Price of a free press

Date: 15/01/1998

By Mark Turner reviews the saga of the Union's Med Media programme, which has infuriated journalists and organisations throughout the Mediterranean region IF YOU mention the European Union to a North African journalist, don't be surprised if you encounter a torrent of invective.

For over the next few weeks it will become increasingly clear that a brave new style of EU support to the Mediterranean media has been permanently harmed.

"Our efforts are heavily damaged now, and it will cost a lot of work to rebuild the broad network we could establish between European and media professionals," says Robert Krieg from World TV, just one of the tens of professionals the Union has left high and dry.

The culprit at the centre of the storm is known as Med Media, an EU programme designed in the early 1990s to support the free press in the Mediterranean at a time when much of the region was descending into violence.

At the time, the programme was a true public relations coup for Europe, proving a shining example in an area where even the simplest cooperation takes on enormous significance.

"The 70 partnerships Med Media co-financed during a two-year period created a vital light in an ambience of total darkness," wrote programme pioneer Trevor Mostyn in a recent article. "Recent events show how desperately needed that light is today."

In 1998, however, Med Media has become synonymous with European Commission delays, broken promises and squandered opportunities. So how has such a valuable tool during such a crucial period been thrown away? In brief, the story goes as follows.

In 1992, Mediterranean Affairs Commissioner Abel Matutes, acting under orders from national governments, instigated an innovative new programme of decentralised cooperation for Mediterranean cities, universities, media and small enterprises.

The idea was that by directly financing grass-roots actors, the people of the region would feel more closely involved in development projects and inject a hitherto missing element of dynamism into EU-Mediterranean relations.

The Commission, however, lacked the staff to coordinate the project by itself. It therefore contracted a new Agency for Trans-Mediterranean Networks to oversee the Med programme, with four technical assistance bureaux to deal with each specific sector.

At first, everything appeared to go much as intended. Journalists queued up to become involved and many regional firsts were achieved.

"A media club was created that spread from Sweden to Egypt, and from Morocco to Turkey," says Mostyn. "Leaning on the expertise of organisations ranging from the BBC to Deutsche Welle, Med Media gave its stamp of media professionalism and even offered some security to media professionals in distress."

One of the programme's most celebrated successes was the creation of an independent Palestinian radio station, under the tutelage of Robert Krieg.

The Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation (PBC), set up in 1993 with what Krieg describes as "the decisively important assistance of European countries", provided a crucial alternative voice to an increasingly autocratic Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

It rapidly became a focal point in the struggle between independent journalists and PNA henchmen, particularly during PBC coverage of the summer 1994 bombing of a Tel Aviv bus, and the firefight between Hamas and Palestinian policemen in November of that year.

Despite numerous take-over attempts, the PBC was never reduced by the PNA to being just another mouthpiece while under EU funding - "a fate which is customary for Arabic radio stations", says Krieg.

Similarly, television co-productions such as Michel Khieifi's Legend of the Three Lost Jewels showed scores of ordinary Palestinians on the set an attractive alternative to fighting, and co-productions in Algeria gave hope "to those on all sides who prayed for freedom, albeit operating under increasingly difficult circumstances," according to Mostyn.

Med Media also supported the now crucial media networks Renfoc and Jemstone, which united professionals from throughout the Maghreb and Mashraq in an unprecedented way and attracted widespread commendations from international players.

EU envoy to the Middle East Miguel Moratinos wrote in Jemstone's annual report last year that "in a region where words remain of paramount importance the media are more than ever a vital instrument for peace".

In October 1995, however, all of this was frozen.

The Court of Auditors had told the Commission that it suspected severe problems with the management of the Med decentralised programmes, and worrying confusions of interests between the umbrella agency and the assistance bureaux.

The new Mediterranean Commissioner Manuel Marín, keen to extricate himself from any scandal bequeathed by his predecessor, called an immediate halt to all the programmes.

In early 1996, the Commission told organisers that they would probably only have to wait around six months for the money to be disbursed.

The UK-based Caxton Partnership, for example, which had hoped to run a small film project encouraging literacy and female education in the Mashraq, was informed by Eberhard Rhein that "your project has been selected to receive European Commission financing". He added that "the implementation of this project will take place during 1996 after we have completed a review on the form of management. My colleagues will be in touch with your network to keep you informed."

In May 1996, the Court confirmed its suspicions in a report which claimed that "at all levels of the financial management of the Med programmes there are serious shortcomings and irregularities".

The behaviour of one bureau in particular - Italian Ismeri Europe - was brought into question. But, notably, there were no criticisms of the UK-based Television Trust for the Environment (TVE), which was running the Med Media programme.

The next that the operators heard of the matter was on 20 September 1996, when Med unit head Marc Pierini explained that "last July the Commission adopted the new management system for the Med programmes. It is reasonable to expect that the effective relaunching of these programmes will take place at the beginning of 1997." Although this did not happen, the Commission did not send any more letters.

In middle of last year, the European Parliament agreed that three of the Med programmes (including Media) could be restarted once the Commission had proved that new effective systems were in place. But it added that only training and information exchange schemes could be funded in future, and that no documentaries or films would be shot with Med Media money.

"The Commission was doing so many things it was doing them badly," budget committee rapporteur Juan Manuel Fabra Valles told European Voice. "For our opinion to change, there would have to be another Court of Auditors' report."

But there was almost no consultation with Media project workers before the Parliament decision, and next to no information on what it meant afterwards. In the meantime, networks were falling apart, joint project financiers disappearing and countless operators were suffering vast personal inconvenience as they struggled to keep their projects alive.

Last autumn, Tudor Lomas from Jemstone decided that things had gone far enough and approached European Voice. His entire network was on the brink of collapse, threatening to drag many influential journalists along with it. But on the day before European Voice published his warnings, the Commission suddenly found funds to support Jemstone and Renfoc, giving the impression that Med Media was back on track.

But it appears that other coordinators were kept almost entirely in the dark, so much so that many are still hoping for projects (including films or documentaries) to be relaunched this month.

Celebrated film-maker Jean Chamoun, who had been selected to shoot a film describing childhood in war-torn Lebanon, complained: "I have been waiting for a year and a half at least. We had already started pre-production in the hope that we would have the rest of the money. I am very frustrated." His partners in Channel Four, France TV and elsewhere were all on similar tenterhooks.

As 1998 dawns, however, it seems likely that Chamoun and others will have to wait a lot longer. Marín will this month try to convince MEPs to unfreeze the Media training projects, but his aides warn that there is a long way to go before any money actually changes hands.

And even if Med Media does restart soon, much of the damage has already been done. "The potential loss of good will to the EU is incredible," warns TVE's Jenny Richards. "If you raise people's expectations and then take their hopes away, it is worse than them having nothing at all."

Major feature on controversy concerning the EU's MED MEDIA programme.