Continuous media dialogue begins - PM Krivokapić: Goal is to create environment in which equal rules will apply to all

Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić and Minister of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media Tamara Srzentić with their associates launched today a Continuous dialogue with the media.

The first in a series of meetings was attended by General Director of RTCG Božidar Šundić, Executive Director of Nova M Ivana Šebek, Executive Director of Vijesti Marijana Bojanić, and Editor-in-Chief of Prva TV Dražen Živković.

"This Government has a clear goal, and that is to create an environment in which all media in Montenegro will be able to work professionally in a market where transparent procedures and equal rules will apply to all," said the Prime Minister in a conversation with media representatives. PM Krivokapić noted that the Government is in the final phase of defining the media support package, which will consist of the Public competition for COVID-19, which will soon be announced by the Ministry of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media, and that other measures are being considered.

He said that he and Minister Srzentić initiated the Continuous media dialogue in order to solve, through a series of open and constructive meetings, the long-standing problems of the media community in Montenegro, which relate primarily to the unequal status of the media in the media market but also to the improvement of the institutional and normative framework in which the media work. "This Government wants, regardless of editorial policies, to define clear procedures and rules so that the funds from the budget of Montenegro that are allocated for media content are distributed in a transparent manner," said the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Krivokapić said that the Government has already started activities on drafting the Media Strategy, but that the goal is not to adopt documents that do not have adequate application, but those that will be implemented in practice and whose effects will be measurable. He also said that he was aware of the objections to the adoption of media laws and that all these issues in the coming period must be considered by improving existing solutions or creating the new ones.

"The media in Montenegro should have an adequate environment in which they work so that they can do their job smoothly and professionally. In the coming period, through this mechanism and through surveys that we have launched, our goal is to identify the needs and problems of the media community. If we do not ask you and do not listen to you, then public policies do not have their purpose either," said Minister Srzentić. She concluded that we should join forces and work together to improve the environment for the work of the media, but also to constructively solve community problems.

Media representatives welcomed the launch of the dialogue in order to solve the problems of the media sector, and pointed out the financial problems they are facing due to the coronavirus pandemic. They also stressed that in the coming period it is necessary to approach the problem in a systematic way, through the improvement of media regulations, and the introduction of a transparent approach to funding from public funds.

The goal of the Continuous dialogue with the media is to obtain information on the biggest challenges from a systemic point of view, in order to find long-term solutions to the challenges that all representatives of the media community face in their work.

Respecting the epidemiological measures, Prime Minister Krivokapić and Minister Srzentić will continue to meet with media representatives in the coming period.