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No 60, Vol I 

*   Monitor's Eye

TVBiH advertised exclusive interview with the President of the Presidency of B&H Alija Izetbegovic on May the 5th. On the beginning of the 6th May TV daily news in 19.30 the important statement of the President has been announced by Senad Hadzifejzovic. Then Izetbegovic showed up and with words "Dear citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina …" he announced his retirement from the B&H Presidency in October 2000. All newspapers and agencies have cited this statement that been catch on the ear by their monitors. 
In the professional sense this news and Izetbegovic's statement deserve priority in the hierarchy of local news on that day. However pageant TVBiH exclusivity on this news has suspicious professional and ethic connotations. The first, a normal decision of the statesman in any normal state could not be subjected in such size to the setting and image of any media even if it is television. The second, avoiding to give important information in the same time to all media is obvious derogation of media's rights for the equal access to all information's sources. Alija Izetbegovic is public person, the statesman who has been selected and who is responsible to people and public, and not some show business star whose piquancy from the private life and business some journalist exclusively announces or extracts from his mouth. Finally, if he has already decided to say something to the public on the official way with "dear citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina", he had at least to know that barely the third part of Bosnia and Herzegovina can hear and see him in that moment.
In our opinion pranks with such exclusivity more refers on the brace of the authorities and media than on the journalist's feat. As well as the official announce to all Bosnia and Herzegovina by just one media definite discovers narrow minded perception of the time and space where one statesman's career ends.

* Analyses

How the biggest three TV stations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, TVBiH, RTV of Republic of Srpska and OBN in their top informative shows follow the problem of return of refugees in B&H, how much attention they pay to this matter, from which angle they treat it, is there also "other side" in their reports, how much is that job done objectively and professional and how much under the pressure of the daily and local politics? Answers on these questions have been searched through compared analyzing of The daily news of TV BiH that is broadcast every day in 19.30, then The daily news of RTRS broadcast in the same time, and the show TV INFO that is broadcast each day in 20.00. The mentioned shows have been observed in the ten days period –from 27th May to 5th June 2000
In ten days TVBiH has dedicated to different refugees' reports, including also the announcements, approximately 50 minutes, RTRS approximately 20 minutes, and OBN approximately 25 minutes.
In the observed ten days TVBiH only one day has not have "nor word" about refugees, RTRS even four days did not mentioned refugees and their problems, while the main OBN's informative show three days has been without such news and reports.
All in all, the general impression is that TVBiH tends to provide quantitatively large number of items on refugees and the efforts of the editorial staff in this respect are rather visible. In a same time there are shortcomings in the way how these items are treated. There is general lack of analysis, precision, and of the usage of variety of sources what leads to the frequent lack of objectivity. It seems that reporters give more emphases on the impression that is to be produced than on facts and information.    
OBN's informative show TV INFO offers less information about refugees' problems, those information are not always in the top of the show as are in TVBiH, but journalists processed them more precisely, concretely and with arguments from the more angles.
In difference of obvious effort of TVBiH to keep the problem of refugees always on the daily schedule indicating that return is really one of the key problem in BiH, and of the OBN's endeaveur that deals with this matter always when the professional reasons request that, you can get impression that boosted and cognizable effort on this topic does not exist in the editorial policy of RTRS. This TV house deals with refugees' problem sporadically, without special interest and concept. Topic, obviously, does not dominate in yonder political life, and when it is in the top of the political structure's and public interesting then it is unrarely more connected for the relation with Croatia than with B&H. It is not unlogic when is known that the largest number of refugees in RS is right from Croatia.

*  Radio-television of Croatia

Croatian radio-television is on its milestone. People who took up hard role to change the ugly image of so far television, have took over the big task with uncertain result, and not rarely they are exposed to different critics, also the un-normed ones. Radical or step by step changes? New HRTV's management has destined itself for step by step. There were no changes as in 1990 when on that same television, just as in all media, personal changes have been momentary. By the short practice. There are some forgotten faces coming back now, but there are still journalists who extremely promote propagandistically TV-journalism. 
 

* Freedom House - Press Freedom Report

The Freedom House press freedom survey from the early 2000 analyzed 186 countries. Out of that number, 69 nations (37%) belong to the free category. The partly free category includes 51 country (27%) and there are 66 countries (36%) that belong to the not-free category. If we consider the size of population of these countries, some 1.253 billions or 21% of people live in the countries with free press, and 2.357 billions (29%) live in countries with partly free press. Remaining 2.364 billions or 40% live in countries with not-free press. 
In the region of Southeast Europe, the largest category is that of countries with partly free media. There are 5 countries in this group: Albania, Bosnia – Herzegovina, Macedonia, Moldova, and Romania. Among these countries, Macedonia and Romania have scored the best (42 and 44 points respectively). 
Other three countries with the partly free media are Albania (56 points), Bosnia – Herzegovina (56 points) and Moldova (58 points) which are actually very close to the not-free category (61 – 100 points).
Two Southeast European countries that have radically prevented the press freedom in 1999 and early 2000 are Croatia and Yugoslavia and are thus placed into the group of states with not-free press.
One country in the region that has clearly scored the worse on the scale of press freedom is Yugoslavia with 81 points. With such a high level of the obstruction of the freedom of expression and of communication, Yugoslavia belongs to a group of the 20 most authoritarian countries in the world which scored 80 and more points (such as Belarus with 80 points, Burundi with 83, Afghanistan with 90, or Cuba with 94 points). Under the cover of infamous Law on Public Information from 1998 authorities have started the series of attacks against independent media and journalists, only to intensify them during and after the NATO bombing campaign in mid 1999. This ‘media war’ culminated in recent months and weeks when authorities started real offensive on the remaining independent media outlets, bringing the country on the brink of the civil war. Journalists and media professionals have been constantly exposed to prosecutions, harassment, life threats and assassination attempts.

* News

The second generation of students of Media plan's School of journalism has been promoted in Sarajevo on 31st May. 21 participants have successfully completed the nine month education. They are young journalists who work in their redaction, while in this school they have got additional expert specialization from the radio and television journalism, press, journalists' ethic, Internet, French language …
School of journalism Media plan closely cooperates with the High school for journalism from Lil whose teachers performed almost 30 percents of the lectures in Sarajevo. The majority of teachers in the school in Sarajevo are domestic journalists, fitters, and cameramen with long year media experience. From the next year School of journalism Media plan will open the door to young journalists from the region, while as guest teachers will be engaged also journalists from the Croatia and Yugoslavia.
 

Taxation police has invaded in to rooms of the printing office of Sarajevo's daily newspaper "Dnevni avaz" early in the morning on the 6th June. Inspectors have then forbidden employees and security to use phone and then the hand counting of numbers of "Dnevni avaz".
It can be unofficially heard in "Dnevni avaz" that police in the middle of the night is connected with recent threats of the individuals from the Party of democratic action (SDA) because of paper's alienation from the governing Bosnjak's party. Party's headquarter has denied this accuses in public statement. 

Sarajevo's daily "Vecernje novine" has finally, after completed privatization by the company "Alden print" started battle for bringing back of the rocky issues. After the new editor Ahmed Bosnic is bring, and after the reinforcement of the correspondence network, the paper has shown up on the 5th June with changed design. 

Press agency ONASA says that even five years after the war in B&H in the most municipalities of Livno canton the newspapers which are published in Sarajevo can not be bought. 
In municipalities of Livno canton also program of TV BiH can not be followed, so the citizens exclusively follow the program of the Croatian state television. 
Participants of the workshop "Presence of political parties in media" held recently in Livno have concluded that "media dark" is still present in this canton, and that exclusively guilt for such condition is on the governing Croatian democratic community (HDZ) B&H.
 

If somebody interfere with your professional, journalistic work call SOS – open line for journalists - 078 213 442 Media Plan Banja Luka

Council:Media Plan Institute

Prof. Dr. Muhamed Nuhic, Hamza Baksic (Sarajevo); Perica Vucinis (Banja Luka); M.S. Lenart Setinc (Ljubljana); Prof. Dr. Mario Plenkovic (Zagreb); M.S. Loius de la Ronciere (Paris); M.S. Aleksandar Todorovic (Montreaux); Prof. Dr. Slavo Kukic (Mostar), Prof.Dr. Miroljub Radojkovic (Beograd).