marko Milosevic (also a Madonna company owner and son of above mentioned Dr. Mira Markovic and Slobodan Milosevic) drove, and for villas in Athens leased out for the use of AMSK and, it is understood, for it’s dearest driver.  In short, except for the rare exceptions of those working under the illusion of a free press, channels without informational programs mainly received permits.  Therefore, radio and television “greetings and wishes” of which many are technically problematic.  Mainly, it is a question of stations founded by local businessmen whose loyalty to the regime doesn’t come into question and some properties tied to members of the family—Radio Kosava and the television show of the same name (whose director is Marija Milosevic, a daughter) much earlier reserved permits; however, how and when is not known.

The 30 member ANEM is in this sense practically banned.  In every case, directly before the official announcement of the results, an increase in fees was announced.  Information presented by Veran Matic, ANEM director and editor-in-chief for Radio B92, stated that the permit for the following year will cost them a million and a half dinars.  Matic later changed the already enormous sum to 180,000 dinars per month!  Along with them, these stations end up in the same situation as those who didn’t get a permit, because such a tax simply isn’t doable, and some won’t pay it, says Matic.

“In the field of electronic media, the government always uses the most destructive weapon,” stated for Vreme Nenad Cekic, member of the ad-hoc crisis committee of ANEM and director and editor-in-chief for the Radio Index, one of the stations which didn’t receive a permit.  “If under public pressure they change their minds about the decision to prohibit the work of the majority of electronic media, there still remains an additional safety device—enormously high fees.  That is to say, when an advertisement is announced, they don’t mention fees for the use of radio frequencies and television channels, but their increased efforts in the course of the contest are announced three days before the results!  We bought, therefore, something for which we didn’t know the price.  Let’s not talk about the fact that the republican law concerning radio and television foresees compensation, but the federal system of links, upon which an advertisement is probably based, is not mentioned.  Until now, that conflict of jurisdiction has practically made impossible the legalization of radio and television stations.”

In Serbia, there already formally existed an association of local radio stations under the patronage and direct control of republican radio and television.  Through the association, in the years when there remained the jurisdiction of old and new states, they threw the jurisdiction of the federal states onto the republican level through a perfidious game.  RTS has already picked up all of the most amicable frequencies.  Almost all of them, because some of the local stations hung onto their frequencies due to general carelessness, which happened to work against the regime during the local elections crisis in 1996. In the beginning of the '90s, ruling parties held under their control municipalities which were, once again, turning local radio stations into public enterprises and appointing their directing councils, and, therefore, the director and editor-in-chief.
Aside from the usurpation of the right to use frequencies, RTS took into their shaggy paws almost all of the technical structure of the association of local radio stations: antennae, transmitters, studios, uplinks, and hence becomes the older partner to anyone who would like to broadcast radio and television programs.  It was enough of such “village drummers”, of intentions to survive from “congratulations for weddings to those who would give truly informational programming that wouldn’t be similar to RTS.  The system’s traps were unharnessed before everyone.  The law concerning the system of links from the end of the 80’s with modifications that “users can...divide radio broadcasting from radio frequencies of a range that international agreements...distribute to departments and activities on the basis of a planned distribution of radio frequencies.” Such a plan was never carried out let alone announced.

Then, to rub salt in the wound, the republican law concerning radio and television arrived in 1991 which gave up distribution of frequencies in “republican jurisdiction” to the republican government, although everywhere else that's in the hands of the central government of internationally recognized states, not the federal unit!  Let’s not talk about the fact that it isn’t known which frequencies are in the “republic’s jurisdiction.”  According to that law, the government of Serbia is obligated once every year to announce an open competition for the permanent allotment of “its” frequencies, but for seven years there has only been two competitions.  The result of the last performance was in 1994, but permits were received by “merry fellows” and ”suitable individuals” as now.

Potential broadcasters come face to face with uncomprehending obstacles and the real danger to exit from reason: in order to be able to broadcast a program, first they must register a company “for the purpose of radio-broadcasting activity” to authorized dishes.

After struggling, refusals, requests, complaints, the most determined would somehow succeed.  A “Catch 22” then waited for them in reference to the registering of programs in the registry of public advertising in the republican Ministry of Information.  According to the interpretation of this ministry, an otherwise classic communist creation, a radio permit issued by the competent federal organ (the Federal Administration for Radio Communications that is now called the Federal Ministry for Telecommunications) is needed to sign in the registry.  There, one can only receive those permits if the enterprise is previously registered in the registry!  “It’s a classic wild goose chase,” complains Nenad Cekic.   Nevertheless, in the republic ministry for information, a magic formula for an exit to this vicious cycle was offered to hysterical enthusiasts of radio-broadcasting—make an agreement with the all powerful RTS who possesses a large number of permits they don’t use.  Through agreements, RTS gave up rights to interested broadcasters to place stations according to the worst possible parameters (frequency, location, power).  The republican ministry would register the stations, but the federal organ issued the permit for ten years.  Due to the fact that most of the technical support is in the hands of RTS, broadcasters who might be driven to criticize the regime would find themselves with, “water in the cable”.  Their programming would be discontinued at someone else’s whim.   In short, RTS holds in its hands all remaining broadcasting.

In the meantime, the present number of radio and television stations has exceeded 400, of which the majority broadcast without the answerable documentation while the minority have agreements with RTS and their own permits are left over from socialist self-management days.  The authorities selectively prohibited the work of pirate disc jockeys. The first to bare the brunt of the attack were those who have informational programming. Last year, 70 stations were prohibited in one such attack even though many of them were tacitly permitted to broadcast further. Conducted chaos “on the air” served the republican and federal ministers of information with shameful boasting as how in Serbia one thousand media blossoms bloom.  In short, aside from a few exceptions, the remaining work under the illusion of freedom of speech-- they gave licenses mainly to broadcasters without informational programming.  Therefore, the federal minister for telecommunication’s announcement at the beginning of February was a true masterpiece of lawlessness.

In the beginning, the announcement was controversial because federal legislation, on the basis of which it is probably written, isn’t mentioned there.  Besides that, delivering “temporary permits” even though the law and the following regulations know that institute only for “radio stations whose quality is under examination, research, and review,” and is valid for 60 days at the most.  Simply put, radio stations who organize themselves and want to examine their quality seek, and according to the law, receive permits. Then, for some time broadcast announcements or test screens.  Exactly how advertisers chopped that 12 month deadline for radio and 24 month deadline for television channels is known only to them.  The controversy is also about regulations fees, let alone their high cost.  In the luckier parts of Europe, they pay for broadcasting programs, but not like this in terms of licensing and concessions.  Rather high expenditures are patiently consolidated through numerous parameters and coordinated with the economic strength of the state and the broadcaster.  Broadcasters who control purchasing have got the cat in the bag, because the cost of the fee hadn’t been known until recently.

At the same time, one needn’t forget that the problem isn’t only political, but also technical.  It’s certain that there is no place for anyone who decides to found a radio station. Along with the so called pressure of a democratic public, a thorough technically-regulated work is required as a solution to domestic radio broadcasting. According to tradition, this isn’t available here.

Factors:  Immediately the news that soon all of their members were practically prohibited to work, ANEM reacted by forming a crisis committee and promising “a long, persistent, and inventive struggle.”  Judging from these first statements, no one will interrupt broadcasting.  “We will work until they physically prevent us,” stated Nenad Cekic.  Former head engineer for RTS 1 Lazar Lalic (now in ANEM) in a statement for Vreme asserts that the federal ministry doesn’t have the technical personnel potential to prevent stations from working.  “They’ll probably have to repeat last year’s situation where the ministry hired inspectors from RTS for shutting down stations.  I’m using this opportunity to appeal to them as well as to the experts from RTT and the Association of Engineers and Technicians to not get involved in this dirty and illegal game as last year and not to remain infamous like those people who strangled the free word.”  Editor-in-chief of Radio 021 from Novi Sad, Alen Selimovic, stated that the keys to the place in which their transmitter is stored will be given to Novi Sad’s mayor Dr. Stevan Vrbaski.

ANEM will begin united with demands that everyone receive permits to work, that they remove fees for those who received them, and that they replace the federal minister for communication Dojicilo Radojevic. International institutions, ambassadors from the Contact Group countries, and Richard Holbrook were notified about everything and the possibility of forming an international committee for the protection of media in Yugoslavia.  Members of ANEM appealed to the republican minister for information, Aleksandar Vucic, with the demand that he accept them, but also a ten minute broadcast program via satellite after 11:00 p.m. so that listeners in the interior be informed about student protests due to the announced law repealing university autonomy.  Connected to the protest is ANEM under the united slogan, “there is no free media without a free university.”  The first day of the protest, on the plateau in front of the Philosophical Faculty in Belgrade, two to three thousand people gathered.  “That’s more than on the first day of the student protests in 1996,” noted Dusan Masic, ANEM coordinator.

It’s difficult to predict how matters will develop, but it seems that, with regard to Holbrook, Gelbard and some “international factors” to whom Milosevic’s cooperation in terms of Kosovo is more important, there won’t be much help.  Nenad Cekic predicts that after the expiration of the month deadline—when there are no demonstrations because everyone is resting—only then will they take action.  According to him, if the disruption of radio and television stations comes to be, next in line will be the press through the pressing of charges against editors-in-chief due to the undisciplined writing about Kosovo and through the preparation of laws concerning information for which no one is guaranteed that there won’t have, for example, regulations about the astronomical fees for controversial advertisements.  Or something similar to the rich repertoire of Dr. Mira Markovic and her party.