Mission to Serbia helps improve professionalism of journalists from national minorities

Doing a professional job is not easy for local media in Serbia. The problems they face include lower revenues as a result of the financial crisis, state influence over the media, lack of qualified staff and the absence of an overall strategy on how to overcome these and other challenges.

To assist the Government in addressing these issues, the OSCE Mission to Serbia has been involved in a number of initiatives to improve the skills of media professionals throughout the country, especially in regions with large numbers of national minorities.

"South and south-western Serbia have been a particular focus of our activities, which aim to improve the quality and relevance of the media's output to local audiences," says Sanja Stankovic, National Legal Officer in the Mission's Media Department.

"These range from promoting the establishment of self-regulatory institutions to introducing the latest techniques into the work of local media, especially of national minority journalists. This approach has resulted in a media which is more responsible, more accessible and more attractive to its audience," she adds.

Promoting self-regulatory bodies

Media self-regulatory bodies - in the form of press councils - are vital for promoting free media that serve the public interest and are protected from economic and political pressures. The aim of such councils is to encourage journalists to publicly voice their opinion on the work of their colleagues and any perceived mistakes.

"Self-regulation is always a more desirable way of regulating media conduct," notes Sanja Stankovic, "and we will continue to support journalists' efforts to promote press councils among the general public, as well as a wider circle of media."

Overcoming digital difficulties

Another challenge facing the Serbian media is the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting. In line with recommendations from the EU, the Serbian Government has adopted an action plan to complete the switch-over by April 2012.

However, after initial progress in 2009, the country is currently experiencing problems due to the complexity of the process and the expensive technological requirements.

The Mission is assisting the authorities and broadcasters during the digitization process by providing expert assistance to ministries and independent regulators, advising broadcasters and organising awareness-raising activities.

Learning through best practices

In order to further strengthen local media, the Mission also organises study visits. One such trip took place from 18-25 April in co-operation with Deutsche Welle Akademie, when a visit was organised for a group of eight journalists from south and south-west Serbia to regional media and regulatory authorities in Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia province.

The programme of the trip, according to Filip Slavkovic, Deutsche Welle Akademie Co-ordinator for South-Eastern Europe, offered the visitors "a chance to see that - apart from financial and technical requirements - the success of independent journalism depends a lot on good organization, constant enhancement of knowledge and co-operation between colleagues".

One of the visiting journalists from Serbia, Faruk Daliji of TV Bujanovac, said that: "Video journalism was a completely new thing and a challenge worth testing in my television station."

The OSCE's Sanja Stankovic, who led this study tour, noted that the trip was a good opportunity for local journalists from the two regions to exchange ideas and see how German media are regulated and self-regulated.

Prospects for the future

"A free, vibrant and professional media assists Serbia's path towards democratization by better informing citizens on the challenges of a society in transition," she says.

"The OSCE Mission to Serbia will continue investing efforts in working with local media outlets to improve the quality of the work, particularly in south and south-west Serbia."

Written by Selbi Hanova