Some Opposition Parties Demand Proportional Air Time in News Programs of State Public Broadcaster RTS

Photo: Beta/Milan Obradovic

The opposition parliamentary parties, which are the organizers of the Serbia Against Violence protests, on Sept. 12 demanded from state public broadcaster RTS that all opposition groups represented in the Serbian parliament were provided proportional air time in the TV station’s news program.

The demand was handed to RTS by MPs of the Democratic Party, the Ecological Uprising, the Together coalition, the Green-Left Front, the People’s Movement of Serbia, the New Face of Serbia, and the Forward to Europe parliamentary group.  

These parties demand from RTS that at least 20 percent of its air time for prime time news and other programs dealing with daily news and social and political affairs be devoted to parliamentary parties and that it should start right now.

According to them, proportional air time on public broadcasters is applied in many EU countries, such as Germany. These parties also demand from RTS to launch a new broadcast in the evening hours, in accordance with the findings of the OSCE/ODIHR, the European Commission and the European Parliament. Another demand to RTS is to enable not only group, but also individual appearance of opposition representatives in news programs and without necessary presence of representatives of “the pro-regime parties.”

Marinika Tepic, an MP of the Forward to Europe parliamentary group, said that RTS was not a public broadcaster of Serbia’s citizens, but “a regime-run service” and an “information bunker of the regime.” She also said that of all editors working at RTS, “the supreme editor sits on the Andric Venac St,” – Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Tepic added that the opposition had the right to comment on the RTS program and also to dismiss claims that it represented interference with the TV station’s editorial policy.