1. Case-study No. & Title:
176. Establishing TV programs in the Romany language, Nis, Republic of Serbia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

w	Providing the local Roma community with space and equipment for creating TV programs in the Romany language
w	Participation of Roma people themselves in the creation of such programs (establishing Romany TV crews)

Keywords:

w	Participation
w	Social development
w	Education
w	Communication
w	Info dissemination
w	Co-existence
w	Co-operation
w	Partnership
w	Interethnic relations

2. Author information
2.1 Author’s Name:
Marijana Filipovic

2.2 Institutional Affiliation and Contact:
Belgrade Centre for Women Studies
Srpskih vladara 34/1
11000 Belgrade
Yugoslavia

Contact: Tel: +381 18 338 974 (private)
E-mail: marijanaf@bankerinter.net

2.3 Date recorded:
30 October 2000

3. Good Practice Information Sheet
3.1 Local Level Good Practice:
The project has two main goals:

w	Providing the local Roma community with space and equipment for creating TV programs in the Romany language
w	Participation of Roma people themselves in the creation of such programs (establishing Romany TV crews)

In the course of discussions between members of the Roma community, their representatives (the Romany NGO Society for Culture and Education of Roma ‘FROLI’) and the local authorities, agreement was reached to implement a project that would incorporate the following five aspects:

a) Support for finding premises and equipment
After the initial meetings between the local authority and local Romany NGO, the local government decided to allocate time to a TV program in the Romany language on the local NTV TV station. This TV station is owned by the town, that is, the local government and should provide a service to all Nis citizens. An hour every other Sunday morning was allocated to the Roma minority for the broadcasting of a program in the Romany language.

b) Establishing a TV crew called ‘FROLI’
The Romany NGO ‘FROLI’ began to bring together interested and more or less educated Romany people to make up the TV crew. They established a TV crew known by the name ‘FROLI’ (‘Golden money’). This consisted of an editor (Mr Zivota Sabanovic), three cameramen, a journalist, and three technical staff members.

c) Training of the ‘FROLI’ TV crew
Tuition was intended to be conducted simultaneously with the production of the first TV shows. However, this did not come to pass because of the existence of the opposition towards the project within the TV station NTV itself. Majority TV crews, consisting mainly of the members of the Serbian majority, which were supposed to co-operate and in a way teach the ‘FROLI’ TV crew constantly sabotaged the project. Although a journalist was assigned to the ‘FROLI’ TV crew to help them, members of the crew had the impression that the journalist was there more to control them than to help them.

d) Production of the TV programs
Due to the above-mentioned facts, the first Romany-language TV programs were made before any training of the Romany crew had taken place. This is the reason why the first TV shows were of a bad quality. Over time, however, the ‘FROLI’ TV crew gained experience and the TV shows were accordingly much better.

e) Re-training of ‘FROLI’ Romany TV crew
In spite of the opposition towards the project, the NGO ‘FROLI’ decided to opt for professional tuition for the TV crew. In co-operation with the ‘Open Club’ (local branch office of the Yugoslav Fund for an Open Society), it was agreed that this phase of the project would start in November 2000. Education and training of the members of the crew would take place in the ‘School for Video and TV Production’.

3.2 Location:
The project takes place in Nis, in the Republic of Serbia (the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). Nis is the second largest city in Republic of Serbia and it has approximately 300,000 inhabitants. There are approximately 30,000 Romany people in Nis, which is 10 per cent of the whole population. They inhabit special districts in the town, such as: ‘Beograd mala’, ‘Stocna pijaca’, and ‘Jevrejska groblja’. However, the channel of the local NTV station, on which the Romany-language program is being broadcast, can be seen not only in the town of Nis, but also in surrounding towns, such as: Pirot, Prokuplje, Krusevac, and Kursumlija. In practice, this means that approximately 100,000 Romany people have the opportunity to see the Romany-language TV program. All these individuals stand to benefit from the realisation of the project, although the precise target group consists of the members of the ‘FROLI’ TV crew.

3.3 Minority/Target Groups:
Minority: Roma
Target group: The 10 members of the Romany TV crew ‘FROLI’ in the NTV TV station in Nis and the Romany audience.

3.4 Major Actors Involved:

w	Local Government
w	Local NGO
w	Media
w	Educational institution

3.5 Budget allocated by local government authorities and/or by other actors:

Premises and equipment:	Local government Local NTV TV station
Establishing the TV crew:	NGO ‘FROLI’
Program production:	NGO ‘FROLI’ Local NTV TV station
Re-training of the Romany TV crew:	‘Open Club’ (local branch office of the Yugoslav Fund for an Open Society) NGO ‘FROLI’ School for video and TV production Belgrade (Nis office)

3.6 Timeframe:
The initiative was first proposed in April 1997 and launched the same month. It was first put into practice in May 1997 (with the first Romany-language TV program being broadcast on 5^th May) and the initiative is expected to continue until the end of 2001. At that point, the ‘FROLI’ TV crew is expected to make independent provision for equipment and studio facilities.

3.7 Local level good practice relation to national level ethnic policy:
The project ‘Founding and realising TV show in the Romany language’ is not the result of the application of national level legislation. Namely, the Roma minority in Republic of Serbia is not recognised as national minority, but (only) as an ethnic minority group. One of the most important consequences of such a situation is the fact that the state does not have any obligations towards the Roma minority in terms of providing financial support, organizing, and establishing media or TV/radio programs in the minority language. The project is solely the result of the cooperation between local Romany NGO ‘FROLI’, local authorities, NGO ‘Open Club’, and the School for Video and TV Production.

However, the opposition to the project came neither from national and republic representatives and departments nor from political parties, but from representatives of local authorities (the director of the information system INFO Nis) and majority TV crews from the local NTV TV station, who had to allocate time in their schedule for the broadcasting of the Romany-language TV programs.

4. Good Practice Description
Participating organisations:

w	Local authorities in Nis
w	Local NGO ‘FROLI’ Nis
w	Local NGO ‘Open club’ (Nis branch of Open Society Fund for Yugoslavia)
w	School for Video and TV Production, Belgrade (Nis office)

Reasons for conducting the project:
From 1996, when the oppositional parties who had united in the coalition ‘Zajedno’ took over power in the local parliament, the situation of the local Roma community was one of the most urgent problems that needed to be addressed. Arguing that is not enough to give a Roma bread and place to stay and thus fulfil all his/her needs, the Romany NGO Society for Culture and Education of Roma ‘FROLI’ identified the need among local members of Roma community for information, entertainment, and education in their own language.
Since neither Republic of Serbia nor the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have any legal obligation to provide the Roma with these services, the NGO ‘FROLI’ decided to start solving this problem on its own. People from the NGO ‘FROLI’ saw television or/and radio as the best ways of reaching all the members of the local Roma community. This is because the majority of Roma in Nis are illiterate and accordingly would not be able to read newspapers or magazines even in the Romany language. Moreover, most of them either do not have money for buying newspapers and magazines or do not do so on a regular basis. Open round tables, debates and other kinds of meetings where the Roma could receive information and education turned out to be unsuccessful. Such activities required Roma individuals to take part in an active, direct, ‘face-to-face’ way, to dedicate time for to attend such meetings, and to appear in public in a way that was not attractive to ordinary Roma. Finally, round table meetings and debates can be attended only by a small number of people. On the other hand, watching television or listening to the radio is usually something that is going on in the ‘private’ sphere of life where people feel more secure and feel free to watch and say whatever they want. Moreover, watching TV and listening to the radio do not necessarily involve one’s full attention – one can do a number of different activities and follow TV or radio shows simultaneously. Finally, television and radio can reach the biggest number of people at the same time.

Last but not least, an important reason for opting to organize TV or radio programs in the Romany language is the need to preserve Roma traditions and culture which are not present in the majority media. As Mr Zivota Sabanovic (editor of the Romany-language TV show) said, in the Romany language only 40 per cent of all words are actually Romany, while 60 per cent are Serbian. Thus there is a real possibility that the Romany language may disappear. One of the most important arguments for the Romany-language TV programs is thus the preservation of the language.

Involvement of the local authorities:
The NGO ‘FROLI’ did not have the necessary studio space and equipment for starting a Romany-language TV program, and suggested that space might be made available for the Romany TV crew in the local NTV TV station (Television of Nis). This TV station is a part of the town’s information system (INFO Nis) which is owned by the local government. The NGO ‘FROLI’ thus appealed for help to the local authorities. In 1997, there was no particular department of the local government that would deal with the problems of the Roma community. Thus, after initial discussions between the representatives of the NGO ‘FROLI’ and the highest representatives of the local authorities (the mayor, Mr Zoran Zivkovic and his deputy, Mr Branislav Jovanovic), the problem was assigned to NTV’s editor in chief, professor Djokica Jovanovic and the director of the information system INFO Nis, Mr Slavisa Popovic.
The Mayor and his deputy agreed with the representatives of ‘FROLI’ upon the ways in which they would co-operate. Namely, the local authorities decided to consign an hour every other week from the local NTV station to the broadcasting of the Romany-language program that a Roma team would prepare. They also promised help in relation to equipment. Since both the local government and the NTV station were suffering serious financial problems, they could not provide NGO ‘FROLI’ with financial help for purchasing of the equipment needed for the realisation of the TV show. However, they allowed them to use the equipment of the NTV station.

Representatives of the NGO ‘FROLI’ and the director of INFO Nis and the editor-in-chief of the NTV station agreed upon more concrete terms of co-operation, such as the time-slot for the broadcast, the preparation time involved, the usage of equipment, and so on.
These meetings with the local authorities resulted in the following agreement:

w	The NGO ‘FROLI’ was allocated space and time for preparing and broadcasting their Romany-language program. They could use the offices and the equipment of the NTV TV station four hours per week. The agreed time for the broadcasting the the program was every other Sunday from 11am until noon.
w	A journalist from the NTV station was assigned the task of helping the ‘FROLI’ TV crew create the program.
w	The director of INFO Nis promised the journalists and other staff of the future Romany TV crew some tuition. This was supposed to be conducted simultaneously with the creation of the programs (no pre-tuition was planned).

The main aspects of the project to establish TV programs in the Romany language:
Due to the opposition towards the project that came from the NTV station (after professor Djokica Jovanovic and his associates resigned because of increasing influence of the political authorities on the TV station’s editorial policy), a number of changes have been made to the original plans for the implementation of the project. However, the most important aspects remain the same:

w	The broadest implication of the initiative is that it makes it possible for Romany people to receive information, education, and entertainment in their own language and to have themselves the power to determine how they are portrayed. For the NGO ‘FROLI’ this is the project’s most important aspect. According to them, the lack of the Romany-language content prepared by members of the Romany community (‘Roma for Roma’, as Mr Sabanovic said) provoked a situation of huge political abstinence among Roma people and contributed to the growing oblivion of Romany culture and tradition. As Mr Zivota Sabanovic noted, the Romany language is in very critical condition because the forces of cultural and language assimilation are very strong. The language has lost a number of Romany words and in their place contemporary Roma people use Serbian words, which now account for 60 per cent of Roma peoples’ vocabulary. The existence of a TV program in the Romany language would at least be a step in the right direction in terms of the preservation of culture, language, tradition, and habits.
w	Linked to the above is the question of the enlargement of the political and social participation of Roma people in the life of the community. Accurate information presented in the mother tongue provides Roma with an opportunity to be informed about and to understand political and social movements and events, and thus with a an option to act upon this knowledge.
w	Forming the Romany TV crew represented the first practical aspect of the project. The crew consists of an editor, a journalist (who is also acting as presenter), three cameramen, and three technical staff members. None of these people have relevant education and practical training for doing the job. They are all enthusiasts, who are working on a voluntary basis. The crew were given the name ‘FROLI’, meaning ‘Golden money’.
w	The co-operation between minority and majority TV crews is a more concrete aspect of the project. This is a unique example of interethnic co-operation, or at least of attempted co-operation (because the majority TV crews showed strong opposition towards the project).
w	Tuition of the Romany TV crew has yet to take place. The tuition was supposed to be conducted simultaneously with the production of the program, as agreed with the local authorities. However, this did not take place. Realizing the importance of having well- trained staff, the NGO ‘FROLI’ started negotiations with the NGO ‘Open Club’ in order to obtain training for journalists and other members of the staff. This aspect of the project was due to start in November 2000 and finish in the first half of 2001. Education and training of the crew was to take place in the School for Video and TV Production, under the supervision of professor Slobodan Jovanovic.
w	Finally, the actual production of the Romany-language TV programs is the aspect that deserves most attention. The TV show is called ‘Akajarat Siromani’ (‘This night is the Romas’ night’) and it is broadcast every other week. This show is a mixture of information, music, and interviews with famous Roma (such as musicians, sportsmen, intellectuals, and so on) but its component parts are not regular. The content is created ad hoc and it often depends on social and political events. Thus, for example, in the run-up to and during the election period almost the whole program was dedicated to providing the viewers with a political education and accordingly the program featured almost exclusively political topics. However, usually it gives information on topics of everyday importance for Roma people, including activities by Romany NGOs (and any other initiatives aimed at improving the life of the Roma), and entertainment content (for example broadcasting cartoons with translation into the Romany language). Although it initially was supposed to provide some cultural content, this is very rare. When such content does occur, it is usually to do with the history of Roma. The program also, from time to time, has a part called ‘Mixed marriage’. This part deals with problems and benefits of mixed marriages between a Serb and Roma, a Catholic Roma and an Orthodox Roma, and so on. The program is presented in the Romany language, except when a guest does not speak Romany. There is no translation into Serbian or any other language. The reason for this is to be found in the fact that TV crew does not have the special equipment necessary to provide subtitles. At the time of writing, 65 programs had been broadcast. The programs were not broadcast during the air-campaign on Yugoslavia in 1999 and for three months after that. Ideas for future programs included ‘A Romany dictionary, ‘Our kitchen’, and ‘We went there because of you’.

The financial support for the project:
Means for realising this project, both material or financial, had to be found from different sources: the government of Nis, the local NTV TV station, the local Romany NGO ‘FROLI’, the NGO ‘Open Club’, as well as the School for Video and TV Production. As mentioned above, the local government and TV station provided premises and equipment, while the NGO ‘FROLI’ provided staff and later on more equipment (mostly cameras and microphones). Finally, the NGO ‘Open Club’ and the School for Video and TV Production assumed responsibility for the re-tuition of the TV crew.

Reaction of the local Roma community to the project:
Nobody has so far seriously investigated the attitudes that the members of the local Roma community have towards the project. However, according to the representatives of the local NGOs, the majority of people are quite satisfied with the project in general and the show in particular. Nevertheless, they are not satisfied with the time-slot allocated to the broadcast. This is because the majority of Roma people work in the ‘grey economy’ and they usually sell their goods on Sunday morning when everybody else is free to come and do the shopping. This means that they usually do not have time to watch the show, simply because they are working.

It would also be interesting to investigate the attitudes of the Serbian majority towards the project. In the course of informal, everyday communications a number of people have indicated that they would like to have the program translated, some like to watch the program because they like the music, while some think that it is scandalous that a Romany TV program should exist at all. However, as with the attitudes of the members of the Roma minority, no proper research has been done and without that, no serious conclusions can be drawn.

Problems that occurred during the project:
The most significant problems that have emerged in the course of conducting the project are:

(Lack of) Co-operation from the director of the Information system INFO Nis, Mr Slavisa Popovic and the people who work in the TV station NTV. The latter demonstrated their attitude with a ‘silent’ refusal to help.

Difficulties in obtaining the necessary equipment and studio premises to continue the initiative after the end of the project period. The TV crew ‘FROLI’ was offered offices but refused these mostly because they were contingent upon joining some political party. The funds for the equipment that has been bought so far has come from the personal resources of the members of the TV crew and the NGO ‘FROLI’.

Opposition against the project:
Opposition against the project is present at all three levels of co-operation between local authorities (the mayor and his deputy, the director of the information system INFO Nis, and employees of the TV station NTV) and the Romany TV crew ‘FROLI’. Over and above allocating studio premises and a broadcasting slot for the Romany-language TV program the mayor and his deputy also promised help with translating the programs and training for the crew. However, these remained in the sphere of promises mostly because of the opposition that came from the director of INFO Nis and the employees of NTV. When the ‘FROLI’ TV crew wanted to see and discuss with the mayor difficulties they were encountering he was always out of town and totally unreachable. Nobody openly ever said ‘No’ to them, but certain promises were simply forgotten. On the other hand, the director of INFO Nis did not openly refuse to co-operate with ‘FROLI’ TV crew, but his co-operation was somewhat contingent: the director said he would help the crew if the crew bought or procured equipment that could be used for the general work of the NTV TV station. Finally, employees of NTV silently refused to co-operate and sabotaged the project. The sabotaging usually meant losing videotapes containing the Romany TV program, forgetting to broadcast the show, and so on.

The reasons for such behaviour can be found in the stereotypes and prejudice that follow Roma people everywhere. The situation would not be so negative if the state had some legal obligations towards Roma minority. Then, members of Roma minority would have a chance to legally fight for their rights and against discrimination. In the situation described above, they unfortunately depend on goodwill of people with power and cannot claim their rights. It is obvious that good intentions are not enough they are a step in the right direction.