Snoepje on Tue, 23 Sep 1997 17:37:15 +0100 |
[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]
Syndicate: flawed media coverage Serbian elections |
Press release The European Institute for the Media, East-West Cooperation Programme Kaistrasse 13, D-40221 Duesseldorf 100443.1706@compuserve.com Sunday 21 September 1997. Media coverage of the elections in Serbia With the support of the European Commission, the European Institute for the Media, which has monitored Serbian media coverage of the election campaign with the support of the European Commission, today (Sunday) described the coverage on Serbian state television RTS as "fundamentally flawed". The Institute has carried out quantitative analysis of newspaper and television coverage, in accordance with a methodology developed over 20 elections elsewhere -- including Bosnia, Croatia, Georgia, Romania, Russia and Ukraine. Yasha Lange, coordinator of the mission, emphasised that Serbian state television (RTS) is the main source of information for many Serbs. "It is thus doubly dismaying to find that RTS makes no attempt to provide fair coverage in its news and current affairs programmes. RTS has clearly failed to provide the impartial and balanced coverage that is supposed to be guaranteed under the regulations." Although some municipal and local privately owned TV channels did provide alternative coverage of the election campaign, this could not sufficiently redress the RTS wall-to-wall reporting about the ruling coalition and the government achievements, the monitoring team concluded. The coverage on state-controlled radio, the only station with nation-wide penetration, was "even more blatantly pro-government", Yasha Lange said. Independent stations like Index or B-92 (which operates a network of 28 local stations), did allow access to both government and opposition. The EIM team concluded that a high variety of print media allowed both pro- government and opposition voices to be heard, though it noted a polarisation between the two sides. The report concluded: "While pro-government media propagate the official line, some other newspapers seem hesitant to criticise the opposition". For further information, the preliminary report (including selected data) and requests for the final report on the monitoring mission (to be published within six weeks after the second round of polling), please contact Yasha Lange at the Media Centre on +381 11 632 872, 634537. ends