Media content co-financing bids to be called soon

Media content co-financing bids to be called soon

In the 2015 budget, there will be much more money for co-financing media content which promote public interest than in previous years, which is a clear sign of a shift from subsidized to project-specific media financing, Mirkovic told Tanjug.

Only a certain number of media houses, expected to be privatized in the first half of 2015, will be subsidized until this process is completed.

The committees deciding on the allocation of money for media projects will include representatives of journalists' associations, but it necessary to ensure people from the Ministry of Culture and Information and local governments are also present, Mirkovic said.

Besides the introduction of project-specific co-financing, another objective expected to be accomplished in 2015 is completing the process of digitization, i.e. the transition from analog to digital TV signal, by June 17.

Mirkovic said that the new media strategy would start being prepared in the second half of 2015.

Despite the fact that the current media strategy is not expiring until 2016, a new one is needed because the processes of the state’s withdrawal from ownership in the media and of the TV signal digitization will be completed sooner than that, said Mirkovic.

Another reason why the new media strategy is need lies in the fact that the process of negotiations with the EU necessitates aligning Serbian legislation to EU requirements, which has already been accomplished in part after the adoption of new media legislation in July, he said.

The new media strategy is likely to be followed by new legislation being made to keep up with the pace of technological development, said Mirkovic.

“It is certain that the strategy will be adopted in parallel with the opening of certain chapters in accession negotiations with the EU,” Mirkovic said, adding that Chapter 10 (Information society and media) had been assessed very well during screening.