Cvejic: Electronic Media Regulatory Body Used for Political Ends

Slobodan Cvejic(BETAPHOTO/BEOINFO/DS)

Slobodan Cvejic, until recently a member of the Council of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media, described that agency's work as unsuccessful, stressing that "every analysis by domestic experts and the relevant international organizations indicated that [the Body] was passive and did nor perform its basic function, which is regulating the electronic media arena."

Cvejic, who resigned from his seat on the Council a few days ago, told BETA in an interview on Dec. 25 that the Body had "good technical and organizational capacities and highly qualified employees, but had a problem with a 'captive' Council and management structure."

According to him, the ruling political assemblage -- at this time the Serbian Progressive Party and its coalition partners, sees its main interest in not having the Body disrupt its hold on electronic media for the purpose of propaganda for its political goals.

"Now it's important to draft an action plan for the media strategy as soon as possible, and then to have media outlets, journalists and civil society organizations engaged in this field take on as active a role as possible," he said.

Most people "don't understand why it's important for an independent regulatory body to regulate the electronic media arena and thus support democratic values and the rule of law, i.e. the institutions that should protect a better life for them, too. That is why they easily accept the image of [the Body] projected by the political elite, which is that it's normal to politically instrumentalize it. The ruling political set has taken this political hijack of the [Regulatory Body] possible to the next level," he said.