ZAGREB, Oct 30 (Hina) - The new Law on Croatian Radio-Television +(HRT) has made a minimal step forward in relation to the previous +one, Damir Matkovic, president of Forum 21, a group of independent +electronic media journalists,
said on Friday.+ The new law, adopted by parliament on Thursday, does not include +most of the Council of Europe's key suggestions which, thus +Matkovic, are customary mechanisms in democracy.+ The law does not include suggestions that the dismissals and +appointments of HRT directors be carried out by the HRT Council, or +that the Supervisory Board cannot include members who are MPs.+ Also discarded was the suggestion that the parliament or government +should not have the right of electoral veto in non-government +institutions which, according to Matkovic, leaves for the +possibility of retaining "suitable" and eliminating "unsuitable" +parties.+ He ad
ZAGREB, Oct 30 (Hina) - The new Law on Croatian Radio-Television
(HRT) has made a minimal step forward in relation to the previous
one, Damir Matkovic, president of Forum 21, a group of independent
electronic media journalists, said on Friday.
The new law, adopted by parliament on Thursday, does not include
most of the Council of Europe's key suggestions which, thus
Matkovic, are customary mechanisms in democracy.
The law does not include suggestions that the dismissals and
appointments of HRT directors be carried out by the HRT Council, or
that the Supervisory Board cannot include members who are MPs.
Also discarded was the suggestion that the parliament or government
should not have the right of electoral veto in non-government
institutions which, according to Matkovic, leaves for the
possibility of retaining "suitable" and eliminating "unsuitable"
parties.
He added the first reactions from the European Union and the
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe indicate
dissatisfaction with the changes to the former HRT law.
Forum 21 believes some more steps should have been taken to stop
public television being an obstacle to Croatia's more expedite
integration with Europe.
According to the new law, HRT retains three airing channels which
Matkovic interprets as fear of competition and poorer ratings.
He believes television market fragmentation is unavoidable, and
that television monopoly was history.
Matkovic also pointed out that Croatian Television (HTV) employees
had not demanded less channels, but privatisation.
Launching a fourth channel is a "financial and technical
adventure", he said. It calls for a DEM25 million investment, and
the whole project could be realised only in a few years, which he
believes would help HTV retain monopoly.
Forum 21 believes the deliberate game surrounding the bid for
tenders for concession for a fourth channel on national level
belied the intention of granting the concession to a precisely
chosen candidate close to actual authorities.
The group believes the current composition of the
Telecommunications Council is not competent to grant the
concession, and suggests changes to the Law on Telecommunications,
the establishment of new criteria, and the election of new Council
members.
(hina) ha