OSCE Mission organizes study visit to Germany for Serbian media experts

BELGRADE, 27 November 2009 - The Serbian Deputy Culture Minister and six other media experts will return to Serbia tomorrow after a six-day, OSCE-supported study visit to Germany where they learned about Germany's mechanisms and practices for media self-regulation.

The study tour, organized by the OSCE Mission to Serbia in co-operation with the Deutsche Welle, also focused on the work of German journalists' associations, the Federal Press Conference institution, the Parliament, the weekly Der Spiegel and other institutions related to public information.

"Learning about the media systems of developed democracies is of the utmost importance for the improvement of media in Serbia - and above all for the establishment of efficient media regulation and self-regulation," said Dragana Nikolic Solomon, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia's Media Department.

Four of the participants in the trip are members of Serbia's recently established Press Council.

Natasa Vuckovic Lesendric, the Serbian Deputy Minister of Culture, said: "This visit provided an opportunity to benefit from German experience and also sparked discussion among us participants from Serbia. Many of them will work together in Serbia's Press Council and are engaged in how the media scene in our country should look in the future."

The OSCE Mission to Serbia supports the development of a professional media that is accountable to all citizens of Serbia.