The State Committee for Prevention of Corruption (SCPC) demands a strengthening of criteria for granting subventions for printed media and in its National strategy for preventing corruption is seeing them as posing risks of corruption and clientelism. SCPC demands that the media should not be granted assets from the budget for election campaigns. This year, the government will grant the printed media subventions in the amount of 50 million denars i.e. 813.000 euros.
“The media and civic organizations are important actors in the society that have an influence on public opinion and are also beneficiaries of public assets which can generate a risk of corruption especially in a domain of insufficiently defined rules of their financing on part of the public sector” states SCPC in the first document for fighting corruption that is adopted by the Parliament, the National strategy 2020-2024. So far, SCPC’s work consisted of 4 year state programs for preventing corruption.
The strategy which focus is corruption during the process of spending public assets or misuse of position in the public sector, the financing of the media was analyzed in detail as a very significant area. The political system, the media and the civic society are analyzed as special sectors in order for the political influence, to be explained in detail as the anti-corruption officials corruption risks.
Last January, the government granted 700.000 euros to 11 printed media outlets.
