Judging by the titles from the local daily press, and especially those publications that support current authorities ("Carlos Westendorp declared several laws and decisions: New public broadcasting service instead of TVBiH"; "Reactions to the decision about RTV BiH: Westendorp must clarify"; "Has Bosnia-Hercegovina lost its state TV?"...), it would be easy to conclude that, finishing his mission, by now former High Representative of the International Community in Bosnia-Hercegovina Carlos Westendorp, as a well-mannered guest switched off water, electricity and TV.
However, authors of quasi-patriotic and supposedly well-meaning articles decided to ignore several important details. Above all, BHT was a state TV in its name only. Therefore, it was not a state TV either legally, or by its coverage. During the war, its editorial policy served the inhabitants of Sarajevo, in those intervals when there was electricity, and at all times the regime, as a disguised mouthpiece of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA).
Therefore, Carlos did not abolish a state television, because there was no such a thing. However, with a packet of laws, he established conditions for the establishment of order on the media scene and eventual establishment of the Public Broadcasting Service for two entities and three peoples, all along solving the methods of financing for that and other "significant" TV stations.
Also, the packet of laws specifies permanent sources of financing for all three media organizations. Following the example of Western countries, citizens will pay for TV subscription as a part of their electricity bills. Elektroprivreda BiH and (this is a special problem but for a different article) Elektroprivreda of Herceg-Bosna will do that for FTV, while RTV of the Republic of Srpska will be financed via local the Elektroprivreda. Both media organizations will transfer some of the collected funds to the Public Broadcasting Service. The fact that FTV shall collect through TV subscription fees KM 3 million every month shows that these are not negligible funds.
"Since May 1992, RTV BiH has been in an irregular state and only now we are getting a legal framework for financing, which was the crucial problem with TVBiH. However, we in Bosnia are champions in hypocrisy. It would be interesting to find out how many individuals have been paying regularly since the end of the war for TVBiH. Regardless, now everyone is up in arms defending TVBiH although, as far as the media are concerned, this law is better than the Dayton Agreement, since it provides the Federal TV with the chance which not even TV Sarajevo used to have before the war. Before the war, TV Sarajevo had no subscribers in western Hercegovina and its monthly income from subscription fees was at least DM 7.5 million," said for Dani Boro Kontic, a member of the Temporary Governing Board of TVBiH. The Temporary Governing Board provided four proposals for reconstruction, one of which was adopted by Westendorp.
Immediately after the announcement of Westendorp's decision representatives of TVBiH issued their statements. Ante Domazet, the president of the Temporary Governing Board and director general Mirsad Purivatra criticized Westerndorp's decree as "mistaken" and emphasized that there were other, better, alternatives which implied that the Public Service should be given its own broadcasting frequency instead of having its program rebroadcast by the TV organizations in the two entities. Purivatra added that he expects further clarifications that will include suggestions he had given to Carlos Westendorp. "These solutions, I hope, will fully take into account principles of European public broadcasting systems and be in the interest of all citizens of Bosnia-Hercegovina," stated Purivatra.
As an example of to what extent the establishment of a common programming in the medium which is the best controller of the civic consciousness and (dis)obedience can be complicated and slow, De Luce mentioned Germany which obtained its, so to speak, real public service ZDF only 16 years after the entry of the allies to Berlin. Its predecessor was ARD, the house which starting with 1950, based on the agreement of 11 public RTV stations, broadcast only two hours of national programming daily. Our colocutor addressed the problem of BHT's debts which, as spokesperson for HDZ Zoran Tomic emphasized two months ago, amounted to DM 13 million. "That is the same problem as with the other state owned companies. BHT will be audited by November 1 and some debts will be written off, although we are not aware of the nature of these debts since the local authorities have never given us full information about the character of the debts."
Most likely, Westendorp has put an end to the story about televisions and now it remains to try to implement his plan. The key factors, those who need television for the preservation of the collective paranoia and self-promotion, are already up in arms and are decidedly against the project. Besides, are there any authorities that would not be worried if someone tried to suppress their control of a medium that is blind to every problem (corruption, nepotism, crime...) and open to all unimportant meetings and "notable diplomatic activities". "If this law is not implemented, that would be a disaster. I am already afraid of non-implementation. This plan is the only way to preserve the idea of a Bosnian television," says Kontic.
Let us, however, return to the first steps and question of what will happen in the Bosnian media space in the near future. According to the deadlines decreed by the Office of the High Representative, by August 15 1999, Federal TV should obtain a new, managerial board. The Board should select a new management and, as the foreign sources have announced, discharge the old. "Can you give me at least one reason for the existence of BHT, apart from the feeding of Senad Hadzifejzovic's ego?" asked one of our diplomatic sources.
If, however, Dodik somehow manages to avoid the obligation to rename and reorganize the program and everything else in connection with the present SRT, and prevent the media house from inclusion in the new, Carlos' system, the viewers in RS will be deprived from high quality programs. Namely, the Public Service will be the only medium in Bosnia-Hercegovina with the right to buy and distribute everything with the stamp of the European Broadcasting Union (sport events, Eurosong competition...) and every activity outside the system will, of course, be illegal and liable to prosecution.
The Public Service also awaits the establishment of the institutions that would lead it to its future tasks, starting with the request for a permit from the International Commission for Media, to the finding of the optimal mode for providing news to the public on both sides of the inter-entity line. The board of the new media house will have nine members. Three will be selected by the Presidency of Bosnia-Hercegovina, three, as Haselock announced, will be local experts, and the rest will be appointed by the Office of the High Representative. It is already known that OHR will be represented on the Board by Tadej Labernik the current director of Slovenska Tiskovna Agencija [the official Slovenian news agency], then very likely by the man called Antonio Iva and so far unnamed expert for the division of property.
Finally, was there a better solution? Probably not. Unless someone hoped for impossible to happen so that one day good journalists could again return to the building in Ali-Pasino Polje and sit under the triangle and turn BHT into a real Bosnian Television. Of course, that has nothing to do with reality. There was, of course, another possibility, that Bosniaks would have their, Croats their, and Serbs their television, while in parallel with all of them, there would be an independent Bosnian-Hercegovinian Television. However, who would pay for four TV channels?
Namely, the Croatian TV (HRT), collects every year between DM 150 and 200 million from subscription fees, and it has nevertheless announced plans to discontinue broadcasting on the third channel. It is interesting, however, that Westendorp's proposal allows HRT to continue to broadcast within Bosnia-Hercegovina, but only within a legal framework. "We simply do not want to endanger the interests of viewers who, as can easily be proven, watch HRT. However, because of their increasingly difficult financial situation, it is unlikely that they will be able to continue with their broadcasts in Bosnia-Hercegovina in the long term," we were told in OHR.
It is true that dismissals will definitely take place. However, one should be honest and say that anyone with even a trace of professional dignity is bound to find a job on the Bosnian media scene. Unless journalism is his or hers means for self-promotion that deserves the sacrifice of all rules of TV conduct and abuse of popular TV programs for posing spiced by witticisms and worn out phrases (examples: Lejla Babovic, Sanela Prasovic, Mitheta Kurspahic, Zvonko Maric...).
In any case, it is necessary to wait until the next year, by when everything, from the change of names to the division of assets will have been finished and the new TV program should be in place. One can only hope that the fastest medium will also be the fastest when spreading information, rather than as until now, when the news would only appear once it became ridiculous to continue to ignore them. As far as the demagogues who claim that BHT is the symbol of Bosnian statehood are concerned... Well, even BBC, as Boro Kontic says, is not a symbol of the British statehood but of journalistic professionalism. And that is worth a TV subscription fee.
It is interesting that not even the members of the Temporary Governing Board with whom we talked, nor the representatives of OHR have an explanation for this Purivatra's action nor do they know what to do about this new problem. The same reply came from EP BiH on whose behalf Nadiha Halilovic says that all information can be obtained from RTV BiH, since the agreement was signed at their initiative. Besides, even if this agreement remains in this or, as is more likely, similar form, RTVBiH, FTV, its Bosniak wing, or who knows who would have to form a special commission which would have to react if someone claims to have an electricity meter, but does not have a TV set, and therefore shouldn't pay TV subscription fees. And there are people like that in the country. Besides, in Bosnian villages large farms have electricity meters even in stables and coops, although domestic animals do not watch TV.
The End of Self-Declared State Television
Dani, Sarajevo, Bosnia-Hercegovina, August 6 1999
by Emin ImamovicFinancing: Solved
"This is not a dissolution, rather, it is an evolution," said at a pretty well attended press conference HR media advisor Simon Haselock. That roughly means the following: Westendorp ordered the formation of a Federal TV, in accordance with the agreement of the leading political parties in the Federation, then ordered reconstruction of the Srpska [Serb] TV, which implies the change of its name into the TV of the Republic of Srpska and, as the most important decision, legalized the concept of the Public Broadcasting Service that will produce "at least an hour of program daily" and inherit the rights of TVBiH in the Eurovision as well as some of its property (for example its archive).German 16 Years
While the reactions from BHT and local political parties whose representatives wanted to at the same time win a few patriotic points and avoid antagonizing foreigners were coming in, the OHR representatives decided to finally present to the public the file about televisions. "The Governing Board considered all proposals and the third proposal was chosen, since all parties will be equally dissatisfied with it, while at the same time it fulfills a minimum of everyone's interests," stated Dan Luce, the chief of the media development department with IHR and the former chief of the Reuters' Sarajevo Bureau."CPT" or HRT
However, even more work faces the Serb Radio Television. The interests of various political factions in the Republic of Srpska are at play within this TV station. To what extent SRT is considered to be important for staying in power in the smaller Bosnian entity is illustrated by the arrogant rejection of Milorad Dodik to even negotiate with Simon Haselock about the media and the reconstruction of the media house for whose supervisor OHR planned to bring Aleksandar Tijanic, one of best paid and most sought after Serb journalists.We are Waiting...
Therefore, we are facing the end of the story about BHT, the media house with low income and high aspirations. Its employees, judging for example by the reactions of Medzida Buljubasic at OHR's press briefing or behind the scenes rumors about the likely number of dismissals, are not at all happy with the new law. They are not encouraged by the fact that, in the new system, they will have more potential viewers and that all long-time ago commandeered transmitters will be very likely again available for the use of the Bosnian media.Miro Before Law
Before Carlos Westendorp announced his most recent Bosnian laws, director general of RTVBiH Mirsad Purivatra and director general of Elektroprivreda BiH Meho Obradovic signed an agreement about the collection of TV subscription fees via electricity bills in all seven cantons with Bosniak majority, the ones covered by EP BiH. The idea for the agreement came from Purivatra, independently from the Governing Board of RTV, for only to him known reasons. Had he waited only a bit, he would have had a legal basis for a signature with the "people of electricity". This way, the agreement must be adapted to the new law.
Translated on 9/10/1999