The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS)

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) calls on the Electrical Power Company of Serbia (EPS) not to jeopardize the freedom of the press and the right of citizens to be informed when cutting off major industrial consumers of electricity. Three days ago, the Electrical Power Company of Novi Sad cut off the power to the printing company Grafoprodukt, which prints more than 10 local, regional and national newspapers, whose availability to their readers is now threatened. UNS suspects that the act of cutting off the electrical power to Grafoprodukt is a form of pressure on the freedom of expression, taking into account the fact that some of the newspapers printed by the company are opposition-oriented.
(UNS, 13.02.2012)

Journalistic trade unions

Research entitled "Trade Unions in the Media" was conducted on the sample of media reports published during nine months (275 days) i.e. three months in 2010 and six months in 2011. The analysis covered nine daily newspapers and four weekly magazines. The research of the media presence of trade unions was preceded by an analysis of researchers' archive that showed two related facts: first, trade unions have very small power in the society; second, people have very low confidence in trade unions. At the presentation of the research "Trade Unions in the Media" to be held on February 27 in the Media Center, journalists will receive a summary of the research and a CD with the complete analytical report.
(MC, 15.02.2012)

The Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA)

The Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA) is preparing a final version of mandatory instructions for the media during the election campaign which will stipulate the duration of time slots sold by TV stations to political parties. Judging by what Blic was told by RRA, the rules will be almost identical to the rules that were in force during the previous parliamentary elections. At the time, despite the law that banned paid time slots for political parties, citizens were forced to watch political videos, political meetings and conventions of political parties during no less than ten days i.e. 240 hours. If the same instruction is adopted again, TV stations will be allowed to sell up to 90 minutes of their airtime to political parties each day. The Center for Free Elections and Democracy considers that both the Law on Advertising and the law related to election of members of parliament do not allow sale of airtime to political parties.
(Blic, NUNS, 03.02.2012)

Despite many registered omissions and violations of the law due to the station's bias in favor of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA) issued on Friday a broadcasting license to the cable TV station Kopernikus 3 (Svet Plus). Reports delivered to the Council of the RRA dating from January of this year, available to the daily newspaper Blic, say that the programme of Kopernikus 3 has numerous irregularities – from favoring the SNS to "campaigning against the mayor of Belgrade, Dragan Djilas, and the president of Serbia, Boris Tadic" to "illegally broadcasting content related to fortune telling". The RRA acted according to the principle that all stations that are broadcasting should be granted licenses.
(Blic, 06.02.2012)

The fact that TV Kopernikus 3 has a contract with the production company Svet Plus Info, whose owner is allegedly one of the officials of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), should not be a reason to perceive the whole media company and its TV channel as belonging to a political party – this is the opinion of the vice president of the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA), Goran Karadzic, voiced after media reports that RRA granted a broadcasting license to a party-affiliated TV station.
(Politika, 07.02.2012)

The Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA) will probably not react to the incident when the TV host of the show programme "I've Got Talent", Ivana Bajic, put her hand on the crotch of her colleague Vlada Aleksic during the semifinals attended by minors and aired on television. Even the British tabloid, The Mirror, published the video of the act. "This, so-called incident is not so significant to require an urgent session, and our regular session will be held on Monday. Viewers did not notice that anything happened, except for the person who posted the picture on the Internet, and until it appeared in the print media", said Goran Karadzic, a member of the Council of RRA, to daily newspaper Blic.
(Kurir, Press, Blic, 09.02.2012)

Reacting to the state of emergency proclaimed on the territory of the Republic of Serbia, the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA) reminds radio and TV broadcasters licensed to broadcast their programme on the national, regional or local levels, that in accordance with the Law on Broadcasting, the Law on the State of Emergency, and the Code of Conduct of Broadcasters, they are obliged to broadcast all statements related to threats to lives, health, safety or property. Broadcasters are obliged to broadcast announcements of relevant authorities without delay.
(RRA, 06.02.2012)

The Council of the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA) has appointed Nenad Djuretic, MA, as a member of the Managing Board of the Broadcasting Agency of Vojvodina.
(RRA, 03.02.2012)