Position RBA cash flows of media

Media situation in Serbia is extremely difficult and both national associations of journalists see it as the worst in the last fifteen years. The media are exposed to strong political and economic pressures, expressed censorship and self-censorship. Media strategy from 2011 is not implemented, adoption of media laws is delayed, media ownership is not transparent. A large number of media, both print and electronic, competes in a relatively small market. In such circumstances, regulations on advertising are often violated, which regulator (RBA when it comes to electronic media) doesn’t always respond by initiating proceedings for punishment. The aim of the project is to establish a transparent flow of money that is collected from the media on the basis of collection of broadcast licenses, and money is distributed to the media from the budget of the Republic of Serbia. Transparency Serbia will investigate the flow of money that RRA collected from the media, paid to the budget of the Republic of Serbia and that the budget allocated to the media. TS will then formulate and initiate changes to regulations and practices in order to improve the system of distribution of money and established a direct link between collecting money from licenses and allocation of assets to the media competitions. Another aspect of this project is to determine the cash flows within the RRA and functionality of RRA work related to internal cash flow and efficiency of the services and the RBA Council.