Važnost medijskog sustava za opstojnost Hrvata u BiH
The importance of media system for the existence of Croatian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Summary/Abstract: Bosnia and Herzegovina is a multinational state in which media system has undergone fundamental changes after the breakup of Yugoslavia. The author illustrates it with the fact that before 1990 there were RTV BiH, 52 local radio stations, one daily newspaper, an evening gazette, a morning gazette and a monthly newspaper in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1998, according to research by the IMC and the Media Plan* there were 431 different media. The media system “was split along national lines” by which the Croatian people were deprived of many relevant issues. The Croatian people had neither television stations nor printed media while the situation with radio stations in the state was somewhat better (6 local radio stations). The 1990s war and national conflicts reflected in the professionalism of the media in a way that each constituent nation in BiH presented its own “truth”. The paper covers the important issues of the media system, which has also been within the scope of interest of the international community, as well as the relationships of the constituent nations and other citizens in BiH. It highlights the importance of media issue in BiH and the long-standing demand of Croats for equality in terms of language and culture, emphasizing that even national minorities have a legal right to media in their own language. The author concludes that the media system is relevant for the existence of all nations, especially the smallest ones. The author criticizes the Dayton Accords, Annex 4, the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, pursuant to which the international community has established a media system, and proposes a new solution to the mutual satisfaction of all in BiH.

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