Final Political Reckoning with the Media: Burying Media Rights and Freedoms!

Written by: Senad Omerašević/Hayat

Free media are the greatest friends of democracy and democratic societies. And the greatest enemy of totalitarian systems and individuals with such ambitions. Democratic government enables media to work unhindered. Totalitarian government seeks absolute control over the media.

Totalitarian government does not want management, but domination. That is why totalitarian leaders despise facts – they themselves want to "produce facts," i.e., adjust facts to their own lies. Totalitarian leaders need media not as a source of credible information, but as a tool to confirm their false prophecies and enable complete control.

The current government in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in both its entities, shows that it wants totalitarian rule, not democratic governance. There is plenty of evidence for this claim. We will present it. But first, let us look at why the government does not like media and journalists it does not absolutely control.

The latest research conducted by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Association of BH Journalists showed that BiH citizens trust the media the most (61.8%). On the other hand, citizens trust the least, you guessed it, politicians and political parties (16.6%). Furthermore, the research showed that TV is the predominant source of information for citizens in the Federation. And all other research, domestic and foreign, in recent years has reached the same conclusions. This information was alarming for the government, but at the same time an indicator of the path they could take to reach citizens who do not trust them: to take control of the media at any cost.

The most current crisis, which could lead to the shutdown of media, specifically television stations, which, let us emphasize, the largest number of citizens use as a source of information, concerns audience measurement. Namely, since Friday (May 24, 2024), TV stations in Bosnia and Herzegovina have had no viewership results for their programs. This is the outcome following decisions by the current director of the Institute for Metrology of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milica Ristović-Krstić (SNSD). The quality of measuring TV viewing habits in BiH has never been at an enviable level. And we have often criticized the way it was conducted. We think the same today. But worse than a completely unreliable measurement is no measurement at all. Why? Commercial TV stations are mostly financed by advertising revenue. Advertising prices are determined based on viewership results. When there is no viewership, there is no billing, and therefore no money.

Consequently, no salaries for workers, no own productions, no program purchases… Of course, the government of the Troika, SNSD, and HDZ knows this very well. The two most influential domestic TV stations, which are predominantly financed by advertising, are Hayat and BN. At the same time, these two TV stations have a healthy critical stance towards the authorities – which is one of the tasks of free media. However, because of this, these two media outlets are largely in disfavor with authorities showing totalitarian ambitions.

By abolishing audience measurement, which certainly affects all other commercial TV stations as well, the government achieves the effect of "killing two birds with one stone." If the crisis with audience measurement lasts only a few months, it will lead to the layoff of hundreds of workers, a drastic reduction in own production, and possibly a complete shutdown of the signal. All of this is nothing less than an attempt to limit media rights and freedoms.

There is more evidence that the government has entered the final phase of its reckoning with the media. Just as it is now doing with private stations, the government has already struck at public broadcasters. Except, of course, those that can be considered regime-friendly, such as RTRS or TVSA. The Troika either ordered or agreed to the recent shutdown of FTV's signal. Such a thing has not happened since the 1990s and the destruction of repeaters. FTV would still be off the air today if the Court had not ordered otherwise. What is FTV's sin?

The biggest one, as they themselves from FTV claim, is that they have a critical stance towards the Troika government. And totalitarian government, it is clear, does not forgive that. Although the executor of the signal shutdown was BHRT, they themselves are not sure how much longer they will broadcast their own signal. Namely, they have already announced the cancellation of 15 programs of their own production, and the shortening of numerous other programs.

In their arrogance and with totalitarian ambitions, the government does not even hide that they want public broadcasters to cease being public and become party-controlled. The president of the NiP party and state minister of foreign affairs stated this very transparently: We expect a long-term solution when people sit in the managements of both public broadcasters, FTV and BHRT, who work as the policies of the Troika demand of them.

That this is a political agreement to take control of the media was confirmed by Konaković's partner, the president of HDZ, Dragan Čović. He confirmed that the government agreed to appoint even politically suitable editors: We should have on the agenda tomorrow appointments regarding FTV, the supervisory board, the management board, the editorial board, and everything else that goes according to the law. Also, we have long insisted as partners who have a majority to finish that job.

How partners finish the job with the media is best known to media and journalists in BiH who try to do their job honestly – they are subjected to pressures, verbal and physical attacks, and attempts to limit funding. That they are experiencing their most difficult days in the last two decades is also shown by international research. The conclusion of the research by the International Media Institute from Vienna is that "the state of media freedom in Bosnia and Herzegovina is alarming." A consortium of international organizations monitoring the state of media freedom in the European Union concludes the following: "Media freedoms in Bosnia and Herzegovina are dramatically threatened, and media outlets and journalists in this country are subjected to constant and increasingly strong pressures, which call into question their legal and physical security."

Furthermore, Bosnia and Herzegovina this year predictably fell on the World Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders (RSF). It is in 81st position compared to last year when it was in 64th place, and this year it regressed the most of all Western Balkan countries. The World Press Freedom Index shows that media freedoms worldwide are threatened precisely by governments – the people who should guarantee them.

Strengthening media freedoms in Bosnia and Herzegovina is among the 14 reform priorities defined by the European Commission back in 2019 to accelerate the path to EU membership. Declaratively, the government in Bosnia and Herzegovina is pro-European, but essentially, in its attitude towards the media, it is totalitarian. In its final reckoning, it seeks to silence all independent journalists, completely take over and place under absolute control public broadcasters, and would most like to shut down private independent media, if allowed.

The more the government succeeds in its totalitarian intentions, it will not only be a defeat for the media, but the entire society will suffer an irreversible and irreparable loss.