Visit By Ambassador Of U S A

U.S. AMBASSADOR TO BIH P. MOON VISITS ONASA AGENCY

SARAJEVO, 21 July (ONASA) – General Manager of the independent news agency ONASA Elvira Begovic, received today at the headquarters of the Agency in Sarajevo, the U.S. Ambassador to BiH Patrick Moon, and informed him about the Agency’s work.
General Manager Begovic pointed out that the mission of the ONASA Agency is continuous contribution to the development of true, independent and professional information in advanced, European-oriented, multicultural and multiethnic BiH.
The Ambassador, accompanied by his wife Danuta Moon and associates, visited the premises of the Agency and spoke with employees.
“I am very impressed by ONASA and quality of staff and their commitment to provide independent news, without bias or outside influence”, the U.S. Ambassador said.
Speaking about the importance of independent and transparent media, Ambassador Moon said that it is essential for good functioning democratic system.
“The United States and other members of the international community, were assisting BiH media and journalists until 2006. The U.S. was satisfied because we helped in creating a strong independent media. However, since then we are a bit disappointed that the media in this country are not as independent as they should be, that there are too many interests controlling them, whether they are business or political interests, or perhaps the authorities control the media and messages that are sent to people. Perhaps, the worst is if their opponents are prevented the access to the media. It is not in the best interests of a democratic society, so we’re really working hard to promote independent media, high standards of journalism, investigative journalism, the acquisition of skills among journalists, as well as alternative sources of news and information to the public. Indeed, we are working to improve the status of journalists and independent media in BiH”, the Ambassador said.
¸ The Ambassador pointed out that he highly appreciates the work of a large number of journalists in BiH, but he noted his concern about the fact that some media is influenced by political parties, business interests and in some cases by the authorities themselves, which then restricts public access to free information and critical assessment of the news.
“That’s what we do not want to see and we think that it is much better for the BiH citizens to have access to all sorts of positions, attitudes and opinions, and information that are accurate and not filtered by someone else,” the U.S. Ambassador said.
P. Moon took up his post as U.S. ambassador to BiH in September 2010.