Media Regulations Framework (HR0033)

IMPROVING THE NORMATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR THE MEDIA
Implementation of the measure began on 1 April 2018 and will last until 30 August 2020
Leader of the measure MINISTRY OF CULTURE
Description of the measure
Which public issue does the measure address? The recession which began in 2008 had a negative effect on all types of
media in Croatia. As a result of reduced revenues from advertising,
between 2010 and 2015 the number of journalists fell, and many media
houses ceased to operate. The development of technology and
convergences, access to broadband internet and the invasion of
smartphones radically changed the media ecosystem. The boundary
between electronic and printed media became blurred, as both now had
extensions via many non-linear services. On the Croatia media market, we
need to bear in mind that regulation and support must include all media:
public, commercial (electronic and print) and non-profit. The sustainability
of media products with contents of public interest must be the obligation of
all participants, while of course the public and non-profit media have a
special role. Foreign entertainment media contents dominate all platforms,
whether linear or non-linear, so that domestic products and the European
parts would barely be able to survive on the competitive global market
were it not for envisaged quotas. As part of talks on the revision of the
AVMS Directive, there has been much discussion of how the quota system
and option of gathering resources for producing and distributing European
AV and encouraging media pluralism can be assured, through a regime of
regulating non-linear platforms and services.
In Croatia, the enforcement of the Media Act has not been assured, which
has had a largely negative effect on respecting journalism ethics and
standards in general (the pressure of the market economy). Today, there
is increasing talk of 'fake news' and the lack of editorial accountability,
particularly on all non-linear platforms. Croatia is one of only a few
countries which does not have a regulatory body for print or some form of
Press Council.
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It is necessary to strengthen co-regulation and self-regulation as models
which contribute in a significant way to restoring damaged professional
journalism standards and raising awareness of the phenomenon of 'fake
news'. In this context, the issue of public trust in the media is very
important, along with the issue of developing media literacy in
particularly. Protecting minors and fighting hate speech are special
challenges in regulating non-linear services.
In media legislation and the production of support models, it is necessary
to define potential non-profit media service providers. The key term of
reference used to define non-profit media/public service providers should
not be reduced to mere registration of the founder, but should primarily
concern the provision of content of particular public interest. This kind of
definition would on the whole answer the real need to increase the
number of non-profit media, and would make it easier to bring some
electronic media closer to the concept of a 'media community', which still
needs to be worked out in detail.
What does the measure include? The implementation of the measure will guarantee a new normative
framework to enable a more functional system for working in the new
digital environment, and assure more transparent work, protection of
journalists, and access to support resources.
The establishment of working groups is needed to produce the draft
Electronic Media Act, Media Act, and an in-depth analysis, including, if
necessary, amendments to the Croatian Radio and Television Act and the
Croatian News Agency Act.
All stakeholders to whom the provisions of these Acts apply will participate
in the working groups, from non-profit media service providers to state
administration bodies, and when the draft document is ready, consultations
will be held with the interested public.
How does the measure contribute to resolving the public
issue?
Amendments to the normative framework will facilitate the work of the
media in the new conditions of the digital society, the publication of
information on the proprietors of all media to the level of physical
persons, the publication of relevant information linked to the work of the
media, and the further development of media literacy.
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Why is this measure relevant to the values of the Open
Government Partnership?
The measure is relevant to the more transparent, more efficient work of
the media.
Additional information Resources are guaranteed in the State Budget, section Ministry of
Culture P3901, A564000 – within the regular work of the Ministry of
Culture.
Activities Implementation start date Implementation end date
8.1. Drafting the Electronic Media Act Underway January 2019
8.2. Drafting the Media Act 1 January 2019 January 2020
8.3. Improving legal provisions related to the
transparency of media ownership 1 June 2019 30 August 2020
Contact information
Person responsible in the body which is Leader of the
measure
Nives Zvonarić
Function, department Head, Independent Sector the for Media
Email and telephone nives.zvonaric@min-kulture.hr, +385 1 4866 453
Other participants
involved
State participants Agency for Electronic Media
Croatian Competition Agency
Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries
Central State Office for the Development of the Digital Society
Ministry of Finance
Ministry of the Economy
Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure
Information Commissioner
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NGOs, private sector,
multilaterals, working groups
Croatian Chamber of Economy
Croatian Association of Radio Publishers
National Television Association
Coordination of non-profit electronic publication providers
Croatian News Agency
Nova TV d.d.
RTL Hrvatska d.o.o.
Croatian Radio Television

8. Media Regulatory Framework

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan:

"Measure 8. Improving the Normative Framework for the Media" [64]

"The implementation of the measure will guarantee a new normative framework to enable a more functional system for working in the new digital environment, and assure more transparent work, protection of journalists, and access to support resources.

The establishment of working groups is needed to produce the draft Electronic Media Act, Media Act, and an in-depth analysis, including, if necessary, amendments to the Croatian Radio and Television Act and the Croatian News Agency Act.

All stakeholders to whom the provisions of these Acts apply will participate in the working groups, from non-profit media service providers to state administration bodies, and when the draft document is ready, consultations will be held with the interested public. (…) Resources are guaranteed in the State Budget, section Ministry of Culture P3901, A564000 – within the regular work of the Ministry of Culture."

Milestones:

8.1. Drafting the Electronic Media Act

• Working groups set up to produce the draft Electronic Media Act
• Draft Electronic Media Act produced
• Electronic Media Act adopted at a session of the Government

8.2. Drafting the Media Act

• Working groups set up to produce the draft Media Act
• Draft Media Act produced
• Media Act adopted at a session of the Government

8.3. Improving legal provisions related to the transparency of media ownership

Proposal for changes to the relevant legislative framework to allow the transparency of information on media proprietors to the level of physical persons (reusable, easily searchable, open code format).

Start date: 1 April 2018

End date: 30 August 2020

Context and Objectives

This commitment strives to ensure greater transparency and independence of media and primarily involves legislative changes for media activities. [65] This commitment builds on milestones from the second OGP action plan, [66] two of which were aimed at increasing transparency via legal changes. At the time, the Ministry of Culture envisaged a new media policy [67] to feed into the legislative changes. However, this media policy creation process held back implementation of activities in both milestones. Exacerbating the matter, the launch of the new media policy and legislation was postponed indefinitely since parliamentary elections held in November 2015. [68]

In recent years, media freedoms and the state of the media in Croatia have seen a noticeable decline. A 2016 report on media freedoms in Croatia [69] noted political interference in the Croatian public broadcaster (HRT), increasing public intimidation of critical media, continued impunity for physical attacts against journalists, [70] the use of criminal slander and libel legislation to silence investigative journalism, and a reduced arena for media pluralism, including minority and nonprofit media. This is corroborated by the World Press Freedom Index [71] and relevant CSOs in Croatia. [72] In this context, the commitment aims to ensure changes to the Electronic Media Act (Milestone 8.1), the Media Act (8.2) and to legal provisions related to media ownership transparency (8.3). The commitment is specific and verifiable, and is relevant to access to information, as all proposed legislative changes will improve the existing media environment. The last milestone will create a registry of beneficial ownership of the media in reusable and searchable open code, making it relevant for use of technology and innovation to improve transparency and accountablity. Various organizations are represented in drafting the laws in question, including several CSOs, making this commitment relevant to civic participation. In that regard, the envisioned proposal for the Electronic Media Act, followed by the umbrella Media Act, and other media legislation should achieve a more transparent and effective media environment.

For comparison, current media regulation and support does not include all media (i.e., public, commercial, electronic and print, and nonprofit), which is important for supporting domestic media production. It is also important to ensure the new legislation alligns with the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive, which was adopted by the European Parliament in late 2018, [73] especially in encouraging of media pluralism via regulating non-linear platforms and services. [74] There are also issues regarding  journalism ethics and standards, lack of editorial accountability, and increasing problems with "fake news," particularly on non-linear platforms. This commitment also aims to improve the low level of public trust in the media and legal definition of potential nonprofit media service providers ("community media").

This commitment is moderate in its scale and scope, as transparency in media ownership could reduce the risk of media monopolies, prevent political interference and corruption,  and decrease backhanded dealings in media enterprises.

Next steps

During action plan implementation, the IRM researcher reccomends the Ministry of Culture does the following:

• Include strong regulations to erradicate the key problems with media freedoms, especially political interference, intimidation of journalists and their employers, reduced space for nonprofit, minority, and community media in general;
• Ensure representation of all relevant stakeholders: independent media experts, CSOs dealing with media freedoms and democratic values, the academic sector, journalist and media professional associations, etc. Use established mechanisms of sharing important information with the interested public.

Should the government continue working on this issue, the next action plan could include:

• Stimulating investigative journalism in Croatia by reducing or abolishing the use of criminal slander and libel legislation on journalists and their employers;
• Opening more media data and information to the public, such as information on beneficial ownership of all media outlets, especially electronic media.

8. Media Regulatory Framework

Completion: Limited

In 2018, the Ministry of Culture (MoC) started drafting the Electronic Media Act, ^[53] established a Working Group ^[54] for drafting it to ensure compliance with the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive, ^[55] and conducted a public consultation. ^[56] The Act had not been adopted by the end of the action plan cycle. The draft received over 600 comments from citizens, CSOs, and public and private entities, which in many cases the MoC replied to with “will be taken under consideration,” giving no specifics. ^[57] Some comments pointed out the harmfulness of some of the law’s provisions such as interference in editorial policy, devoting 5% of annual gross income to content from independent productions, and responsibility on publishers for user-generated content (e.g., hate speech in comments can be fined anywhere from 100,000 to 1 million kuna). ^[58] The Agency for Electronic Media publishes data on the ownership structures of electronic media, down to the level of natural persons. ^[59] Representatives of GONG believe this is not sufficient because this does not always include the “real” owners, just the formal ones. ^[60]

Drafting the Media Act has not started and, according to the MoC, if pending analysis and stakeholder opinions warrant, this milestone on adopting legislation will be included in the next action plan. ^[61]