The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) adopted a resolution at its annual meeting in Istanbul on April 17-18 in which it expressed concern about the Croatian Television (HTV) Bill, which proposes a new way of appointing a director-general and editors-in-chief of the public broadcaster, the Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) said in a statement on Sunday.
The meeting urged the EFJ's executive bodies to warn the Croatian government and parliament that the new way of appointment could open the door to the ruling party's direct political control over public broadcasting, which would be badly received in the EFJ and the European public, said the statement, signed by HND president Zdenko Duka.
The EFJ also expressed concern that the present interim management of HTV had suspended the popular and awarded show "Latinica" and had conducted personnel changes in a major current affairs programme, "Hrvatska u zivo".
It said that HTV's reputation was seriously damaged because the company had been without a director-general for a long time, adding that a director-general had not been chosen partly because of obstruction in the national parliament.
Among 30 or so resolutions on various problems faced by European media, the EFJ also adopted one on editorial independence in Croatia. In it, the EFJ Executive Board was asked to provide continuous support to colleagues in the Croatian Journalists' Association and the Croatian Journalists' Union in their efforts to revive legal provisions on media statutes as an important prerequisite for editorial independence, which provides for the possibility of journalists expressing their views in appointing and dismissing editors-in-chief, the HND said.
