Montenegro television report launched: "we aren't the worst"
The Open Society Institute's new report on television in Montenegro was launched in Podgorica on 20 November. The report was drafted by Ranko Vujović, executive director of the Union of Independent Electronic Media of Montenegro (UNEM).
Podgorica, 21 November
Željko Rutović, the assistant minister of culture, media and sport, commended the report as a contribution to dialogue; "the conclusions and recommendations merit careful examination. It should", he said, "become a reference point in debate about broadcasting in Montenegro."
Mr. Rutović agreed with a statement in the report that “The biggest challenge in Montenegro is to change people’s mindset and instill a new way of thinking.” Addressing the controversy over proposed changes to appointing the RTCG Council, he argued that the changes are in line with international practice. The draft law on public service broadcasting would, Mr. Rutović said, be in line with international practice, “and we aren’t the worst”.
Jadranka Vojvodić, deputy director of the Broadcasting Agency, the national regulatory body, praised the report as “a really high-quality contribution to assessing the reform process to date. The recommendations can serve as a very useful mechanism for examining various aspects of the law. It is a very helpful aide-memoire of mistakes we made, but equally of good solutions that we found.”
Ranko Vujović, author of the report, said that “unfortunately, these days, we have seen a minister giving orders as to who should get a frequency. That is the reality of the new Law on Electronic Communications.
Under this law, which was adopted in August, the Government appoints members of a new integrated regulatory body. Although this body has not yet been constituted, critics accuse the Government of already acting as if it were in charge of key regulatory decisions.
Mark Thompson of the Open Society’s Media Program expressed regret at hearing the Government measure its ambition by reference to “international practice” and not “international best practice”, which is something quite different in many countries, including some Western European countries. Several years ago, Montenegro adopted a raft of good media laws. It is a pity that, instead of preparing Montenegro’s media for digitisation, the Government now revises existing laws, substituting worse for better provisions.
There was also discussion of funding RTCG. Although some progress has recently been made in collecting the licence fee, this source of funds may never provide a sustainable basis for RTCG. According to Mr Rutović, direct subvention from the state budget may be the best way to support public service broadcasting. Interestingly, nobody challenged this opinion.
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