RTV Theory and Practice - Special Issue

organizations which ensue whenever a question crops up related to public information ог there is a problem in the fimctioning of a programme of particular political import. Although informal, individual contacts between radio and television editors and officials with officials in the founding institution ог socio-political organizations аге also highly effective. At the beginning of the seventies, in keeping with the general course towards intensive democratization of management in all walks of social life, two tasks were set before the public media: firstly, to allow all strata of society to take Part in shaping programme policy and, secondly, to ensure the broadest pubhc considerably greater insight into their work than previously. The first step in carrying out these tasks was the estabHshment of programme councils, a тајогку 1 ) of whose members аге representatives of institutions and organizations with a special interest in the work of radio and television stations. Along with participating in the molding of programme роИсу, these councils aiso continuously follow and evaluate its realization. While initially only one council for radio and one for television were set up in each station, the positive experience gained in their flrst few years of operation have led to a trend to introduce them at lower levels as well (for individual programmes), so that today separate programme councils аге even being set up for particular television series. The second step was the decision to make pubhc each autumn the draft plans of аИ RTV programmes for the coming уеаг, and organizing pubHc discussions of them. At first these documents were fonvarded to repubhcan-level fora and socio-poUtical organizations which, having sounded out the views of socio-poUtical organizations at the regional and commune-levels, gave their opinion on the drafts. A crucial change’ was made when, at the initiative and with the organizational help of the SociaUst АШапсе 2 ), the draft annual and medium-term plans began to be pubUshed in some of the biggest daily newspapers m order to sound out views and gather proposals even at the level of the local community (a city suburb or a vfflage) or work organization. An

1) А certain number of people engaged in preparing and transmitting programmes аге also delegated to these councils.

2) As a unified political front of a number of social organizations in the republic.

125