13. 02. 2005

SHUTDOWN OF “THE ROLE MODEL STATION” IN SERBIA

NIS, February 13, 2005 – News editor of the TV Soko in Sokobanja Predrag Stevanovic told the media yesterday that the ruling parties in this municipality, Socialist Party of Serbia, Serbian Radical Party and Democratic Party of Serbia, had the “insane idea” to close down this media outlet. At the last session of the Sokobanja Municipal Council, the deputy president and the member of Democratic Party of Serbia Danijela Vasiljevic suggested that this TV station should be cast off. Such statement could be seen only as the announcement of station’s shutdown. On her proposal, the majority of councilmen had not adopted the station’s business report for 2004 (Socialist Party of Serbia, Serbian Radical Party, Democratic Party of Serbia, and Milisa Dinic as the independent candidate) while the Democratic Party, G 17 Plus and Strength of Serbia Movement voted in favor of the report. Some media quoted the Sokobanja Municipal Council Deputy President Vasiljevic as saying that “all media in Serbia was under someone’s paw”, while the representative of the Democratic Party of Serbia Aleksandar Milenkovic gave more precise accounts saying that the TV Soko was “bias”. Vasiljevic, however, reiterated denial that she was encouraging the closedown of this media house, adding that she herself had been working in TV Soko for years. According to her, her exposé at the session of the municipal council was “an emotional and regretful” account of the poor state of this media”, which had affected the station’s program. “Neither I, nor anybody else have the intention to close down TV Soko. I have only concluded that it was possible, due to the bitter situation in this media house, that some of us would “have the honor” of saying goodbye to the station, meaning that there is no help for it in professional sense. This television, once considered to be a role model to media in Serbia, have grown to be the media without solid program, having only four journalists and three editors working in it. Creativity and imagination of TV Soko were destroyed by the regime that came in power after the changes in October 2000, mainly people from the Democratic Party”, Vasiljevic told the daily Danas. Vasiljevic said that this television station had experienced “a great professional downfall” since 2000, adding that the station’s Managing Board had not adopted the business programs for 2003 and 2004. ”Therefore, it was reasonable not to approve the business report for 2004 when the station did not even have the basic work plan”, concluded Vasiljevic. TV Soko was closed twice since 2000 by the former regime, while in 1999, the editor of the station, Nebojsa Ristic, was charged with one year prison sentence for putting up the posters of “Otpor” movement and “Free press in Serbia”.