20. 01. 2005

MEDIA CLOSURES AHEAD

BELGRADE, January 20, 2005 – “It is true that many media companies will be virtually put out of business, but the present number cannot exist on the market,” Serbia’s culture and information minister, Dragan Kojadinovic, has told The Voice of America. “We must return to the core of the profession and the market and allow this media market to begin operating properly. The conditions to initiate a clearing out of the chaotic state of the electronic media, in which we have more than 1,400 radio and television stations operating in Serbia, have been put in place”, said the minister, adding that there are no frequencies available at this time. By establishing the Broadcast Council and the Telecommunications Agency and adopting a sound Broadcast Act, the instruments for bringing order to the domestic market would be available, said Kojadinovic. The culture and information minister was speaking in Washington, where he led a Serbian delegation on a three-day visit to celebrate the inauguration of US President George W. Bush.