Despite a difficult financial situation, BHRT has fully justified its role as the Public Service of Bosnia and Herzegovina

By: Amra Vrabac

The Public Broadcasting Service of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT) tonight truly showed its role and significance at one of the most important moments for our country, qualifying for the World Cup in football.

Hours of live programming, before and after the match itself, the broadcast of the match, extra time and penalties, and everything that followed the historic success showed that the system they have built functions perfectly despite all the difficulties they face.

Two studios, one in Sarajevo and an improvised one in Zenica, reports from reporters in several BiH cities, Zenica, Tuzla, Bihaća, Sarajevo, Bijeljina complemented each other perfectly.

We were able to hear the first statements from coach Sergej Barbarez and the players in BHRT's program. And the song by colleague Anel Džanković after qualifying for the World Cup was the true emotion he could neither hide nor wanted to. He analyzed the match with his guests in the studio, as well as what will follow in the coming months.

A special exclusive was the live broadcast from the bus of the Dragons as they traveled to Sarajevo for the reception in front of the Eternal Flame. Thus, we saw the Dragons in a different light, some showed their singing talent, and some their journalistic skills by taking over the BHRT microphone.

All of this was accompanied by occasional reports from reporters across Bosnia and Herzegovina who conveyed the atmosphere from the streets and the citizens' celebrations. Even for us in the media, BHRT was of multi-fold use tonight.

And indeed, BHRT tonight provided programming worthy of any public service, even media houses with multi-million budgets.

But this program could not have been realized without the efforts of BHRT employees, both those we see and a significant number of people we don't see, who are part of the chain called BHRT.
Those who are watching BHRT's program tonight and sending congratulations to the Dragons, should ask themselves if they have done everything they can to enable the normal operation of the Public Broadcasting Service and ensure at least regular, if not higher, salaries for BHRT employees. And let them submit a proposal for solving BHRT's problems tomorrow. Because if BHRT shuts down in the coming months, we might be watching the World Cup on foreign television.