State of the Freedom of the Press in Serbia (fwd)

["Bryan A. Alexander" <bnalexan@xxxxxxxxx>]

fyi-



Bryan Alexander                                 Department of English
email: bnalexan@xxxxxxxxx                       University of Michigan
phone: (313) 764-0418                           Ann Arbor, MI  USA    48103
fax: (313) 763-3128                             http://www.umich.edu/~bnalexan

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: 16 Feb 1996 23:23:07
From: Ivo Skoric <iskoric@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Recipients of zamir-chat-l <zamir-chat-l@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: State of the Freedom of the Press in Serbia

From: "Ivo Skoric" <iskoric@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: State of the Freedom of the Press in Serbia

------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Subject:       Serbs Take Over TV Station
Organization:  Copyright 1996 by The Associated Press
Date:          Thu, 15 Feb 1996 18:10:50 PST
Priority:      regular

                                        
        BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) -- The Serbian government took over the
country's first independent television station Thursday, annulling
its privatization and dealing the most serious blow yet to freedom
of the press.
        Police entered Studio B TV to switch off its broadcast antenna,
interrupting an address to viewers by Milorad Roganovic, the
station's chief editor.
        ``Only stupid authorities like these can deprivatize something
that existed successfully for six years as a private company,''
said Roganovic, who was ousted.
        ``Who is now going to invest in Serbia when there's obviously
complete uncertainty for private companies?'' he asked.
        The government launched a similar takeover in 1994, when
journalists from the independent daily newspaper Borba were forced
out of the company. Those journalists founded a separate daily,
called Nasa Borba, but circulation has remained low due to high
paper prices and distribution difficulties.
        Studio B was founded in 1972 as a state-run radio station with a
liberal streak. It was allowed to privatize in 1990 by the ruling
Socialists as a wave of democratic changes swept through eastern
Europe.
        Still, Studio B journalists were under constant pressure because
of critical reports on the nationalist regime headed by Serbian
President Slobodan Milosevic.
        Despite his involvement in the Bosnian peace accord, Milosevic
has remained an autocrat at home and continues to hold a firm grip
on the economy, media and Parliament.
        Several other independent television stations remain in Serbia,
but most carry just entertainment programs.
        Studio B returned to the air later Thursday, broadcasting music
videos.
--      
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Ivo Skoric **************************** iskoric@xxxxxxxxxxx

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