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In Serbia circumstances are unfavourable for an undisturbed operation of the media. Although some laws have been adopted in 2002 and 2003, they have not been implemented yet, and the legal environment remains chaotic. With about 120 publications, the print media market is oversaturated, unregulated, has limited economic potential and competition for readership and advertisement income is strong. The number of educated journalists is insufficient and most media have low quality, especially local media. Local print media are the most influenced by local politicians and businessmen. In addition, in the last two years sensationalistic tabloids, which promote conflict, do not respect ethical standards and very frequently use libel and defamation not due to a lack of knowledge but as an editorial policy, have entered the market and form a serious threat to professional journalism. Electronic media have been mushrooming under and since Milosevic; the number is estimated around 1.200. Most national TV and radio stations (state owned and private) have sufficient technical and journalistic capacity and advertisement income, unlike regional and local stations, which receive less income from advertisement and tend to be influenced by local politicians and businessmen as well. The transformation process of state broadcaster Radio Television Serbia is on hold, due to the standstill of the Broadcasting Agency; reform process of journalistic education is slow and costly; and the several journalist associations and media institutions lack a general code of ethics and monitoring Press Council.
In Serbia, Press Now invests in structural development of relevant quality local print and electronic media, improvement of journalistic education and profession, and support cooperation between journalist associations and media institutions with regard to a common Code of Ethics and Press Council.
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