2nd Interview with "Independent" Radio B92: "BBC Backing & Money From Abroad..."

[Borba100@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Interview with Sanda Savic, News editor of Radio B292 in Belgrade at the time
when the Yugoslav government closed Studio B.  This interview was conducted
by Jared Israel on May 23, 2000.  .

Jared:  Are you in an office there or somebody's house?

Sanda: So-called office. We are just trying to gather computers, telephones
and etc. etc.

Jared: But I understand you're still able to transmit by satellite?  What
satellite to you use?

Sanda: It's a BBC satellite.

Jared: You have an arrangement with them where you can -

Sanda: It's old arrangement.  They give us more time on satellite now.  Every
day we are broadcasting two hours in the morning, two afternoon and two at
the evening.  Six hours a day.

Jared:  The BBC contributes this?

Sanda:  I don't know the details about that agreement.  But we used their
satellite before.  But it was just three hours before. We made a new
agreement.  They just wanted to help us now.

Jared: That's a lot of time.  What does that reach?

Sanda:  We cover all the protests.  That can be heard by everyone but
Belgrade because local stations rebroadcast our programs, between 20 and 30
local stations.  Unfortunately BBC cannot be heard in Belgrade.

Jared: I understand some people are very mad at you and some support you.
Are you getting strong support?

Sanda:  Many of us are very disappointed.  We expect nothing special from
opposition [parties.] That's why we prepared earlier offices and other ways
to continue our work.  That's why we able to work now. Because we didn't
expect anything from the others, especially not from the opposition parties.

Jared: So you prepared a whole alternative set of offices before this
happened? Sounds expensive.

Sanda: And we are doing some things to cover Belgrade.  We are trying to do
that.

Jared:  How are you doing that?

Sanda: I can't tell you more

Jared: What do you mean though, you say you're trying to cover Belgrade?

Sanda: We are trying to make some agreement with other radio stations, not in
Serbia.

Jared:  You mean like Bulgaria or something?

Sanda: I can't tell you now you're going to find out in the next ten or 15
days.  Yes this is expensive but you know the European Union and every
organization from the outside helped us for years and they are going to help
[now].

Jared:  Like what organizations?

Sanda: Like, I don't know; Soros, you know? There are so many organizations
from abroad.  They all help us.

Jared:  Who owns the station?

Sanda: No one.

Jared: That can't be.

Sanda:  We are not private. We are not a city organization. We are just, I
don't know. It's private ownerâ?¦

Jared:  Who is the private owner?

Sanda:  No one.  It's just a part of Association of Independent Electronic
Media in Serbia.

Jared: You say no one is it but I'm unclear.  You said no one owns it, but
you said "we prepared other offices."  Somebody has to write checks. You've
got phones; you have relations with a  satellite, etc. Soros gives money; the
money must go to something, some entity.  Does Soros own it?

Sanda: no no no no no no no.  We don't have a legal status.  We are just part
of an association.  You know what happened during the bombing?

Jared: But somebody pays you a paycheck every week?  Someone writes a check
and signs it?

Sanda: Yes but you have to ask my Director.

Jared: In other words you don't know who writes the -

Sanda:  I don't know much about - it's so confused -

Jared: Specifically though you get a check you can cash at the bank? Yes?

Sanda:  Yes.

Jared: How much pay would a person get there?  Is it a very good job?

Sanda: It's a good job.

Jared: Well somebody owns it because they write a check.  Means ownership,
control.

Sanda: It's like a non-government organization.  We have an editor, director,
it's just their job to get money.

Jared:  Let me read you something that's on the net now from a guy named Paul
Treanor.  He says the website that was set up when radio 2B292 came around is
owned by KPB Telecom  through its subsidiary XS4ALL NederlandBV.

Sanda: Uh -huh.

Jared: Is that correct?

Sanda:  Really, I really don't know. I'm not sure.  I can't tell you anything
about that.  I can just give you the number of Sasa Milkovic.  He's the
editor in chief.

[Jared's note: I called Mr. Milkovic numerous times but he was always too
busy to talk.]