Professional standards

Branka Otasevic, a TV critic for daily newspaper Politika, writes: "The television has embraced genres whose nature is more realistic and documentary, which are less attractive and pleasant but at the same time more necessary and useful. A good example of this approach is Marina Fratucan ("Radar", RTV) and her attempt in Pristina and Gracanica to directly verify and complement the existing opinions and beliefs about the situation in the field. Another approach would be for the always patient Zoran Stanojevic (RTS) to become more energetic, to take the situation in his own hands and not to allow the supporters of political parties to spread their propaganda and election slogans. The third approach would be for Brankica Stankovic and her team (B92) to continue investigating the high-level corruption. The fourth approach is to travel around Serbia similarly to the way it is done by Branko Stankovic ("Squaring the Circle"/"Kvadratura Kruga"), Jovan Memedovic ("Quite Naturally"/"Sasvim Prirodno"), and recently by Milan Popovic ("The House at the End of Serbia"/"Zadnja Kuca Srbija"), and to show how the people in the country actually live, together with all the torment and joy, poverty and tolerance, material poverty and spiritual richness, powerlessness and entrepreneurship, deaths and births. Abandoning fairy tales and embracing "reality prose", from pink to dark-colored glasses, would give us a chance to find out the true color of truth."
(Politika, 11.12.2011)

Some of the print media outlets in Serbia reported on a family tragedy and published photographs of a child on their cover pages, together with its full name and utterly unprofessional headlines. The president of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), Vukasin Obradovic, says: "I warn my colleagues that in this way they violate the Law on Information and the journalistic code of ethics which stipulate that journalists are obliged to protect the identity of minors". Tamara Luksic Orlandic, the deputy protector of citizens for children's rights, called on the media to be more considerate in tragedies like this one. The Ministry of Culture, Media and Information Society has announced it intention to file charges against all media outlets whose reporting violated the rights of underage persons.
(Politika, NUNS, 10.12.2011)

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) calls on its colleagues to adhere to the Journalistic Code of Conduct of Serbia and the Law on Public Information while reporting on children and minors.
(UNS, 5.12.2011)

The Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) warns that the daily newspaper Vecernje Novosti has repeatedly and grossly violated the Law on Public Information and ethical principles of the Journalistic Code of Conduct of Serbia by publishing photographs of an underage person.
(Beta, Pravda, NUNS, 16.12.2011)

The International Civilian Office organized a visit of Serbian journalists in Kosovo and their meeting with Hashim Tachi, the prime minister of Kosovo.
(NUNS, RTV, 12.12.2011)

The Media Association and the IPSOS Agency have presented the results of the research entitled "The Efficacy and Effectiveness of Advertising in the Print Media". The presentation was intended for marketing experts from companies who are associated members of the Media Association.
(ASMEDI NEWSLETTER, no 165, ABC SERBIA Newsletter, 14.12.2011)

The editor-in-chief of the newspaper Svedok, Vladimir Dinic, has submitted a complaint to the Press Council against the daily newspaper Politika, which had allegedly published an "exclusive" testament of the General Milan Nedic four days after its publication by Svedok, which at the time was still available for sale on newsstands.
(Danas, NUNS, 15.12.2011)

Daily newspaper Blic has refused to publish a paid advertisement in which journalists Slavoljub Kacarevic, Biserka Ilic and Slobodan Sreckovic wanted to publicly thank the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who had previously said that Serbia "has not fulfilled necessary conditions to become a candidate for membership in the EU".
(UNS, 15.12.2011)

A TV host from TV Pink, Ognjen Amidzic, and his guests Nada Topcagic, Ljuba Alicic, Rada Manojlovic, Stevan Andjelkovic and Ana Kokic, got drunk during the airing of the programme "The Ami G Show", reports Press.
(Press, 21.12.2011)

Awards, training courses and competitions

A protocol on cooperation has been signed by the general director and the editor-in-chief of the company Novosti, Manojlo Vukotic, and the dean of the Faculty of Nis, Prof. Dr. Goran Maksimovic, giving students of journalism from Nis a chance to achieve professional advancement in the most widely circulated newspaper in the country.
(Vecernje novosti, UNS, 08.12.2011)

During a training course for journalists organized by the Ministry of Health in Zajecar, the media and journalists were described as the most important participants in the new strategy of fight against HIV. Analyses made by the Ministry of Health show that the media provide the first and most crucial information about health care to citizens.
(Danas, NUNS, 19.12.2011)

We call on journalists and editors of the media in Serbia to apply for an exclusive three-stage seminar organized by the BBC World Service Trust within the project financed by the EU under the title "Support for Media Capacity in the Area of EU Integration". Applications with motivation letters and professional biographies should be sent to email address maja@eumediafund.rs. The deadline for applications for BBC's journalistic seminar is 15 January 2012.
(MC, 9.12.2011)

Public Company "National Park Fruska Gora" has announced a competition for the journalistic award "Fruska Gora 2011" for contribution in promotion of the value of the oldest National Park in Serbia and the only national park in Vojvodina.
(RTV, NUNS, 14.12.2011)

For the second time, World Press Photo organizes an annual contest for the best multimedia story in the field of visual journalism. The deadline for applications is 12 January 2012. More information is available at the web page World Press Photo multimedia contest.

Dart awards for excellence in reporting about situations are being given for innovative, ethical and effective reporting on all media platforms. The application deadline is 19 January 2012. More information is available at the web page Dart Awards 2012.

A vacancy has been announced at the position of the editor of the web site of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS). The deadline for applications is 15 January 2012.

The deadline for application for Investigative reporting grants is 10 January 2012.

Journalistic award "Ivan Markovic" is given by the Media Center "Defense" ("Odbrana") for the best media reports on activities of the Ministry of Defence and the Army of Serbia in 2011. The deadline for submission of applications is 31 December 2011. Additional information is available at the web page Journalistic Award "Ivan Markovic".

Interested journalists can apply for annual awards given by the Association of Sport Journalists of Serbia as of 21 December 2012.
The deadline for applications for UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Price is 15 February 2012.
(MC, 18.12.2011)

This year's recipients of the traditional Award for Citizen Courage "Dragoljub Stosic" are the following individuals: Ljubomir Zivkov, journalist for magazine Vreme, Vladimir Radomirovic, the editor of the website Pistaljka and Dr Dragana Jovanovic, former secretary for health of the City of Belgrade. The awards will be presented on 24 December.
(NUNS, 13.12.2011)

The correspondent of Danas from Vranje, Vojkan Ristic, is the winner of this year's award given by the Regional Chamber of Commerce Leskovac for reporting on economy in the South Serbia. Recipients of the award for media reporting are TV Protokol K-1 from Leskovac and a local radio station OK Radio from Vranje.
(Danas, UNS, NUNS, 19.12.2011)

A correspondent of Novosti newspaper from Zrenjanin, Slobodan Pasic, is the recipient of this year's award "Captain Misa Anastasijevic", which is given as a part of the project "Towards the Top" that is jointly organized by the Faculty of Technical Science in Novi Sad, Media Invent and the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia.
(Vecernje novosti - Vojvodina, 17.12.2011)

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) has chosen the recipients of awards for the most successful journalists in 2011. This year's winners of the award for lifetime achievement are the long-time journalist of the daily newspaper Politika and a TV critic, Branka Otasevic, and the long-time photographer and editor of photography in the weekly magazine NIN, Branko Belic. Ivica Milosavljevic, a renowned television journalist, is the recipient of the Golden Award of the UNS for contribution to development of journalistic organizations. The annual Editorial Award "Dimitrije Davidovic" has been given to the web site Njuz.net. Cvijetin Milivojevic, a columnist for daily newspapers Danas and Politika, is the recipient of the "Bogdan Tirnanic" Award for the best comment or column.
(UNS, 20.12.2011)

The media audience

New technologies have caused a change in the culture of communication even among the children in primary schools. A research conducted in primary schools in Vojvodina has shown that the information they are most interested in is predominantly related to school, entertainment, sports and music. Newspapers are ranked behind radio and are more often read by eight-graders, mostly those with entertaining and tabloid content, while the daily newspaper Blic is most often read among news-oriented media outlets. Among radio stations, those with predominantly musical content are more popular. Only nation-wide TV stations are watched by this audience. Educational programmes are not favored by children and teenagers in Vojvodina. Facebook is the most popular website on the internet.
(Blic, NUNS, 11.12.2011)

So far, 117 have joined ABC gemiusAudience, which constitutes the largest research of the internet audience in Serbia. Due to great demand among owners of websites and the internet community in the country, Gemius and ABC Serbia have extended their promotional period for inclusion of new websites until the end of December 2011.
(ABC SERBIA Newsletter, 14.12.2011)

The semiannual ABC audit for the period 1 April – 30 September 2011 has been completed and is posted at the ABC Serbia website. The data contain all certificates of average sold/accepted circulation and is available to all members at the internet address www.abcsrbija.com/sertifikati.
(ABC SERBIA Newsletter, 14.12.2011)

Media transfers

Journalist, publicist and the editor of the foreign affairs section in the daily newspaper Vecernje Novosti, Slobodan Reljic, has been elected as the president of the Association of European Journalists of Serbia (UENS). As of 1 January 2012, Reljic will replace the current president, Nebojsa Ristic, whose term in office has expired. The deputy president of UENS is Zivorad Nikolic, while Miloje Popovic is the organization's secretary general.
(UNS, 15.12.2011, Vecernje novosti, 16.12.2011)

Slobodan Reljic, a new president of the Association of European Journalists of Serbia, said that the mission of his organization was to raise the awareness about the European integration and cooperation between European countries, protection of the freedom of the press and the media, maintenance of the best traditions of European journalism, and the development of modern media, as well as to educate journalists.
(Pravda, UNS, NUNS, 21.12.2011)

Last week, TV Pink pompously announced the beginning of broadcasting of the popular Croatian series "Lara's Choice". However, in the end, "Lara" chose TV Prva. The series is the most-watched Croatian series during the last few seasons, which is currently being aired in no less than 17 countries around the world. Yesterday, TV Prva issued an announcement saying that the record-breaking series would be aired by TV Prva.
(Kurir, 17.12.2011)

Anniversaries

"We are six years old today. We do not intend to celebrate our birthday today. We will help those who need help the most", said Branko Miljus, the general director of the Press Publishing Group.
(Press, UNS, NUNS, 14.12.2011)

Radio Subotica organized a humanitarian event for children "Gifts for Joy" on the occasion of the forthcoming holidays as well as the 43rd anniversary of the station. Apart from individual donations from citizens, the event was co-financed by numerous companies, banks, public companies, schools, trade unions, as well as the Croatian Consulate and the station's employees themselves.
(Danas, NUNS, UNS, 19.12.2011)

In Memoriam

Journalist, writer, author of numerous reports, researcher, and contributor to RTV VK, Sinisa Jakonic, passed away on 8 December at the age of 51. For many years, he worked as a correspondent for the daily newspaper Danas and various magazines in all parts of the country.
(NDNV, 11.12.2011)

Aleksandar Bobic, a long-time journalist from Sportski Zurnal, passed away in Belgrade on 14 December. He was born in 1968 in Belgrade and began his journalistic career in 1993 at Radio Index.
(UNS, 16.12.2011)

A long-time journalist, Slobodan Jovanovic, has passed away at the age of 63. He was active in journalism since 1966, when he began working as a contributor to Izvidjacke Novine and the newspaper Cukarica. He began cooperation with TV Studio B in 1972. During the last few years he was working for UNS funds for assistance to journalists.
(UNS, 16.12.2011)