Today, President of Latvia Egils Levits welcomed members of Public Digital Media Council (PDMC) Jānis Siksnis, Sanita Upleja-Jegermane and Jānis Eglītis to the Riga Castle for a conversation on current achievements and future plans of recently created institution.
According to President of Latvia, PDMC must now focus on making sure next year’s public media remit and public service broadcasting merger concept contributes to diversity on public media and consistent development of high professional standards in journalism. This is crucial for public media to be able to help Latvia grow stronger as a national and democratic state adhering to the principles of rule of law.
Jānis Siksnis, Chair of the PDMC, urged to stop underestimating the importance of professional and reliable media. Proper resources should be allocated for this purpose without hesitation. Without autonomous and predictable funding, Latvian Radio and Latvian Television will not be able to offer diverse and professional content once both broadcasters are merged, Mr Siksnis stressed.