The media situation in Serbia

Media monitoring performed by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation shows that during the election campaign the print media has not reported on the so-called "big issues" like the state of the economy, European integration, Kosovo or retirement funds. Even when such topics were mentioned by politicians themselves, the media did not explore the issues beyond the boundaries of the political propaganda. Out of all examined interviews in six daily newspapers, three interviews got the lowest possible mark, while the others were of mediocre value and without added value. "In the print media, politicians failed to mention young people, who are an important segment of society, and the media exhibited similar attitude", said Tamara Skroza. Analysis of articles, reports and interviews published during this period has showed that some of the media outlets were visibly biased in favor of one political party. In the words of Professor Miroljub Radojkovic, "behavior of journalists has once again proven that journalists are frightened, that they lack power and reputation, and that what we call inertness is an expression of self-censorship with regard to the present government, as well as preventative self-censorship with regard to the future government."
(Pravda, Blic, Informer, 18.05.2012)

No less than three quarters of journalists in Serbia are of the opinion that there are problems related to the freedom of expression in the country, while only four out of 27 criteria used by the Council of Europe to measure the freedom of expression are successfully realized in Serbia – this is the result of the research "Freedom of the Media in Serbia in the European Mirror". The research included 240 editors-in-chief of news media outlets from 79 places in Serbia; 69 media owners; 40 political party officials from 10 cities in Serbia; 50 members of nine national minorities; and 26 representatives of governmental, regulatory and self-regulatory bodies in the media sector. The research showed that only four out of 27 criteria used by the Council of Europe to assess the freedom of expression were fulfilled in Serbia: the freedom of entry into journalism; the freedom of access to the Internet and the foreign media; separation of participation in the executive branch of government from professional activities in the media field; and (un)limited right of the media to exclusively report on important events. However, the report notes significant deviation from European standards in the area of media economy and independence of the media from political influence, as well as in the field of labor and social rights and safety of journalists.
(Dnevnik, Informer, Radio Boom 93 19.05.2012)

Assessments of the current media situation in Serbia

A former Croatian journalist, Tomislav Jakic, said that news journalism in the region had "died" and transformed into political propaganda. He added, however, that there were exceptions among journalists. In his words, the slow disappearance of news journalism is a "global trend", although serious media outlets are still present in developed countries. He strongly criticized the hybrid, "infotainment" form of journalism, which offers information in the form of entertainment.
(Beta, NDNV, 14.05.2012)

The president of the Executive Board of the Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina (NDNV), Nedim Sejdinovic, says that Serbian politicians perceive the media only as a tool to achieve their goals. "They do not understand that the media should hold the government accountable, and they threaten the media if it fails to report in accordance with their wishes". In his words, it is of crucial importance that journalistic associations have reacted to cases of direct violations of the freedom of the media, but the problem is that such cases usually do not end up in court. The media scene in Vojvodina is dominated by Belgrade media, which is, in the opinion of Sejdinovic, the result of centralization of money and power in Belgrade.
(Beta, NUNS, NDNV, 15.05.2012, Danas, UNS, Pravda, 16.05.2012)

The ruling political parties in Serbia are the main source of pressure exerted on the media (47 percent of cases), followed by the executive branch of government (32 percent of cases), opposition political parties (26 percent of cases), while advertisers in the form of private and state-owned companies negatively affect the independence of the media (16 percent of cases each), said the president of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), Vukasin Obradovic. He spoke at the presentation of the report "Freedom of the Media in Serbia in the European Mirror". In his words, 242 litigations against the media were initiated in the last year: 93 percent of these cases were related to requests for compensation for damage of dignity and reputation, while 7 percent of the cases were related to requests for publication of corrections. The largest number of cases were initiated against the print media, while some of them involved television stations B92, RTS, Pink and the web portal E-Novine. Demanded damages range from three and 100 million euros.
(Ebart Media Archive, NUNS, 20.05.2012. Danas, UNS, 21.05.2012.)

Between the two rounds of the presidential election, major media outlets in Serbia exhibited bias in favor of the candidate of the Democratic Party (DS), Boris Tadic, while the amount of non-critical reporting could be compared only to the media in Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, it was pointed out today at the presentation of the report of media monitoring by the BIRODI organization. Ivan Godarski from the Slovakian organization MEMO 98, which monitors the media during election campaigns worldwide, pointed out that journalists in Serbia were not ready to ask politicians difficult questions, although journalists are required to ask such questions, instead of serving as politicians' press department. The research covered the main news programmes of television stations B92, Radio-Television Serbia (RTS), Prva, Pink, Studio B, and Television Vojvodina, as well as the daily newspapers Politika, Blic, Vecernje Novosti, Danas and Pravda. The research is available on the website www.mediamonitor.rs
(Beta, UNS, NUNS, 22.05.2012, Pravda, Danas, Tanjug, Politika, 23.05.2012)

The state and the media

Gordana Susa says in an article published by daily newspaper Blic: "The Law on Electronic Communication was an attempt by the previous convocation of the National Parliament to allow the security services and internal affairs authorities to have access to electronic communication data without court orders, and to jeopardize the right of journalists to protect the confidentiality of their sources. Luckily, after criticism from the EU, the attempt to introduce in the parliamentary rulebook the possibility of removal from position of the commissioner for information of public importance or the protector of citizens has not been successful. The Culture and Information Committee has never independently initiated a public debate on the freedom of the media, without regard for the needs of the Serbian democratic society. However, the leadership of both the ruling and opposition political parties have not refrained from "pressuring the media", in the words of two thirds of 240 interviewed editors of news programmes in Serbia.
(Blic, 19.05.2012)

Public service broadcasters

Investigative journalist from the Novi Sad School of Journalism, Dejan Pralica, said that media monitoring of new programmes aired on six languages by TV Vojvodina showed that most of the airtime had been dedicated to the Democratic Party (DS), followed by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), the United Regions of Serbia (URS) and the Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP). Pralica criticized the editors of the public service broadcaster for reporting on statements and activities of state and province officials during the pre-election silence, which constituted a disguised political campaign. In his words, the media mostly exhibited a passive approach to reporting on the political campaign.
(Beta, NDNV, 22.05.2012)

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

The leader of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), Tomislav Nikolic, demands damages in the amount of no less than 200 million dinars from the daily newspaper Kurir, an amount that would result in closing down of the newspaper, says a report published in Kurir. The Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) and the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) have strongly condemned Nikolic's move. The deputy president of the SNS, Aleksandar Vucic, at first claimed that the lawsuit was worth two million dinars, not 200 million. After we sent him a copy of the claim, with a figure of 200 million dinars, he said that was "a mistake".
(Kurir, UNS, 11.05.2012)

The leader of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), Tomislav Nikolic, criticized the media, saying that after his election victory he would tell journalists what to report on, reports daily newspaper Kurir. The editorial team of RTS responded, noting that Nikolic had abused the decency and professionalism of the TV host and "made a series of accusations, threats and untruths" about the public service broadcaster.
(Kurir, UNS, 15.05.2012)

Yesterday morning, the employees in the local media company RNJP Paracin found the company car "Zastava 101" in the middle of the river, with front doors wide open and its windscreen broken. The vehicle had been jointly used by journalists working for the radio, the local newsletter and the municipal television.
(Vecernje novosti, NUNS, UNS, 11.05.2012)

The vice president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in Novi Sad, Vladimir Galic, filed a lawsuit before the Higher Court in Novi Sad against the news and publishing company "Agenda 2020", which publishes the weekly magazine Novi Magazin, and the editor-in-chief of the magazine, Milorad Ivanovic, demanding one million dinars in damages because of the claims made in the article "Which Politicians Are Behind Controversial Privatizations?"
(Novi magazin, NUNS, 17.05.2012)

The former director of the Security Information Agency (BIA), Rade Bulatovic, is representing the Republic Agency for Electronic Communication (RATEL) in a legal process initiated by the SOS channel because of the allocation of a non-functional frequency during a public contest. At the same time, the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA), which is the second defendant in the case, pointed out its passive participation in the dispute. The RRA considers that it is not its fault that RATEL included in the list of available channels the channel 36, which has been used by the Second Channel of the Romanian Television for years. According to unofficial sources of the daily newspaper Alo!, Rade Bulatovic is also a friend of the president of the managing board of RATEL, Professor Jovan Radunovic.
(Alo!, 19.05.2012, NUNS, 21.05.2012)

After an almost-five years-long dispute with the SOS channel, thanks to efforts of its legal representative, Rade Bulatovic, who is a former director of the Security Information Agency (BIA), the Republic Agency for Electronic Communication (RATEL) has managed to win a court verdict in its favor ordering a forced collection of the debt in the amount of 4.5 million dinars for usage of the channel 36, despite the fact that a court expert was of the opinion that the channel was not usable, causing huge damage to SOS. The verdict passed by the First Primary Court is executive and SOS cannot appeal it. In an informal discussion, Bulatovic told the director of the SOS station that RATEL represented the state and that he should not expect a lot of success in this case. SOS informed yesterday all the relevant institutions in the country, as well as the EU, OSCE and the embassies of UK and USA. Despite the fact that a report made by the court expert confirms that the SOS channel was given a faulty frequency, and that the TV station demands more than 650 million dinars in damages, RATEL, "has been trying everything in their power to destroy and close down the SOS channel before the completion of the legal process". The Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA), which is the second defendant in the case, has proposed a settlement, but RATEL is opposed to the proposal. The next session of the Commercial Court is scheduled for June 15.
(Danas, UNS, NUNS, 23.05.2012)

Rights of journalists

"I support the reduced service years for retirement for journalists, as proposed in the Tamara's Law", said the minister of internal affairs, Ivica Dacic. "They have a very difficult and responsible job, and the state has to offer them strong support". The secretary general of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), Nino Brajovic, is of the opinion that reduced service years for retirement should be allowed to all journalists and editors of daily news editorial teams, as well as photoreporters and cameramen. The president of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), Vukasin Obradovic, says that journalists should enjoy this benefit because of the difficulty of their job.
(Kurir, 18.05.2012)

The minority media

The Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) has strongly condemned the act of Mikan Velinovic, the founder and commander of the Serbian Liberation Antiterrorist Movement, who sent a letter to "JUGpress" accusing its editor-in-chief, Ljiljana Stojanovic, of "making servile justifications for the unambiguous support of representatives of local self-governments to arrested terrorists exhibited during the recent protest in Bujanovac". In the same letter, Velinovic accuses the majority of journalists in Serbia of "being ignorant, criminal, extremely selfish, professionally deformed..., immoral, addicted to alcohol, irresponsible, unconscientious..., semi-literate..." NUNS says that the letter constitutes impermissible pressure on the media, especially on the editorial team of "JUGpress", which does its job professionally and informs citizens in Serbian, Albanian, Romany and Bulgarian languages.
(NUNS, Beta, NDNV, Juzne vesti, 10.05.2012)