Professional standards

Courts and prosecutor's offices should find a balance between the confidentiality of legal proceedings and the public's right to be informed about such proceedings, while journalists who report on judicial processes should be more responsible and better informed – this is the conclusion reached by the members of the round table organized by the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM). Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Protection of Personal Data Rodoljub Sabic is of the opinion that governmental or judicial bodies are delivering exclusive information to some newspapers in Serbia. The commissioner pointed out that in a traditional society, which lack confidence in institutions, it was unacceptable to forbid the public to comment on anyone's work, including the judiciary.
(Politika, 16.06.2012)

Slobodan Jovanovic writes in the daily newspaper Danas: "As a Montenegrin and a loyal citizen of Serbia, I would like to know why every information from Montenegro is being reported on in Serbia one-sidedly, usually with emphasis on a negative context. Also, why is information from Montenegro and about Montenegro being reported very selectively in Serbia? I could fill half of the Danas newspaper with positive statements of numerous European and international officials about Montenegro which have not been mentioned in Serbia."
(Danas, 12.06.2012)

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) calls on journalists and editors to adhere to the provisions of the Journalistic Code of Conduct of Serbia. UNS has received a complaint stating that journalists of a daily newspaper rudely disturbed the family of one of the victims while reporting on the death of students of the army academy in Serbia, despite being asked not to do that.
(UNS, 19.06.2012)

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) reminds the media that they are obliged to act in accordance with the Law on Public Information and honor the right to publication of a response. At the same time, the media are under obligation not to comment about the content of the response or correction in the same article. UNS considers that the daily newspaper Kurir did not adhere to the provisions of the Law on Public Information when it published its own statement together with the response of Mladjan Dinkic, instead of publishing it without any comments.
(UNS,14.06.2012)

Results achieved by four local media outlets within the project "Better Transparency in Local Self-Governments: Citizens' Rights and Obligations of the State" were presented in the Belgrade Media Center. The research was realized in Kikinda, Nis, Cacak and Krusevac as a part of the project implemented by the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) and the Center for Investigative Journalism of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the aim to improve the transparency of the activities of the local self-government. Additional information is available here www.webtv.rs/media/mc/goplay.asp?oid=43266
(NUNS, RTV B92, 20.06.2012)

Awards, training courses and public contests

The media and state authorities have to work together on promoting equality and improving the awareness of citizens – this is the main message from the workshop attended by representatives of the police and the media from all parts of Serbia that took place in Vrsac. The workshop was organized by the commissioner for protection of equality of the Republic of Serbia. The media and the police have to cooperate in their fight against discrimination. The police should understand that the media need timely and correct information, while journalists should have in mind that the police cannot always satisfy their demands, in the interest of investigation.
(Politika, 18.06.2012)

A second series of seminars dedicated to additional education of journalists from Media Association member who report on economy has been completed. The seminars were organized by the Media Association with assistance from the OSCE Mission to Serbia and IREX.
(Dnevnik, Vecernje Novosti, 15.06.2012)

The Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), with support from IREX, organizes the Media Training for students and young journalists that will take place in the NUNS premises on June 23-24, 2012. Additional information is available from Tamara Filipovic, tel: 011/3343 255, e-mail: tamara.filipovic@nuns.rs.
(NUNS, MC, 19.06.2012)

The "Stanislav Marinkovic" Award, given by the daily newspaper Danas for journalistic courage and special achievement in investigative and analytic journalism, has been presented to a journalist with TV B92, Ljubica Gojgic.
(Danas, 09.06.2012)

The "Milan Pantic" Award for Journalistic Courage, which has been awarded by the company "Novosti" for 11 years, was given to Andrija Igic, the correspondent of Radio-Television Serbia (RTS) from Pristina.
(Politika, Vecernje Novosti, 08.06.2012)

A writer from Novi Sad and a member of the Council of the Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina (NDNV), Laslo Vegel, is the recipient of this year's award "Konstantin Obradovic" for advancement of the culture of human rights.
(Beta, NDNV, 20.06.2012)

The media audience

After the completed initial revision, members have been offered the data about circulation of the daily newspaper in Hungarian Language – Magyar Szo. The data covers the period since September 2011 and in the future will be published each month.
(ABC Newsletter, 19.06.2012)

Media transfers

After 12 years, the editor-in-chief of the news programme of TV Pink, Tanja Jordovic, left the company. Experienced journalists and editor Goran Gmitric is the new editor-in-chief of the news programme of TV Pink. He has worked for TV Pink since 2005, first as an editor, and later as the deputy editor-in-chief of the news programme. He had also worked as the media advisor of the Minister for Kosovo and Metohija of the Government of the Republic of Serbia.
(Politika, Blic, Vecernje Novosti, Informer, Alo!, 08.06.2012)

Anniversaries

The news agency Beta celebrated yesterday the 18 years since its inception by giving an award to the journalists of the year and by giving letters of thanks to employees who have been employed by Beta for more than 10 years. Slavica Radulovic, a correspondent from Kosovska Mitrovica, is a recipient of the Journalist of the Year Award for her extraordinary reporting on the crisis in North Kosovo.
(Press, 15.06.2012)

The daily newspaper Danas celebrated its 15th birthday by organizing an event with its readers and passers-by in downtown Belgrade.
(Danas, 11.06.2012)

Mary Warlick made a statement on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the daily newspaper Danas: "Bravely and despite the strong resistance of the then government, Danas played a crucial role in informing and encouraging citizens to express their democratic spirit, which has been reawakened in 2000. Achievements of the daily newspaper Danas have been recognized and awarded. We remember that in May 2002, Danas received the most prestigious award entitled "Free Media Pioneer", given by the International Press Institute located in Vienna. The American Freedom Forum, which is an independent international foundation dedicated to the freedom of the press and freedom of speech, is one of the sponsors of the Award. We congratulate Danas on 15 successful years and wish it success in the future!"
(Danas, 09.06.2012)

In Memoriam

A journalist and a member of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), Vladimir Jankovic, passed away at the age of 82. He began his journalistic career in 1955 in the magazine Nasa Rec, where he later became the editor-in-chief.
(UNS, Beta, Politika, 20.06.2012)

After a long and serious illness, a long-time journalist with TV Belami in Nis, Marija Ristic Andrejevic, passed away at the age of 49. She was a journalist whose work confirmed the old journalistic saying – "the news is what someone is trying to hide, everything else is only marketing."
(Danas, 16.06.2012)

On the ocassion of the 15h birthday of VK Radio from Kikinda, a promotion of the book "The Memory of Sinisa Jakonic" was held in the Cultural Center of Banat. Sinisa Jakonic worked as a correspondent for the daily newspaper Danas between 1999 and 2006. He passed away last year. Sinisa Jakonic cooperated with numerous magazines, and in 2002 he published the documentary-historical-autobiographical book "Crimes of Milosevic's Secret Police". He cooperated with RTV VK since the founding of the media company.
(Danas, 13.06.2012)