|
 Feral Tribune, the Croatian paper with the greatest number of awards, has not appeared this week, and the question of when and whether it will return to the news stands is still open.
The fact that Feral is absent from the news stands after the 14 years of regular appearance is a result of the problems that have been facing the editorial board for quite some time and that can no longer be surmounted despite enormous self-sacrifice. The recent decision of the government to block Feral’s bank account to collect the VAT debt of half a million kunas (€68k) had a destructive effect on the financial standing of the company, so the journalists have not received their salaries for months. On top of that, another such move has been announced to collect the remaining million kunas owed for VAT (€136k). The fact is that in the past the Croatian government wrote off VAT debts to several state-owned media companies (such as Vijesnik, HRT and, since recently, Slobodna Dalmacija), creating an unfair market competition. We have already pointed to the fact that the draconian VAT on newspapers – definitely the highest in the world – can only lead to the collapse of small and independent publishers. The current swift measures that will halve the percentage of VAT clearly show that this problem exists and it seems that it will be solved thanks to Feral’s appeal but delivering a heavy blow to Feral itself. We have also pointed to the merciless corporate dictate that rules the market, creating the situation in which the Feral Tribune, adhering to its principled editorial policy, is completely deprived of revenues from advertising, regardless of its respectable circulation. Large advertisers, obviously in accord with the ruling political structures, divide the media into the proper and the improper, turning Croatian journalism into a service of their companies. This situation cannot continue any longer.  The journalistic profession in Croatia, governed by profit hungry media corporations, has yielded to this type of obedience without resistance, at the expense of freedom to be informed and the interests of Croatian citizens. 
The journalistic profession in Croatia, governed by profit hungry media corporations, has yielded to this type of obedience without resistance, at the expense of freedom to be informed and the interests of Croatian citizens. The truth-seeking media such as Feral are systematically ignored; they are deprived of a substantial part of their revenues in a planned manner and left heading to financial disaster. What is at work here is corruption and racketeering of massive proportions which the joint interests of economic, political and media profit-seekers turned into a system. Therefore, to call the current state of affairs the “market conditions” would be an insult to the common sense. The court rulings upholding enormous damage claims for what is referred to as a “psychological pain” have become more numerous recently, so not a day can pass without Feral receiving a ruling to pay out several tens of thousands of kunas. In this way, the Croatian judicial system, subject to political dictate and interests, contributes to the stifling of public speech, such as we saw during the worst period of Tudjmanism. Feral Tribune has received more international professional awards than all other Croatian media altogether. It has adhered to the professional and moral standards still unattained in this country. It raised the most dramatic issues which other papers dared confront only years later. The current attack on Feral signals the expulsion of criticism from the media scene. Feral’s disappearance from the news stands will be, whether one likes it or not, a symptom of the future in which journalism will be accorded the miserable role of servitude. The editorial board would like to express its gratitude to our loyal readers who supported us through the hardest times. They and the voices of support coming from one part of the Croatian democratic encourage the journalists of this paper to do their best to revive Feral as soon as possible.
Trackback(0)
 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Hmmm?
Feral failed because of bad sales. If it actually sold, then it could pay taxes. Other Croatian magazines do so.
It was never that popular, because its journalism was actually rather poor. ?shit of the week? and so on. Many of of its western admirers had not in fact read it.
It?s not comparable to state media, which are government owned. Feral is not state owned, nor should it be.
Feral is private sector. If they don?t have to pay tax, then nor should any other private media, or indeed anyone else.
Feral would have much to say if others were requesting a similar tax dodge.
Feral are basically trying to dodge their taxes, cheating Croat citizens of the money they are owed.