The city of Kraljevo and the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications do not listen to Radio Sloboda. ANEM calls to help this professional, local media
Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) warns of the difficult financial situation in which Radio Sloboda from Kraljeva and invites citizens, organizations and donors to help this professional local media to continue working.
Radio Sloboda does not have secured funds for work in the coming months, while it is waiting for the results of the competition it applied for, which are not expected before October or November. Part of the expenses in July are covered by the personal funds of the members of the editorial staff, but already in August they will not have money for wages, space rental, internet, electricity, bookkeeping, transmitter, streaming and other basic business expenses. The minimum monthly labor costs are around 3.500 euros.
The income from marketing is symbolic, partly because of the weak local market, partly because of the fact that businessmen often avoid cooperation with media that have a critical editorial approach. Although Radio Sloboda applied for project co-financing this year with the City of Kraljevo and Ministry of Information and Telecommunications, as expected, did not receive support.
Radio Sloboda was founded by a group of friends who collected money to buy a practically defunct radio station with a license and a transmitter, but without functional equipment. They built the studio and the complete technical infrastructure from scratch. In a few years, Radio Sloboda became a recognizable and reliable source of information in Kraljevo. The show “EHO” addressed a number of important local topics, including the issue of the safety of the bridge over the Ibar. After the public became aware of the problem, the bridge was closed to traffic and its reconstruction is expected.
Radio Sloboda cooperates with and transmits the contents of Newz.net, FoNet, Peščanik, Beta, KUPEK, the show “Brakus i Banjac” and the student podcast “Slika jed(ne) democracy”. In cooperation with the royal magazine “Sidža”, they launched the show “Sidža Club”, which quickly gained recognition among the audience.
ANEM calls on citizens and organizations to support the survival of independent local media in Serbia with one-time donations, which work in increasingly difficult financial conditions and under increasing pressure, while the media scene is increasingly dominated by propaganda, dirty campaigns and violations of professional and ethical standards of journalism.
Let’s not let one of the few professional local media outlets shut down for lack of money. The survival of Radio Sloboda from Kraljevo now depends on us.
Source: ANEM, Vreme
