Minister Abandons Dismissal, Živković Remains Advisor

Minister of Culture Andrea Zlatar Violić has abandoned the announced dismissal of media advisor Milan Živković, who will continue in his position and will lead the future Media Department tasked with collecting and analyzing information relevant to media reform, as well as mediating in the public discussion on the new media strategy.

– Milan Živković remains the media advisor and will lead the new Media Department that the Ministry will establish, as it has been shown that its absence was a significant shortcoming – stated today to Hina the spokesperson of the Ministry of Culture, Nataša Petrinjak, when asked about the status of advisor Živković.

Minister Zlatar announced his dismissal after part of the public reacted negatively to Živković’s idea of changing the system of collecting fees for HRT and introducing the so-called ‘media tax’ to finance public media. The dismissal was also supported by Deputy Prime Minister Vesna Pusić, who stated that the minister ‘should have thrown out that little one who ran out on time’.

The Croatian Journalists’ Association, along with some journalists, intellectuals, and representatives of civil society, strongly opposed the announcement of Živković’s dismissal, demanding that ‘in the context of public interest, not party or corporate’, the minister reconsiders her decision and that work on the media strategy and media laws continues.

The Ministry of Culture believes that the disinformation and misunderstandings of the past weeks indicate the sensitivity of the media strategy-making process and that a higher level of structural and organizational support is needed, which will also be contributed by the establishment of the Media Department.

– The large media field, which is overloaded with problems, requires new legal regulations. In order to achieve long-term and quality solutions, a broad public discussion will be held with all actors in the media scene – said Petrinjak. She emphasized the importance of the new Media Department and announced that it should formally start operating after the New Year.

The Ministry of Culture announced that it continues to work on creating a new media strategy and emphasizes the need for participation in the public discussion of all active participants in the media industries, as well as those who have often been silenced or systematically outvoted until now.

The Ministry also announces that it will form a Coordination Body for the preparation of the media strategy, chaired by Minister Zlatar Violić. ‘It will represent the views of all established and future working groups in the discussion on media policy, interested organizations, media workers and employers, bodies of state and local administration, civil society organizations, and the academic and artistic public. Its task is to achieve consensus among opposing interests and to allow everyone to present and defend their position, but also to hear the arguments of the other side.’

With the establishment of this Coordination and the Media Department, as emphasized, the Ministry of Culture will, for the first time in its work after decades of neglecting media policy, ensure stable organizational support for this indispensable area of cultural policy.
– Media, as the foundation of democratic social life, cannot be the subject of spontaneous, simplified statements for one-time use, but require a responsible and serious approach that will enable the adoption of long-term strategies and the creation of appropriate tools for their formulation and implementation – they believe in the Ministry.