Media integrity research: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Overview of relevant rules in the law and in practice
Overview of relevant rules in the law and in practice
Transparency rules for media in Bosnia and Herzegovina exist only partially. Communication Regulatory Agency (CRA) collects and publishes the data on directors and editors of the broadcasting media. Major print media do publish information on the personnel and management, but they lack transparency on the business indicators and sources of revenues. Online media often do not exercise a minimum of the transparency. Many do not publish the info on ownership and management nor the contact info on their websites. On generally, information on ownership is often not available on the web platforms of media outlets. Partial information on ownership is available in 15 different court registries.
Anti-concentration rules specific for the media don’t exist in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The concentration of ownership in media sector has largely not been regulated at all for several years. Previous anti-concentration regulations were under the jurisdiction of CRA. CRA has in the previous several years advocated for development of anti-concentration rules pertaining to the media sector as a whole, but no significant interest has so far been demonstrated by the relevant institutions, most of all the Council of Competition.
The Council of Competition does not systematically deal with media sector, but reacts if specific cases of prohibited competition and concentration are reported. So far there were no prominent cases processed by the Council of Competition, related to media sector. We did not identify any decision of the Council of Competition related to media concentration.
Merit system for nomination and appointment for members of regulatory body formally exists in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the process of appointment of the Communication Regulatory Agency’s Council members has been hindered and politically manipulated for years without any sanctions. The Parliament of BiH has been blocking the appointment of the director general, and the members of the CRA Council for several years. In 2012, an amendment to the Law on Communications was adopted, given possibly more power to Council of Ministers to influence the process.
See more in the Overview of de jure vs. de facto situation for Bosnia and Herzegovina here.
(Photo: Abrašmedia)
Media Integrity
Media Policy and Reforms
Media Ownership and Finances
Public Service Media
