BOSNIA / Possible closure of BHRT

For several years Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Public Radio and Television (BHRT) has been experiencing serious financial difficulties. Now it looks as though the country’s only national public channel could soon close.

For over a year the situation has been dramatically worsening. BHRT initiated a new method of financing, based on a tax paid by every household with a television. But this inadequate funding system imposes severe limits on the Bosnian media.

By April, the channel’s situation was critical: income was halved and its debt to the state electricity company was 1.3 million Bosnian marks – nearly €665,000.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on the Bosnian authorities, as well as several MEPs, to find a lasting solution to save BHRT since its closure would have serious consequences for the channel’s staff. But according to Virginie Dangles, RSF’s editor-in-chief, its disappearance “would also undermine media pluralism and deprive the population of a crucial source of public information.”

Sources: coe.int, bhinfo.fr, publicnow.com