DATE=4/6/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=YUGOSLAVIA / MEDIA (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261017
BYLINE=LAURIE KASSMAN
DATELINE=LONDON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The World Association of Newspapers has sent a
letter to Yugoslav authorities to protest restrictions
on independent media in Serbia, especially tight
controls on the import of desperately-needed printing
supplies for newspapers and magazines. V-O-A
Correspondent Laurie Kassman reports from London.
TEXT: The Paris-based World Association of Newspapers
is urging the Belgrade government to end restrictions
on the import of newsprint. The organization's policy
adviser, Anne Marie Stott, says the cost of paper for
the publications has skyrocketed, making it more
difficult for non-state media to publish.
/// STOTT ACT ONE ///
[For] newsprint, already the price has rocketed
by 160 percent in the last five months.
Newsprint cannot currently be imported,
because those who import the paper need
permission from the Yugoslav Foreign Trade
Ministry, which is refusing the import.
/// END ACT ///
Miss Stott says the independent media need about 12-
hundred tons of newsprint every three months.
The government crackdown was most apparent before and
during the three-month NATO campaign to oust Yugoslav
troops from the Serb province of Kosovo. Most private
newspapers were closed, and television stations were
heavily censored.
Miss Stott says publishers suffer a constant barrage
of financial sanctions, making it more difficult to
get their newspapers and magazines onto newsstands.
/// STOTT ACT TWO ///
They've been forced to reduce their prices by 25
percent ... [and] charges for the printing
presses have rocketed up by 150 percent. Not
only that, but the newspapers are sued almost
daily.
/// END ACT ///
The World Association of Newspapers and the
International Federation of Journalists have set up an
emergency fund to help independent publishers deal
with the newsprint crisis.
Miss Stott says other funds have been launched to
support legal and humanitarian aid and solidarity
campaigns for independent journalists in Serbia.
/// OPT STOTT ACT THREE ///
What we're trying to do is to link up with some
of our associations within Serbia, so that local
campaigns will have this international dimension
and some of the international campaigns will
have this local dimension.
/// END ACT /// /// END OPT ///
The World Association of Newspapers represents more
than 17-thousand newspapers around the world.
(Signed)
NEB/LMK/JWH/WTW
06-Apr-2000 12:43 PM EDT (06-Apr-2000 1643 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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