Media situation in Serbia

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) and Local Press demand that the Ministry of Culture inform the public about expenditure of the money allocated to the media by relevant committees after a public contest organized by the Ministry. The public contest was organized on 1 November of the last year, while the deadline for submission of project proposals was 1 December 2012. The committees completed their work around two months ago. To this day, the media has not been informed about the outcome of the contest, and no contracts have been signed with the media outlets whose projects have been approved.
(UNS, NUNS, 04.05.2012)

Legal representatives of B92 and the editorial team of the programme "The Insider" submitted a request in a court of law that the company of Dragan J. Vucicevic be forbidden from publishing their daily newspaper under the title of "Insider". The legal team of B92 intends to initiate all legally available mechanisms in order to prevent the theft of the "Insider" brand. Despite the fact that B92 protected the "Insider" name and brand already in 2004, Dragan J. Vucicevic has for several weeks been announcing the launch of a daily newspaper under the same name. In this way, Vucicevic is trying to deceive the public by associating the daily newspaper with the television programme "The Insider", which has been aired on TV B92 since 2004. B92 reminds that as a journalist working for Nacional, Kurir and later Press, Vucicevic has publicly opposed almost every issue discussed by "The Insider". Vucicevic was the deputy editor of Nacional, which was closed down during the operation "Sablja", launched after the assassination of the Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic. According to analyses conducted by the Ebart media documentation, the newspaper had been behind a campaign targeting the prime minister of Serbia.
(B92 online, NUNS, UNS, 04.05.2012)

The Commercial Court has adopted a temporary measure forbidding Dragan J. Vucicevic to publish newspaper under any name containing the word "insider". The "Insider" brand has been protected by TV B92 since 2004. "This temporary measure protects B92 in a manner that is guaranteed to every owner of a brand in Serbia. B92 sought such protection in its own interest, but also in the interest of the public, which has the right not to be deceived with regard to source and origin of information". This is not the first time that Vucicevic tried to abuse someone's name. In 2005, when he parted ways with the owner of the Kurir daily newspaper, Radisav Rodic, Vucicevic and two editors of Kurir managed to publish one issue of a newspaper entitled Novi Kurir. The following issue was published under the name Press only after Rodic's legal team succeeded in achieving a temporary ban on usage of the trade mark.
(B92, 08.05.2012)

The commissioner for information of public importance and protection of personal data, Rodoljub Sabic, congratulated yesterday the World Press Freedom Day, May 3, to all journalists in Serbia. In his letter addressed to the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) ad the Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina (NDNV), Sabic confirmed his commitment and obligation to assist them in realizing their important social role.
(Pregled, NUNS, Dnevnik, 04.05.2012)

The 31st Monitoring Report for March 2012 has been published on the web site of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) www.anem.org.rs. The results show that organization of elections has resulted in increased pressure on the media, which is evident from several described cases in the section of the Report dedicated to freedom of expression. In this period, no laws of significance to the media were adopted. Activities of authorities in this period were also monitored. In this section of the Report, the authors also discuss the activities of the Press Council; the report made by the commissioner for information of public importance and protection of personal data on implementation of these two laws; the decisions made by collective organizations OFPS and PI regarding the fees collected from certain categories of users of the protected works; the activities of the Ministry of Culture, Media and Information Society with regard to implementation of the Media Strategy and the decision of the Government to approve the non-interest loan to the news agency Tanjug for reporting on election campaign and the election day.
(MC, 04.05.2012, Danas, 07.05.2012)

Assessments of the current media situation in Serbia

The president of the trade union "Nezavisnost", Branislav Canak says: "I think that our media is not up to the task and the level of crisis of Serbia, not because of their own fault, but because of the efforts of those who have been trying, unfortunately with success, to exert control over the media. This situation has been ongoing since 1991 and intensified in 2000. I have spent my entire career in journalism. I am certain that more than a half of what I wrote during socialism would not be published today. The loss of values is the worst thing that can happen to journalists."
(Novi put, UNS, NUNS, 26.04.2012)

Censorship and harassment of editors, authors, journalists or bloggers is unacceptable, as well as any violence against them and arrests initiated by the government, said Catherine Ashton, the high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy, on the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day. She added that the EU praised the courageous work of journalists, who provide independent information, often in alarmingly bad conditions.
(Politika, 04.05.2012)

For the first time in the last eight years, the freedom of the media in the world has not decreased, while Serbia is characterized as a "partially free" country by the Freedom House in its annual report. The report, encompassing 197 countries, classifies 66 countries as "free", 72 countries as "partially free", and 59 of them as "unfree". Serbia is among the partially free countries and has the rating of 35, the same as East Timor and Montenegro, and is rated between positions 75 and 77 on the list.
(Tanjug, Politika, Vecernje Novosti, UNS, 02.05.2012, Alo!, 04.05.2012)

“The struggle for press freedom is a continuing endeavour,” Oliver Vujovic, secretary general of SEEMO declared today in recognition of this year’s World Press Freedom Day. Politicians in the region monitored by SEEMO - Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, The Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, the Republic of Macedonia / FYROM, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine – claim to respect press freedom and yet journalists are detained, and physically and verbally attacked, media property is destroyed, pressure on journalists continues and self-censorship appears to be the norm. In 2011, SEEMO registered 684 press freedom violations. The organisation noted that a number of journalists’ murders in the region – some more than 10 years old – remain unsolved. Political pressure is exerted through different methods: from public condemnation to discrete bribe offers. Business pressure comes as a direct threat or through indirect methods like the withdrawal of advertising. Economic crises and decreased profits have resulted in a deteriorating terms of employment for many reporters, obliging them to work for meagre salaries and often without any stable employment contracts.
(SEEMO, 03.05.2012)

On the occasion of 3 May, the World Press Freedom Day, the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) and the Media Trade Union "Independence" call on the authorities and state institutions to ensure that journalists and other media professionals enjoy conditions for unhindered work, without any pressure or censorship. NUNS and the trade union "Independence" point out that freedom of the media in Serbia requires solving of the murders of journalists, protection of professional, labour and economic rights of journalists, support to investigative journalism and creation of conditions for equal competition in the media market. NUNS and "Independence" demand that the Government of Serbia, in cooperation with media and journalistic associations, begin implementation of the Strategy of Development of the Public Information System in the Republic of Serbia Until 2016.
(MC, NUNS, Media Trade Union "Independence", NDNV, 02.05.2012)

On the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day, the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) reminds the public about the disgraceful episode in the rule of the coalition that passed the anticonstitutional and anti-European Law on Information, without any consultations with professionals and without any public debate, using a shortened procedure in the summer of 2009. UNS led the successful battle against the draconian law. At the initiative of UNS, the Constitutional Court repealed the law in 2010. "We should not forget that adoption of this law was only the first in a series of attacks on the freedom of the press in our country, because of which today's Serbia has not free and independent media", says the press statement issued by UNS.
(UNS, 03.05.2012)

Although the American organization Freedom House characterizes Serbia as a partially free country in the media sphere, journalistic associations point out on the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day that it is difficult to discuss freedom of expression when journalists' wages are often below the poverty level. We are witnessing retrograde processes, says the president of the Executive Board of the Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina (NDNV), Nedim Sejdinovic. He points out the alarming research conducted by the Anti-Corruption Council, whose main finding was that many media outlets and some journalists are actually links in the chain of corruption. Media expert Zuzana Serences says that the election campaign has completely laid bare the fact that there are too many sycophantic media outlets in Serbia. "I am even under impression that media reports on elections are so distorted that they cannot be described as journalism. This is even worse than the most boring political party bulletins", claims Serences.
(Deutsche Welle, NDNV, 03.05.2012)

Media freedom in Serbia is far from ideal, but is greater than it had been during the darkest hour of Serbian journalism, during the nineties of the last century, reports Press. There are no more direct political blackmails, physical threats and assassinations, and the pressure is mostly of economic nature. One of the most renowned theorists of journalism, Professor Neda Todorovic, says that political and economic pressure is an integral part of the global media scene, and that limited truth is a product of journalism everywhere, including Serbia. "However, as a professor of journalism, I find it encouraging that circulation of serious newspapers began increasing in European countries", says Todorovic. On the other hand, the president of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), Ljiljana Smajlovic, says: "Journalists and editors in major media outlets are accountable to marketing managers and public relations experts". Professor at the Faculty of Political Science, Zoran Stoiljkovic, claims: "Serbian media scene is in a difficult economic position, which is taken advantage of by advertisers, who use indirect blackmails to dictate the editorial policy. The director of the marketing agency Pragma, Cvijetin Milivojevic, considers that economic pressure on the media dominates the scene today. The president of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), Vukasin Obradovic, is of the opinion that Serbian and international media outlets are burdened with financial dependence: the media is free as much as they are economically independent.
(Press, NUNS, Danas, 04.05.2012)

Dinko Gruhonjic's article says: "Unfortunately, nothing significant happened in the media scene between the last year's and this year's May 3: we are still trying to survive in the chaotic media market; we still don't know whether we are going to survive at all, and how; we still don't know who killed our colleagues... In short, if you are not responsive to the needs of tycoons and politicians, you will face financial disaster. If you are responsive to their needs, you stop being a media outlet and become something like their PR. Perhaps one day we will learn how to demonstrate journalistic solidarity towards each other, and realize that the worn-out phrases like 'the fourth estate' and 'pillar of democracy' have profound sense, as well as that 'they' should be afraid of 'us'. We will be the voice of the public only if we truly want that."
(NDNV, 04.05.2012)

The presentation of the report "The Media Freedom in Serbia in the European Mirror" will take place on Friday, 18 May 2012 at 11.00 in the Media Center (Main Hall, second floor), 3 Terazije, Belgrade. The report is based on 27 indicators for evaluation of media freedom in member countries of the Council of Europe, whose parliament adopted in 2008 a recommendation that each country should submit such a report once a year with the aim to monitor their level of media freedom. In accordance with this recommendation, the organization Civil Rights Defenders brought together the following professional associations: the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), the Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina (NDNV) and Local Press, which prepared the first complete report on media freedom in Serbia in 2011.
(NUNS, 09.05.2012)

The state and the media

We expect the new Government of Serbia to systematically implement the provisions of the Media Strategy, especially the ones that are related to withdrawal of the state from media ownership, and to define its role in the media sector – this is the conclusion reached by representatives of media associations at the debate organized during the Media Center Election Night.
(RTV, UNS, NUNS, 07.05.2012)

Threats, attacks and legal proceedings against journalists; media-related trials

"I will never return calls to anyone from Blic for as long as I live, and therefore don't ever call me again", responded the deputy president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), Aleksandar Vucic, dissatisfied with topics covered by the daily newspaper Blic during the election campaign. Because of this, it was not certain that Blic journalists would be allowed to report from the headquarters of SNS during the election night. However, like other media outlets, Blic reporters were present during the announcement of first election results in the headquarters of SNS.
(Blic, Danas, UNS, NUNS, 08.05.2012)

Although the municipal organization of the deaf and people with damaged hearing in Aleksinac had properly announced their event, which was covered by a journalistic team from TV Alt, the report about the promotional activities of the organization has not been broadcast. According to unofficial information from the portal Juzne Vesti, the reason for this is a political conflict between officials of the local branch of the Democratic Party in Aleksinac and the organization of the deaf. The Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA) has been informed about this.
(Juzne vesti, NUNS, 26.04.2012)

On 5 April, the Higher Court in Novi Sad decided to partially accept the claim filed by claimant Vladimir Jesic and oblige Velimir Ilic to pay Jesic damages in the total amount of 1,380,000 dinars. Nine years after the incident when the leader of the political party New Serbia, Velimir Ilic, hit the former journalist of TV Apolo (which is called TV Novosadska today) from Novi Sad, Vladimir Jesic, during the recording of an interview in Belgrade, the first-instance proceedings have finally been completed.
(Dnevnik, Blic, Večernje Novosti, NDNV, NUNS, UNS, 09.05.2012)

The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has publicly announced its intention to file a lawsuit worth 1.5 million dinars against the daily newspaper Blic because of incorrect reporting of statements made the deputy president of SNS, Aleksandar Vucic.
(Pravda, NUNS, 09.05.2012)

Investigations of murders of journalists

The World Press Freedom Day, May 3, will not be celebrated wholeheartedly by journalists worldwide since their social and financial position has been worsening each year, while their lives have been in danger. From the beginning of the year, 29 journalists have lost their lives while doing their job.
(Danas, 03.05.2012)

The Ambassador of the People's Republic of China, Zhang Wanxue, representatives of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) and correspondents of Chinese media outlets from Belgrade, laid wreaths at the location of the destroyed building of Chinese Embassy where three Chinese journalists died during NATO bombardment 12 years ago.
(UNS, 07.05.2012)

On the World Press Freedom Day, journalists from Pomoravlje called on the authorities to identify the murderers of journalist from Jagodina, Milan Pantic, as well as those who ordered the murder. Journalists from local media outlets in Pomoravlje and correspondents from Belgrade media gathered at the square in Jagodina during event entitled "Five Minutes of Loud Silence". At 11.55, they read the statement issued by the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) saying that "despite promises, 18 years later, circumstances of the death of Dada Vujasinovic have not been explained. Organizers of the crime and murderers of Slavko Curuvija have been practically hidden from public for the last 13 years. The investigation of the murder of Milan Pantic has not been successful for 11 years."
(Beta, UNS, 04.05.2012)

The Media Strategy

The president of the Executive Board of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NDNV), Nedim Sejdinovic, criticized today the Serbian authorities and pointed out that they have not acted in accordance with their own Media Strategy. During a public discussion, Sejdinovic said that in the very beginning, the state had demonstrated its unwillingness to adhere to the Action Plan from the Media Strategy by failing to implement the Law on Control of State Assistance and continuing to fund the state media, jeopardizing the market competition and formation of the media market. He also criticized the media because of their manner of reporting during the election campaign and emphasized that it was again obvious that most of the media outlets were "controlled by the political elite and powerful businessmen".
(NDNV, 04.05.2012)