Professional standards

Branislava Dzunov, a TV critic, writes: "Decency is a skill that has to be maintained, especially on television. Is Veran Matic in control of the situation, or has he agreed to adapt the programme of TV B92 in accordance with the preference of the masses and to introduce some light entertainment? A bit of criticism of the folk music scene – this is a painless choice. A bit of a generalized mocking of ignorant Serbian politicians – no effect, since they cannot recognize themselves. The least expected outcome was for B92 to pay homage to Radio-Television Serbia (RTS) with its parodies of RTS' News and political shows. This was the station's programme on Thursday and it could only be described as a collage of nothing. It reeked of amateurism.
(Blic, NUNS, 13.11.2011)

In his open letter published by the daily Politika, one of the newspaper's readers, Jovan Stojanovic, writes: "The RTS Digital programme was launched three years ago and it is still labeled as experimental. The channel does not offer a single programme whose sound is technically correct. At the same time, the irregularity of the programme schedule is a big problem. For example, the first part of a concert (on the Channel 2) was aired on Sunday evening, while the second part was aired on Tuesday without any previous announcement. Programmes are being cut in half by live broadcasts of parliamentary sessions. Viewers are never informed when the rest of such programmes will be aired. The programme schedule information on the teletext and the web site is not updated, despite the fact that already by the afternoon the duration of programmes should be known, including the broadcasts of the trial of Vojislav Seselj (why is that being aired at all?), parliamentary sessions or sport matches... Does anyone on Radio-Television Serbia (RTS) has any respect for its viewers (who are also subscribers!) and their time?"
(Politika, NUNS, 14.11.2011)

Within the project of promotion of the media literacy program in high schools in Serbia, a book written by Velimir Curgus Kazimir has been published. The book is entitled "On Media Literacy" and will be distributed in high schools. The project is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Media and Information Society.
(Danas, UNS, NUNS, 11.11.2011)

The Sabic case

The deputy president of the Democratic Party, Jelena Trivan, says that most of parliamentary groups in the National Parliament of Serbia have proposed that Rodoljub Sabic, who is currently the commissioner for information of public importance, remain at his position. She points out that the Democratic Party recommended in 2004 and 2007 that Sabic be appointed as the commissioner, and that the party is now doing the same thing. "The term in office of Rodoljub Sabic ends on December 22 and he will be nominated as a candidate for a new commissioner in a timely and regular manner", she says.
(www.rts.rs, UNS, 10.11.2011, Pravda, 11.11.2011)

Appraisals, awards, training courses, conferences and competitions

A journalist from Radio Belgrade, Miroslav Vojvodic, received the "Branislav Mane Sakic" award for speakers in the People's Library in Smederevo. A fund with the same name gives the award for achievements in preservation of the culture of speech in the electronic media.
(Pravda, UNS, NUNS, 15.11.2011)

The thirteenth festival of the best radio and TV audio works Taktons ended with an appropriate official celebration and presentation of awards to the most successful contestants that was held in Studio M. The festival was organized by the Public Service Broadcaster of Vojvodina. Together with participants from Serbia, representatives of public service broadcasters from Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Srpska, Montenegro, Macedonia and Croatia, as well as from Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and Romania, took part in the festival. The representatives of Radio Romania won the largest number of this year's awards, while the sound technicians from Radio-Television Serbia were the most successful in the TV segment of the competition.
(Dnevnik, UNS, NUNS, 12.11.2011)

By a unanimous decision of the UNICEF jury, the best media reports about children's rights have received awards. Mirko Rudic was awarded for the TV report entitled "ISON – A Story About the Children's Choir in Novi Sad". The report was produced by A-Media and aired by TV B92. Marija Obrenovic was awarded for the article published in the weekly magazine Kragujevacke under the title "Too Poor to Buy Bread, Let Alone Dolls", while Sasa Stojkovic received the award for his radio report "Children – The Greatest Victim of Readmission". The report was aired on the programme of O.K. Radio in Vranje and was targeted primarily at the Roma population.
(MC, NUNS, 21.11.2011, Pravda, UNS, 22.11.2011)

The Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) calls on journalists from all parts of Serbia to apply for a three-day training course entitled "Investigative Journalism and Public Finance" that will be held between November 30 and December 2, 2011 in Belgrade. The subject of the course covers the domestic and international experiences and knowledge related to corruption, its identification, proving and usage of documents in the process of journalistic research. The training course is funded by the United Nations Development Programe (UNDP) as a part of its Accountability Mechanism in Public Finance project.
(MC, 21.11.2011)

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) has announced a public contest for journalistic awards in 2011 in six categories. The contest is open only to journalistic reports published or aired in the media during the period between December 10, 2010 and December 10, 2011. The deadline for applications is December 15, 2011. The awards for the most successful journalistic achievements in 2011 will be presented on the Day of the UNS, December 22.
(UNS, 21.11.2011)

The expert jury of the company Novosti has chosen the recipients of the awards of the 44th competition for the best journalistic caricature "Pjer". The winner of this year's competition is Muhamed Djerlek, whose work, entitled "Discord", won the first prize. The second prize went to Spiro Radulovic for his caricature "Selfishness", while the winner of the third prize is Jugoslav Vlahovic, whose caricature is entitled "The Question Mark". The best caricatures have been selected among 592 works by 155 authors.
(ASMEDIA, Novembar 2011)

Media transfers

After four years of successful performance at the helm of the city TV station Studio B, Aleksandar Timofejev will remain the director and the editor-in-chief of the station during the following term in office, confirmed the City Assembly yesterday.
(RTV Studio B, Večernje Novosti - Srbija, UNS, Kurir, Danas, Politika, 12.11.2011)

Anniversaries

The oldest daily newspaper in Serbian language in Vojvodina and the second oldest daily in Serbia, Dnevnik from Novi Sad, has just celebrated its 69 birthday and is convinced in its successful survival in the market. Traditional awards of Dnevnik have been presented, including acknowledgments to around thirty employees for their loyalty to the company.
(Pravda, UNS, NUNS, 16.11.2011)

In Memoriam

A photo reporter for daily newspaper Vecernje Novosti, Dusan Simic, has suddenly passed away in Belgrade. His photographs had enriched Vecernje Novosti, as well as other publications from the same company – TV Novosti, Nada, and Revija 92.
(Večernje novosti, 14.11.2011)

Srbislav Jankovic, a long-time journalist for Politika Ekspres daily and a member of the Journalists' Association of Serbia, passed away yesterday in Belgrade. He began his journalistic career in 1959 writing about tourism for Vecernje Novosti. He published a book "Traveling in Hellas", a monograph "Greece" and a several books abour Serbian spas and its tourism potential.
(UNS, 17.11.2011, Beta, Politika, 18.11.2011)

A long-time journalist and a member of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), Dragojla Bajic Zoric, has passed away in Belgrade. She began her career as a journalist in 1962 and worked as a contributor to newspapers Umetnost, Jugoslovenske Novosti, Odmor, Turisticke Novine and Zavicaj.
(UNS, 18.11.2011)

Goran Stojic, the recognizable voice of TV Prva, passed away suddenly at the age of 48 in Belgrade. He cooperated with numerous production companies and marketing agencies. As a professional speaker and journalists, he left his mark in other media companies, including Radio Belgrade, RTS and Politika.
(www.prva.rs, UNS, 18.11.2011)

Three years after the death of the legendary journalist, editor and presenter, Djoko Vjestica, his projects and his humanitarianism are still remembered. As one of the founders of Radio Studio B, he was renowned for acting as a protector of citizens and as a radio host of the popular show "The Belgrade Postcard" he was more successful in solving citizens' problems than the official institutions. Djoko Vjestica was born in 1939. He began working as a journalist in the newspaper Borba and became a part of the staff of Studio B in 1971.
(Blic, UNS, 17.11.2011)