BELGRADE – Delegation of the European Union in Serbia and the OSCE Mission in Serbia closely follow a great number of personnel changes at the Radio Television of Vojvodina (RTV), implemented by the newly established Managing Board, reads the statement of the two institutions issued today.
We use this opportunity to stress the great responsibility that RTV has as a public service broadcaster in securing the highest standards for preserving public interest. Public service broadcaster is a guarantor of quality and diversity of programming content and unbiased editorial policy, in accordance with the principles of independence secured by the Law on Public Service Broadcasting of 2014, the statement reads.
RTV has an additional and a great responsibility – to fulfill legitimate expectations of national minorities by providing program in minority languages. We stress the importance of creating motivating environment in Serbia where freedom of speech can be fulfilled unhindered, the importance of strengthening the independence of the Regulatory Authority of Electronic Media with the aim of providing stronger support to editorial independence of media, and the importance of ensuring adequate financing and editorial independence of public service broadcasters, concludes the statement by the EU Delegation and the OSCE Mission.
EFJ: Eliminate Politics from Media
Politicians should remain outside of newsrooms and steer clear of meddling into their work, but as far as I can see, the political system here tries too hard to influence the work of the media, president of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, said in the interview with FoNet news agency.
Politicians from many countries say that it is difficult to have critically oriented media, but it is much worse not to have such media, assessed Bjerregård who held a lecture at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade and attended a conference on journalists’ trade union organizing. According to him, critically oriented media and investigative journalism keep democracy and politicians on the right track. Therefore, the message to all politicians and governments should be that they stay outside of newsrooms because media freedom is a condition for freedom of speech and one of the pillars of democracy, Bjerregård said.
The article by FoNet news agency was published in Serbian by daily Danas on 23 May 2016.