Following the regional meetings that are being organized by the Independent Media Commission with the IMC licensees, on September 15, 2021 the IMC held a regional meeting in Mitrovica.

As in other meetings in the regions, here is discussed about the process of local elections 2021, namely the obligations of the media under Chapter VIII of the Law on Elections and bylaws of the IMC and Regulation 2013/03 on child protection and juveniles in audiovisual media services.

After the presentation of the  current legislation which regulates the functioning of the media in the Republic of Kosovo regarding the elections, there was also a presentation about the most frequent violations found by the IMC during the last elections.

The main points of the content of the presentations were focused on the IMC Election Guide, Code of Ethics, the content of commercial political communications during the election campaign, sponsorship of children's programs and product placement, protection of children and minors in general from harmful program contents, the manner of categorization of juvenile programs, acoustic signaling and warning as well as the allowed broadcast time.

The media participating in the meeting presented their problems and difficulties, especially during the pandemic period, changes and technological innovations which have put the traditional media and especially radios in an unfavorable position, reducing marketing revenues. However, it was a common conclusion that the work of local and regional media is of great interest to the citizens of the respective localities, therefore this issue continues to be the main motive in carrying out with great dedication the mission of these media.

Independent Media Commission