Journalists’ and media associations — the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS), Local Press and the Media Association — call on the local authorities in Šabac and the competent Ministry of Information and Telecommunications to urgently review the decision on the allocation of funds under the public competition for co-financing media content in the city, as well as the work of the commission that evaluated the submitted projects.
The associations consider it entirely unjustified that the largest amount of funding in Šabac — RSD 6.6 million — was awarded to the company Infomačva, registered in January this year, which publishes the portal macvatv.rs. The portal was officially entered into the Media Register only at the beginning of April, just one month before the competition in Šabac was announced.
Given that the evaluation of projects also takes into account the applicants’ capacities, including the length of time they have been operating, continuity of work with the target group for which the project is intended, and the average number of employees in the previous year, it is unacceptable in this case to award a multi-million-dinar amount for the co-financing of a project that is disproportionately larger than all the other projects submitted under the competition.
It is particularly indicative and concerning that the City of Šabac exceeded the statutory deadline for announcing the media competition by more than two months, without any consequences, although all competent authorities were required to announce such competitions by 1 March. It is therefore necessary to examine whether the delay in announcing the competition was in any way connected to the registration of the portal that ultimately received the largest amount of funding in the city.
At the same time, we ask the competent institutions how this same company was able to launch a television channel called TV Mačva, which is being distributed through a cable system, if such a television outlet is not registered in the Media Register and has not obtained the appropriate broadcasting licences from the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM).
We also recall that this is not the first case in which the process of project-based co-financing of media content in Serbia has been rendered meaningless. However, this case represents a particularly drastic and alarming example, and demonstrates how public funds contributed by all citizens of Serbia are being distributed in a questionable manner and without any relevant criteria.
Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)
Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS)
Local Press
Media Association
