Concerning lack of transparency on ownership and editorial, especially radio

Finding out who owns media outlets in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not such a difficult task. Most media are owned by a company or private owner, and the chain of ownership can be traced via company registers or the websites of stock exchanges. However, some media outlets are not willing to put ownership information on their websites or mastheads, making it harder for their audiences to know who is behind them.

More than 23 per cent or almost every fourth media outlet – a total of 39 of the most popular TV and radio stations, websites or print editions – have no ownership and editorial staff details on their websites. Six others only have limited information about their editorial team or journalists.

These figures show that almost 40 per cent of all of the most prominent media in Bosnia and Herzegovina lack complete transparency about who is creating the content.

Six media outlets, 15 per cent of the most prominent media, lack any information about their owners on their websites.

Only seven of the media outlets on our list publicly state who their owner is, even if this information is available in official registries.

Media companies' financial data is available through specialist agencies on the entity levels.

For public broadcasters, this information is available in their annual reports.

But even public broadcasters don't all have ownership details on their websites. Radio-Television Republika Srpska has no such information on its website, making it harder to know who the station's director of programnes or the news editor is, although data about the general director and governing board are readily available. Radio-Television Republika Srpska's last public financial report is for 2018; a newer one could not be found.

According to the Ipsos agency, more than 50 per cent of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina listen to the radio.

Radio Stari Grad (RSG) and Radio Mix, a radio group that has one of the largest listenerships in the country, provides contact details and information about its ownership, but not about its editors. This information was provided for this research by the founder and owner of Radio Stari Grad and Radio Mix.

Kalman radio also has contact information but no ownership and editorial staff details, making it harder to find out who are the editor and presenters. Kalman radio did not answer questions about its financial data or editors.

General information about media outlets' editors can be found on the Regulatory Agency for Communications' website.

Velikaton, a radio station from Velika Kladusa, names Sead Purić as the owner of the media outlet, but does not have an editorial contact list on its website.

One of the most transparent examples is the radio station of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIR) which has the name of each newsroom staff member on its website website, accompanied by photos and biographies.

The second most popular radio station in the country, BN, along with its television channel, has contact information but lacks details about its newsroom team. Such information can be found in regulatory body documents.