DISMISSALS SHAKE INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION PROJECT IN BOSNIA

( Editorial: --> 0768 ) SARAJEVO, Feb 10 (Hina - Ranko Mavrak) - A series of sudden dismissals in the past five days have shaken Otvorena televizijska mreza (The Open Broadcast Network - OBN), a huge media project in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in which the international community invested US$17.5 million in almost two years. Almost overnight, dismissal notices were handed to editors and journalists who participated in the creation of the OBN news programme. The first to be discharged was news director Konstantin Jovanovic, one of the most experienced professionals, and his deputy Azra Alimajstorovic and producer Faja Sulejic. Michael Challenger, who is Operations Chief in the OBN, told the employees, without giving any explanation, that they had been dismissed and should leave their offices. The three were told they could take their personal belongings only in the presence of security officers. Two days later, programme director Benjamin Filipovic was also dismissed. The reason for his dismissal was that Filipovic had allowed the broadcasting of a statement by the host of 'Telering', Mate Djakovic, who stressed the contribution the three dismissed employees gave to the creation of the programme. "Challenger asked me if I agreed with what Djakovic said. After I told him I had the same opinion (as Djakovic), he fired me," Filipovic said. Djakovic and his broadcast were temporarily taken off the programme. The OBN headquarters later announced that the broadcasting of 'Telering' would continue. After these initial dismissals, Challenger appointed Sead Musemic new Operations Director. Musemic was described by his colleagues as an unsuccessful chief of a local television station from Tuzla. His first move was to fire another three journalists and a secretary. The OBN was founded in 1996 under the name TV IN (Independent Television). Its purpose was to challenge the then monopoly of TV stations which were under the control of national parties and unite the media sector in the country. It was formally founded by the international community, but it operated under the supervision of the Office of the High Representative since it was never registered in line with regulations of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Its administrative board operates from Brussels and includes government representatives from the United States, Great Britain, Sweden, Germany, the European Commission and the Office of the High Representative. After the series of dismissals, High Representative Carlos Westendorp's spokesman Simon Haselock said that the OBN had not been taken seriously until recently because it mostly did not have good programmes. Some serious work on the programmes were beginning to take place, Haselock said. Speaking about the dismissal notices, Haselock said that the fired journalists were 'second-rate' and that they resisted any changes as well as development. Haselock's explanations caused a storm of reactions by the fired journalists. In an open letter, Konstantin Jovanovic reminded Haselock that he (Haselock) had never found it worthwhile to show direct interest in the conditions in which programmes were being created. The only thing that was good in the whole project was exactly the news programme which was made by those who were fired, Jovanovic said. "What was it we resisted? Maybe the purchase of a programme which was not bought, although money for it had been approved? Or the purchase of new equipment, instead of the old one we were sent?," Jovanovic asked in the letter. Somebody should say what the US$17.5 million was spent on. Not one more recent series or film, which could have made broadcasts more attractive, had been bought for OBN, Jovanovic said. "Instead of that, we were sent 120 hours of Irish folk music," says an embittered Jovanovic. Other journalists who were fired told Haselock and Office of the High Representative media advisor Rida Atarashani that the discourse during which they were told about their dismissal lasted two minutes each. Before that, they used to work 12 hours a day without basic conditions. All employees received salaries but did not have health and social insurance nor did they have pension insurance, the fired employees said. The problem is that some people who were included in the project, undermined the idea that broadcasts should transcend inter-entity borders, Haselock later said. He described the reactions of the fired employees as unworthy of professionals. Meanwhile, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has become interested in the case. Federation secretary-general Aidan White asked the Office of the High Representative for an explanation, especially concerning the way the journalist were fired. "The dismissal of OBN journalists demystifies in the best way grandiose democracy and human rights pledges," said Mehmed Husic, president of the Independent Union of Professional Journalists of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Journalists who work without work contracts are classic wage labourers, Husic said, also mentioning the example of Radio FERN, which is financed by the Swiss government as support to the Mission of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Bosnia. (hina) jn rm/mb 101555 MET feb 98