|
NEW TIMES DEMAND OF NATIONAL MEDIA A HIGH AMBITION
Celebration marking the anniversary of RTV Slovenija (video in slovenian language)
Address by the President of the Republic of Slovenija, Milan Kucan
Ljubljana, 3 November 1998
"The new times demand of national media a high ambition to stand squarely on the international stage through the provision of their own information. And it is for this reason that now, more than ever, national media stand in the very core of national sovereignty and uniqueness, and integrity, professionalism and ethics therefore remain the criteria for the great responsibility and commitment of their creative staff towards the national character of the media and towards a high level of professional endeavour. It is only such professionals who truly serve the people, the nation and the country. If those working in the media were to flirt with individual social or political groups, this image would become twisted, as would the aforementioned criteria, and they would lose their commitment to the common goal, as well as the opportunity to serve the common good and to make an important contribution to the country and the public." , stressed Milan Kucan in his address at the jubilee of RTV Slovenija.
Distinguished guests, viewers and listeners,
Special anniversaries, such as seventy years of Slovenian radio and forty years of Slovenian television, are the ideal occasions for us to offer our congratulations and best wishes to both of the institutions celebrating their jubilee. At the same time they provide an excellent incentive for us to consider the role of these institutions, the changes they have undergone - a feature which is shared by the state itself and these institutions - and their adaptation to the demands of the global information society. The new times demand of national media a high ambition to stand squarely on the international stage through the provision of their own information. And it is for this reason that now, more than ever, national media stand in the very core of national sovereignty and uniqueness, and integrity, professionalism and ethics therefore remain the criteria for the great responsibility and commitment of their creative staff towards the national character of the media and towards a high level of professional endeavour. It is only such professionals who truly serve the people, the nation and the country. If those working in the media were to flirt with individual social or political groups, this image would become twisted, as would the aforementioned criteria, and they would lose their commitment to the common goal, as well as the opportunity to serve the common good and to make an important contribution to the country and the public.
The history of our public radio and our much younger television may also be seen as the recent history of the Slovenian nation and its state. From its initial role as a popular medium of education and culture, through Radio Kričač (the 'Crier'), Radio OF (the Slovenian Liberation Front) and Radio Ljubljana, which brought to the attention of domestic and foreign listeners the dramatic events at the end of the 80's, including independence and war in 1991, through its consistently honourable work the radio station in Ljubljana has developed into the national institution of Radio Slovenia. It represents reliable, all-embracing and therefore unbiased information, a high and at the same time universally accessible level of culture, it offers entertainment and the possibility of public communication to all those who are interested, it opens a window on the world and at the same time it is a window which opens up a view of us for the world.
This seems especially important. We are indeed part of a world which is seeking a new image and which in itself is redefining the conditions and criteria for this. And we are a part of this world. Within it we must secure our space, our identity, image and our place in the global dialogue on the future of humanity and the world. We must therefore understand this world, we must look beyond the dividing lines of our own parochial world, beyond the horizons of the provincial, narrow and introspective mind and out to a world which is much wider than the merely geographical and spiritual dimensions of the area between Lendava and Koper. Our very inclusion in this world will not permit for much longer the pondering of the media's role to hold back their cultural and educational substance and to push the political information angle too far to the front.
Public television has been following its older brother, and its history is marked by some precious milestones for Slovenia, such as the introduction of the Slovenian television news programme and its broadcasting during the national independence process, the latter being a challenging test of journalistic and media technology skills. The standards during that time were set high. The television corporation accustomed its viewers to exercise an attentive and critical sensitivity in following its efforts - attended by the considerable erudition of its staff, and based on demanding professional standards - to shape key media channels for the Slovenian language and culture, for the values of Slovenian people and for consolidating the universal values of a modern civil society and the Slovenian state.
The path to what is good is complicated, just as the mechanisms of communication are complicated. This is true in particular of news and educational broadcasting. Information is transformed into news, and this should, according to all the valid professional rules, be clearly separated from any kind of commentary or value judgements. Universality and impartiality, the development of a democratic political culture and dialogue, tolerance and respect of difference, attention given to all, including marginal groups in society, opposition to xenophobia, fundamentalism, intolerance of differentness, linking together diverse and special elements into common, national and state projects, such as the preservation of Slovenian uniqueness in the common European home and the presentation of our own and foreign culture which is accessible to all; all of this remains the professional and common goal for us, a goal to which both national media institutions are committed. In this way it might link us and bind us together, and be a credible source of information, providing a basis for us to make our own judgements and decisions.
A democratic society requires that the national media maintain a critical distance towards the administration of public affairs. It needs a critically angled mirror of society and the state, a mirror without any disfigurement, so that the reflection is clear and there is then no need for any discussion about whether the mirror should be changed or whether the image reflected in it should be changed. And the national media themselves should know how to set up such a mirror. It is then that we see their true image. Giving serious attention to every virtual or apparent problem concocted by party politics in its mutual clashes - which through media attention gain the weight of real social problems, often far removed from the vital problems of the state and the difficulties people face in their lives - ranks among such disfigured images. The media, especially electronic, have traversed a difficult path and today possess a major share of social power, which also arouses the desire to manipulate events and affairs as well as people and the public in general. Cases where people have succumbed to the temptation to abuse this power are well known both around the world and in our own experience at home. Where the public media are involved, this is precisely why it is apposite to consider a well-developed civil monitoring and control of the performing of their public function. And here we mean monitoring and control by the civil and autonomous society, and not in any event control by political parties or the state in an attempt to appropriate the media.
In the open arena of the media, our two national media institutions compete with commercial, private stations. For the public, for the state, and for our citizens this is a good thing. We need media pluralism. But the two national electronic media compete each in its special role. They compete in providing a high-quality service in their own fields, and not in pandering to all tastes at any price, and not for profit - which in the name of capital return determines the standards for commercial media - but for quality, which will with topical content by itself link together and bind people around common, national and state interests. Only in this way will these two media preserve their credibility, and alongside their traditional audience acquire new listeners and viewers, as well as help to create a society of tolerance, mutual respect, consideration of difference and cooperation between people. These media will not, then, divide and separate people.
The national radio and television stations need the internal pluralism of creative views and thoughts, and they are committed to dialogue and the exchange of views. It is precisely for this reason that any narrowing of internal political pluralism down to the promotion of individual, aggressive, party-political advantage, would run counter to the work ethic in the national media. This is a professional challenge for journalists and particularly for editors. It is also a very human test.
Public radio and public television are bound to all sections of the public and to the state. For this reason the state also bears its share of responsibility towards both media institutions, so that they should have the systemic and material possibilities for their role, work and development. Together they create a whole from which may grow the quality which Slovenia needs and which is deserved by the citizens of Slovenia and the Slovenian state. In the circumstances where both the state and the national radio and television institutions are aware that their existence is justified through service and responsibility towards our citizens, an agreement on mutual obligations and relations should not be too hard to achieve.
May I congratulate the two institutions celebrating this jubilee, along with all their journalists, editors and associates, both current and former. My wish is that they might develop everything that was good from the past of these institutions, and from their traditions, and that they should hold the door wide open to quality, and themselves remain open to all the internal Slovenian diversity and to the world, to our own future and the future of the world, in the awareness that this world will also be ours, if we ourselves can be part of it.
|
