"Equal binding rules to be applied to public and commercial media in the campaign"

"Equal binding rules to be applied to public and commercial media in the campaign"

As it is said in a statement, it is a regulation prescribed by the Book of Rules that will be binding for both public services and commercial media.

They also ask to protect the formulations which are legally obliged to be non-discriminatory, from being mitigated with the formulations such as "proportional equality" or "assessment of the importance of political parties or candidates".

The statement of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), signed by the Chairman of ANEM Board of Directors, Veran Matic, stipulates that, in line with the draft rules on the manner of fulfilling the obligations during the election campaign and in the Recommendation to commercial media campaigns, there are no reasons for different treatment of public service and commercial media.

It is stated that the Electronic Media Act, to which the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) refers, as a basis for further regulation of the manner of fulfilling public service obligations during a campaign, equally applies to both public service and commercial media.

"It is unclear why the Regulatory Authority would, by the Book of rules only in relation to public service broadcasters, impose binding rules when the commercial media would necessarily have to comply with it. It is unacceptable that the same issues, in relation to commercial media, be regulated only by a non-binding recommendation", it is said in a statement.

They indicate that some formulations in the drafts, such as those calling for "respect for the principle of proportional equality" while covering election campaigns of the holders of electoral lists and candidates, or the requirement to achieve "compliance of the program with the importance of political parties or candidates", are unacceptable.

"It is not prescribed what proportional equality means, especially given that the Law on Electronic Media insists on non-discrimination, rather than on proportional equality, nor on the basis of which the importance of political parties or candidates would be assessed", the statement said.

ANEM states that the reference to "proportional equality" or "compliance of programs with the importance of political parties and candidates" is particularly troublesome in the context of the obligation of public media services prescribed by the Law on Public Media Services to represent political parties, coalitions and candidates in a free and equal manner during the election campaign, and not in line with the importance of political parties or candidates.