The latest research entitled "The Profession at the Crossroads – Journalism and the Information Society", conducted by the Center for the Media and Media Research within the Faculty of Political Science, has shown that the media are mostly threatened – apart from the internet – by low-quality journalism, the overwhelming presence of sensationalism and tabloid approach to journalism, closely followed by the political pressure on newspapers and the independence of the media. The research was conducted on a sample of 260 journalists and editors, in addition to 51 media owners and directors. The most frequent form of pressure on the media is the influence on human resources policy; corruption of journalists and editors with the aim to affect their reporting; denial of purchase of advertising space; denial of information that the media has the right to access. Stanko Stamenkovic
(Press magazin, 26.06.2011)

The last of the Mohicans at the forefront of investigative journalism – Brankica Stankovic, Danica Vucinic, Misa Brkic and a few more – have survived thanks to their personal courage to resist threats and their willingness to be castigated because of their devotion to truth. Exclusivity and circulation are more important than anything and the market is being fed latest scandals, affairs and fictitious stories. Then came the selected few journalists from Blic daily newspaper who have conducted a wide-ranging investigative action resulting in a series of articles under the title "Who Owns Serbia". More important than the offered information was the regained faith in investigative journalism and the fact that tabloids have not won the race yet. Srdjan Milivojevic
(Blic, 28.06.2011)

Awards and contests

Regional awards "Business Partner 2011" have been presented. Among the recipients of this important awards are the Novosti company, in the category "Media Business Partner", as well as TV Prva and a TV programme "Budjelar" ("The Wallet").
(Vecernje Novosti, Blic, 24.06.2011)

Siemens has invited journalists from all parts of Serbia to joint the contest for an annual journalistic award on the topic of "Innovations for Greener Future" between March 1 and September 1, 2011. The award is related to industry, energy and medicine. This year, journalists from electronic media outlets have been invited for the first time. (Pregled, 27.06.2011)

Daily newspaper Pravda has been nominated for Serbian consumers' award "My Choice 2011" in the press category. This is the first year when citizens will have a chance to choose their favorite newspapers, TV and radio stations.
(Pravda, NUNS, 30.06.2011)

The results of the competition "My Green Work" have proven that protection of the environment is being increasingly covered by the media. The contest was organized by the Provincial Secretariat for Protection of Environment on the occasion of the Day of the Planet. The award for "the green work" was given to Dnevnik, Radio Novi Sad (RNS), Ju Eko TV from Subotica, a Hungarian language weekly CsalIdi Kör, and the association "Zeleni Krug" ("The Green Circle") from Backi Petrovac for the magazine "Eko List". The association of environmental journalists "Eko News" has received an award for their electronic magazine on ecology. The Novi Sad School of Journalism has been awarded for its "Green News", while the Creative Workshop has been awarded for its newspaper for children "Mastalica" and others. Aleksandar Bjelogrlic.
(Dnevnik, 23.06.2011)

Education

Media reporting on the domestic violence and violence against women was the subject of the training for journalists that was held in Nova Varos. A project entitled "The Fight against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence" was presented at the seminar, including the Manual for Media Reporting on Family Violence and Violence against Women.
(Danas - Sandžak, 01.07.2011)

A collection of works entitled "Management of Media Economy, Media Content and Technologies During the Time of Digital Converging" was published in English language in Lisbon, Portugal. The collection contains five works written by Serbian authors.
(Politika, 26.06.2011)

Under the auspices of and organized by the Press daily newspaper, a workshop was held for editors and journalists in the print media. It was lead by Peter Linden, one of the most renowned journalism lecturers in Europe. Among other things, he pointed out the fact that is more worrisome than the reduction of the print media circulation. During the last 15 years, the time spent reading newspapers has fallen drastically and now amounts to 24 minutes, instead of 36.
(Press, 03.07.2011)

Visits

During mid-June, six media managers from Serbia attended the "Professional Development Program for Serbian Media Managers" in the USA: the director of Tanjug, Branka Djukic; the editor-in-chief of Studio B, Aleksandar Timofejev; the president of the Color Press Group, Robert Coban; the director of the Media Center Nis, Mladen Velojic; the sales director of TV Prva, Marija Karan; and the director of "Southern News" from Nis, Vitomir Ognjanovic. The group was led by Bojan Trifkovic, who was in charge of the media in the Embassy of the USA in Belgrade.
(ASMEDI Newsletter, juli, 2011, no.155)

The public service broadcaster

Informing of the citizens of Serbia as organized by the RTS (the public service broadcaster) is being organized from two television centers – Belgrade and Novi Sad. This situation has led to the fact that the areas from the Eastern, Western and Southern Serbia are underrepresented in the news programmes of RTS. Stevan Stojanović
(Pravda, 29.06.2011)

Media transfers

After Slavko Beleslin, TV Pink might also lose Sanja Marinkovic, who is supposed to continue her career on B92, similar to her colleague from the news section.
(Kurir, 24.06.2011)

It is almost certain that the TV host of the National News and "The Pyramid" on TV Pink, Slavko Beleslin, will transfer to B92. He has confirmed that he would leave TV Pink, but was not willing to comment on the transfer to B92. It is being speculated that these are the latest battles in the media war between the most commercial TV companies in Serbia.
(Kurir, Press, 23.06.2011)

Jugoslav Cosic does not work for B92 anymore! The famous TV host's employment contract will not be extended. Dalibor Katić
(Kurir, 29.06.201)

B92 a.d. has announced: "The claims, published by the Kurir daily newspaper on 29 June 2011, that Jugoslav Cosic was leaving TV B92, are not true. The research cited in the article publishd by Kurir has never been conducted.
(Kurir, 30.06.2011)

Anniversaries

Radio-Television Krusevac, the first Serbian local TV outside the system of RTS and the first outside Belgrade, has celebrated 20 years of existence. The TV company from Krusevac has a license for regional broadcasting and employs 94 workers, of which a third are journalists. The company has announced plans for modernization and complete digitalization.
(Politika, Blic - Srbija, 25.06.2011)

In Memoriam

A long-time journalist of Politika daily newspaper, a professor of Serbian Language and writer, Zoran Simic (1950-2011), has died in Pozarevac on 2 July 2011. He worked for his company for 30 years in the editorial office and as a correspondent from Jagodina and Pozarevac.
(Politika, NUNS, UNS, 04.07.2011)

Issue No. 6
24 June – 06 July 2011

Abbreviations