The event was dedicated to local media and local government, the role of the media, the relationship between the media and local authorities and concrete cases of violation of journalists' rights.
Ostricki said that the privatisation of the local media would not be completed soon and that most of the local media were owned by units of local government, while media employees owned up to 25 percent of a smaller part of the local media. Local government holds shares or is the sole owner in more than two-thirds of some 70 newly-established radio stations, Ostricki said, adding that the situation was similar in the printed media.
According to an opinion poll conducted by the association, 8.9 percent of reporters believe that politicians exert influence on local radio stations, and 16 percent believe that political influence is exerted occasionally. Around 46 percent of local stations depend on the financial assistance of local authorities, Ostricki said, warning about the danger of increased self-censorship and proposing that the Law on the Electronic Media be changed to include a provision eliminating the possibility of local authorities owning local electronic media.
Reporters from local media spoke about the examples of local authorities trying to exert influence on reporters, prevent their work, blackmail them or ban them from attending the sessions of bodies of local authority. They also presented objections regarding the work of offices for public relations of local authorities and warned about problems encountered by correspondents whose work they said was often underestimated.