About Project

“Support to media reforms in the Republic of Serbia” is an EU-funded whose aim is to:

• Provide technical assistance to public service broadcasters, RTS and RTV, as they move their radio, TV, website and social media platforms into an integrated, purpose-built newsroom.
• Provide technical support to the Working Group of the Ministry of Culture and Information in  preparation of a teaching manual for pre-university education, in order to improve and develop media literacy.
• Monitoring EU grants for supporting investigative journalism around Serbia.

SUPPORT TO RTS AND RTV

Public service media organisations the world over face a number of challenges. One of them is reaching their audiences in a media environment characterised by rapid changes and ever-stronger global players. Younger audiences especially are turning their back on traditional media – public service broadcasters included. To stay relevant and to secure impact has never been harder. The political and financial environment in Serbia is only adding to the challenges – as described in the EU Progress Report for Serbia of April 2018.

The assistance to RTS and RTV therefore includes a number of training activities, consultative sessions and study tours to European public service broadcasters.

Capacity building and training across RTS and RTV will go on from February 2019 until the end of the project in May 2020 and will include:

• Providing technical advice as RTS and RTV move into new, purpose-built newsrooms in which TV, Radio, online and social media platforms will produce and distribute news under one roof
  
• Enhancing the use of social media in news and current affairs coverage
• Helping to enrich content in national minority languages.

MEDIA LITERACY

The Project is supporting reforms in pre-university education in Serbia by helping Ministry of Culture and Information in further development of media literacy field.

The project supports the work of the Ministry of Culture and Information Working Group with main task to make expertise and create recommendations, based on the EU member states best practices in the area of media literacy.

This work includes preparation of media literacy handbook for primary and secondary level of education which is one of the strategic goals of media policy in the coming period.

In addition, the project will support the leading role of Public media services RTS and RTV in the production of interactive programmes dedicated primarily to younger generation.

MONITORING OF EU GRANTS TO MEDIA

The project will support the EU Delegation in monitoring process of implementation of nine awarded media grants in Serbia that the EU Delegation launched in April 2017 with a budget of EUR 2,3 million.

Support in the form of long term grants to media is granted for investigative and creative media production in the area of rule of law, environmental protection, cultural diversity, media and digital literacy and the EU accession process in Serbia. The grants are between EUR 150,000 to EUR 300,000 for the period 24 to 48 months.