Media Ownership

Bosnian and Herzegovinian media are mostly owned by individuals and companies that often have business interests beyond the media sector.

Data on ownership is mostly available in public registers except in cases when foreign companies register media in Bosnia and Herzegovina making it harder to confirm the true ownership. One case of efforts to hide ownership was recorded: the online portal Ekskluziva.ba completely lacks public information.

Out of the 30 companies sampled, three are registered as public broadcasters, two as joint stock companies (Glas Srpske and Open Broadcast Network), while others are registered as limited liability companies.

Most companies are registered in Bosnia and Herzegovina (83 percent) while the remaining 17 percent are registered in Serbia, Austria, Turkey and the Netherlands. Out of eight printed editions analysed for the study, five are family owned. Men dominate as owners of media while only one woman is the sole owner of the daily newspaper Dnevni avaz - Azra Radonćić.