Political and business elites in the countries that are the subject of this report have acquired control over a large number of public and private media, mostly through non-transparent privatizat
Serbian Media Scene vs. European Standards, Report based on Council of Europe's Indicators for Media in a Democracy, 2012.
The report analyzes 27 aspects of the media system of Serbia, basing on principles established by the Council of Europe as desirable standards in media legislation and practice.
Each of 27 parts of the study describes the legal regulation of the subject matter and then provides available facts about the actual situation. The report concludes that only 4 principles are consistently and fully implemented (such as freedom to enter journalistic profession, freedom of access to the Internet and foreign media, etc), while drastic deviations from the European standards are found in media market operations, independence of media from political influences, labour-related and social rights of journalists and their safety. The report points out that the blind spot of the Serbian media system are informal alliances of ruling political forces and big industrial and commercial businesses which are allowed to infiltrate the media in a non-transparent way and fulfill through them the common interests of the state and the businesses. The report is based on surveys with editors of 240 news media, 69 media owners, 40 senior officials of political parties, 50 representatives of national minority communities, 26 interviews with representatives of state organs and with 12 journalists from the media experiencing particular pressure on editorial independence.
Available also in Serbian Medijske slobode Srbije u evropskom ogledalu.