More than 70 employees of Radio Yugoslavia – International Radio Serbia have
held a peaceful prot4est in front of the Serbian Government building due to the
announced disbanding of this media house that has been working for 79 years and
broadcasting in 12 languages. The representatives of the employees have asked
for the reception and submitted a letter addressed at Prime Minister Aleksandar
Vucic, which points to the detrimental effects of shutting down this type of
media to the interests of the Republic of Serbia, as well as stressing the
unfortunate situation for the employees who will lose their jobs, and without
severance pays. If no reaction is shown from the government or the line
ministry, another protest is scheduled for the next week. The media strategy and
the new law on public information envisage the withdrawal of the state from the
ownership in the media and their direct financing. Contrary to the earlier
announcements, no option of transformation or rationalization has been offered
to Radio Yugoslavia, even though the law identifies the public interest of
informing the world public about the events in Serbia. The protest was covered
by numerous other media. Director of the International Radio Serbia Milorad
Vujovic has assessed it is intolerable to shut down on July 1 the only state
service for informing the international public about the events in Serbia in 11
world languages, as it has been going on for 79 years. “This kind of autistic
behavior is unacceptable, because there is the possibility within the public
service, and in line with the Law on public media services, to let our radio
keep doing its job,” Vujovic told the press. According to him, putting out the
only short wave radio station in the country, whose programs are heard
worldwide, would represent a great loss to the promotion of Serbia and hence
leaving a gap in the information of the world public and Serbian Diaspora.
Vujovic has pointed that opposite trends are noted in the region, and everybody
strives to attain the greatest possible impact on the public opinion in the
world, and he adds that 20 countries of the EU also have this kind of world
service. The director of the International Radio Serbia has stated it is still
uncertain what will happen to the employees, but there is trepidation that all
96 of them will be rendered jobless, without any severance pay or compensation.
“There is no possibility for the privatization of this type of media, even
though some forms of public-private partnerships are available, but at the
moment it is not offered as an option,” Vujovic explained. President of the
Union of IRS Journalists Jelica Tapuskovic has stated that the management and
the union representatives had tried on several occasions to talk to the
representatives of the Ministry of Culture and Information about the pressing
problems. “We have not talked to minister Ivan Tasovac, but we had been received
by State Secretary for Media Sasa Mirkovic, to discuss the possibilities of
reorganization of our radio and its further work,” she specified, adding that
the last conversation took place in December last year. Tapuskovic has said that
afterwards, despite several letters and demands, there has been no response from
the Ministry of Culture and Information, until two days ago, prior to the
announced protest, when a letter arrived, reading that “the act is in the
making, aimed at defining the legal consequences of extinguishing the radio”,
without any further explanation on what it could mean. According to her, the
further moves of the employees in the International Radio Serbia will depend on
the outcome of the talks with the officials in charge. The workers of Radio
Yugoslavia were holding banners with messages such as “Keep hearing the Voice of
Serbia around the world”, “Where we cannot be heard – it must be the end of the
world” etc. The protest was covered by the representatives of numerous
media.
http://voiceofserbia.org/content/peaceful-protest-radio-yugoslavia%E2%80%99s-employees-front-serbian-government
