EU Support for Professional Development of Media in Serbia: 2.8 Million EUR for Media Projects

EAR

08 May 2006

The European Union, through the European Agency for Reconstruction, secured a new packaged of financial assistance dedicated to professional development of media in Serbia. Under the Media Fund Programme, the EU earmarked 2.8 million EUR in finances for projects that promote investigative journalism, contribute to increased quality of media contents and projects designed to improve media education.

All media and media education institutions registered in Serbia that prepare a project proposal in line with the competition criteria will be deemed elligible to apply for funding from the Media Fund. Individual donations per project may range between 50,000 and 150,000 EUR, and the open competition will be published by the end of May 2006. The deadline for implementation of approved projects is set at 12 months from the day the agreement was signed.

The technical operation of the Media Fund will be handed over to Press Now, which signed an agreement with EAR for implementation of programme and technical management of the process of opening of the competition, selection of projects and supervision of their implementation.

The Media Fund was established by EAR in 2003, with the aim to improve the quality of media production, promote investigative journalism quality and improve quality of media education in Serbia. The key objective of this new stage of the Media Fund is to contribute to the development of the media sector in line with the principles of European journalistic practice.

Since 2001, under its programmes for assistance, the EU, through EAR, secured over 16 million EUR for media in Serbia. The complex media programmes assisted the transformation of state-owned RTS into a public service broadcaster, the process of creation and adoption of legislation in the media sector and financed over 30 different media projects.

The EU assistance for Serbian media and their professional development and promotion of objective journalism, in accordance with international standards, is an important contribution to the democratization and progress on the road to European Integrations.