Western Balkans stakeholders agree public service media funding principles

Parliamentarians, regulators, public service media management, governing bodies and civil society organsiations from the western Balkans have adopted a set of common funding principles for public service media at a meeting in Sarajevo.

Particpants in the regional conference unanimously agreed a set of principles to create the foundations for  independent, stable and predictable funding, according to public broadcasters organisation the EBU.

The EBU’s director of legal and policy, Richard Burnley, the former EBU vice-president Boris Bergant and the EBU’s head of member relations for central and eastern Europe Radka Betcheva presented EBU standards and best practices, before tabling a proposal for a set of common funding principles for the region.

The participants endorsed the proposal and expressed their will to follow up on the implementation of these principles, according to the EBU>

The regional conference was organized in the framework of a joint project with the European Commission for technical assistance of public service media in the region, implemented by a Consortium composed by the EBU, IFJ, EFJ, ERNO, ORF and BIRN.