IFEX upozorava na stanje u srpskim medijima

26.01.2005.

 January 4 - 18, 2005.

DEATH THREATS FOR JOURNALISTS

BELGRADE, January 04, 2005 (Beta) - Journalists and photographers from Belgrade media were threatened by an unknown gunman in the suburb of Dedinje on Monday night.

The incident occurred when journalists received information about a robbery in the swank suburb. The haul included ten thousand euros in cash, seven rifles and a revolver. As they arrived at the house a woman emerged:

"We're not home. Don't let it even cross your mind to write about this,
don't under any circumstances let us read about this tomorrow in the
papers," she said.

As the group of journalists stood across the road from the house, a man about forty years of age and about 185 cm in height came out of the house brandishing a gun.

"You're dead if this comes out in the papers. What is it, what do you want?
Get lost," he shouted at them. The assailant then pointed the gun at the journalists standing across the road from the house.

During the entire incident a police vehicle was parked in front of the house and standing nearby was a man in a security uniform, but neither reacted.

The editorial offices of dailies Glas Javnosti and Kurir have said that they will file charges of endangering the safety and lives of journalists.

PARLIAMENT TO DEBATE NEW ADVERTISING LEGISLATION

BELGRADE, January 04, 2005 (B92) - The Serbian Government's Advertising bill is to be debated under urgent procedure in the parliament's first extraordinary session this year.

The proposed legislation bans the advertising of tobacco and alcohol
products and limits the length of commercial breaks during series and films.

"The new legislation will control advertising so that films and series will
no longer be interrupted by endless commercials," said deputy Serbian trade minister Vlajko Senic.

"Commercials may be screened during a film if it lasts more than 45 minutes.
If this is the case, commercials may be aired every 45 minutes. Commercials may also be aired during the half time of a sporting event, during time out and so on. Television films and series may not be artificially interrupted, meaning that advertising will be permitted only between completely independent segments of a program," he added.

The bill also restricts sexually explicit material to print form, and
restricts "hot line" commercials to between midnight and 5.00 a.m.  It also stipulates that discounts advertised must actually be available.

"As customers we have often been in a situation where we see that there is an eighty per cent discount, but when you go to the shop you discover that it is ten or fifteen per cent with a single product at eighty per cent. This artificial pressure on consumers, to buy under some better conditions which don't exist, will be absolutely banned and rigorously controlled," said Senic.

The advertising of tobacco and alcohol will be prohibited by the
legislation. Advertising of products such as beer will be permitted between 6.00 p.m. and 6.00 a.m. Advertising beer on billboards close to schools will be banned.

A large number of advertising agencies and broadcasters have described the bill as unacceptable and also complained that there has been no public dialogue on the issue. Instead, they say, the measures should be introduced progressively.

"These prohibitions should be more realistic, more practical, so our
profession and the advertising industry may be used properly. For example, if we talk about the campaign against consuming tobacco and alcohol, we ought to take part in raising the awareness of the people and changing their attitude, not just pass prohibitions", says Vanda Kucer of the advertising agency McCann-Erickson.

Fines for not complying with the provisions of the Act could reach 5 million dinars. The Advertising Bill will be amended only by members of the parliament as it has not been made available for public debate.

POLITIKA PRESIDENT APPEALS FOR PROTECTION

BELGRADE, January 14, 2005 (Beta) - Hadzi Dragan Antic has appealed to Vojislav Kostunica to prevent the disintegration of daily Politika.

Antic, who is president of the Politika board of management has addressed the prime minister in an open letter, urging him to take the steps necessary to halt the further decline of the paper. He also warned that senior people in the company had illegally taken over the management, adding that the Belgrade District Prosecution had proof of this.

The Milosevic-era CEO of the company expressed concern for the company's thousands of shareholders, saying that the paper was in a decline and that staff had not been paid for months.

"I expect you to take all the steps necessary to prevent this. I am also at the disposal of government bodies," wrote Antic.

TV BACKA OFF THE AIR

VRBAS, January 11, 2005 (B92) - Vrbas municipal broadcaster TV Backa stopped broadcasting today.

Twenty former contracted correspondents of the station, whose contracts expired in December, have demand that the local government make a decision on the broadcaster's future.

The authorities claim that any industrial action or strike in the company is impossible because the station has no fully employed personnel.

Vrbas Municipal Council deputy president Igor Betic said that the status of the company and its employees would be defined this month after a thorough review of the station's registration. He also claimed that today's events represented an attempt to distract the public from the registration review.

TV BACKA BACK ON AIR

VRBAS, January 12, 2005 (B92, Beta) - Vrbas municipal broadcaster TV Vrbas has resumed transmission.

The municipal authorities have agreed to present a systematic plan for the company by the end of the week and to begin contracting former contract personnel next week. The remaining journalists will continue their present contractual arrangements.

The station ceased broadcasting on Tuesday when twenty former correspondents whose contracts expired in December demanded that the local government declare its position on the station's continued operation.

DEMAND FOR WIRETAPPING INVESTIGATION

BELGRADE, January 15, 2005 (Glas Javnosti) - The Association of Serbian Journalists has demanded that the appropriate state bodies launch an investigation into the illegal wiretapping of journalists.

The demand follows the information that Glas Javnosti journalist Danica Curuvija was monitored during June, 2001, while interviewing Belgrade lawyer Toma Fila. The association has also expressed doubt about the claim of the Security Intelligence Agency to have stopped wiretapping journalists.

The association's statement also notes that neither the Supreme Court nor the parliament's Security Committee had responded to the case of daily Danas journalist Vuk Cvijic, who was monitored during 2001.

MILOS VASIC WINS JUG GRISELJ AWARD

BELGRADE, January 17, 2005. (Beta) - Journalist Milos Vasic, a staff writer with Belgrade weekly Vreme, has won the Jug Grizelj Award for 2004.

The award was established in 1991 by Grizelj's family and friends and is given for "the highest achievements in investigative journalism in
developing friendship between peoples and the elimination of borders between nations.

Vasic will receive the award on Friday January 21 in the Belgrade Media Centre.

Since 1992 the winners of the Jug Grizelj Award have been Zeljko Vukovic, Lila Radonjic, Predrag "Corax" Koraksic, Gordana Logar, Bojana Lekic and Svetlana Lukic, Stojan Cerovic, Beta Agency, Radio Bajna Basta, Radio Pancevo and Radio Boom 93, Teofil Pancic, Omer Karaber, Nenad Stefanovic, Ivan Torov and Antonela Riha.

JOURNALIST DIES

BELGRADE, January 17, 2005. (Danas) - Celebrated philologist and journalist Branislav Milosevic died in Belgrade yesterday at the age of 58.

Milosevic was born in Belgrade on August 1, 1946. He was noted for his extraordinary intellectual, political and critical articles which he often wrote as a direct participant of turbulent political changes.

He was also a dramatist, with works produced by the Yugoslav Drama Theatre and the Marxist Serbian Centre, as well as a correspondent of the magazines Komunist, Vidici and Student. He was theatre critic for daily Borba and Scena magazine, as well as being director and editor-in-chief of the Rad publishing company.

During 1986 and 1987, Milosevic was Serbia's minister for culture.

After directly confronting the Milosevic regime in the article "A dot to
jot" in NIN in 1987, Milosevic became a victim of political purges. Two
years later he was unemployed. He was a columnist for the Zagreb magazine Danas, Slobodna Dalmacija, Ljubljana Dnevnik, the Belgrade weeklies NIN and Reporter, Nova Politicka Misao and dailies Politika, Blic and Borba.

Milosevic was also director of Borba in the early 1990s and was a founder, director and columnist of Nasa Borba.

He was presenter of the Radio Television Serbia program Fridays at 10.00 p.m. and was Strasbourg and Berlin correspondent for SENSE news agency. He also published columns in the Belgian magazine Knack, the Independent in Britain, the French Figaro and others.

Milosevic published a collection of his polemic and critical articles, The
First Ten Years as a review of events from 1986 to 1999. He leaves an
unfinished manuscript for a second book, Another Ten Years.

**The information contained in this autolist item is the sole responsibility
of ANEM**

Povratak