Professional standards

The protector of citizens, the commissioner for information of public importance and protection of personal data, the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) and the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) strongly condemn the publication of information that allows identification of minors who are victims of criminal acts, inflicting additional suffering on them and their families. Recently, several articles have been published about a rape of a minor, together with photographs of her family's home, the name of her town and the street she lives in, as well as the initials of personal names, practically revealing her identity and making her situation even more difficult. Such articles have nothing in common with journalism, says their jointly issued press statement. Editorial teams and journalists from newspapers which publish such articles in an attempt to increase their circulation should find enough strength and courage to refrain from such impermissible practice, while regulatory bodies in this field should act proactively within the scope of their authority.
(UNS, NUNS, 07.08.2012, Dnevnik, Politika, 08.08.2012)

The Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) considers that the daily newspaper Blic has violated the Journalistic Code of Conduct of Serbia while reporting from the funeral of the murdered protege of the Center for Drug Addicts in Jadranska Lesnica. An article entitled "The Mother of Murdered Protege Does Not Appear at Her Only Son's Funeral", published on August 10, violated the ethical norms related to privacy, says NUNS.
(NUNS,13.08.2012, Beta, Danas, 14.08.2012)

In an article published by the daily newspaper Dnevnik, Ivana Vujanov says: "Having in mind the attacks on the sports journalist with RTS, Aleksandar Stanojevic, and his habit of revealing information collected from various interviews and gossip websites, we should not overlook the dangerous distortions of truth committed by his elder colleague, Dusan Korac, who has been saying for years that the American representation is not required to undergo anti-doping tests during the Olympics thanks to the American government's guarantees. Although we are already used to being shocked and amused by his patriotic and aesthetic twists, misrepresentation of information is a serious matter, especially when it relates to doping. Journalists are expected to offer verified information so that unverified or incorrect information would not end up being quoted in the media – which is exactly what happened to this news. It was eventually published on the websites of B92 and Blic.
(Dnevnik, 11.08.2012)

In an article published by the daily newspaper Politika, Branka Otasevic says: "In the last two week, what has been an alternative to live broadcasts of the Olympic Games from London, not taking into account the airing of sessions of the National Parliament? What was the alternative to political fights and debates for viewers who are not fans of sports? There is one domestic channel, offered by one of the domestic cable providers, which has continually been offering a very diverse and very interesting repertoire of films. As it name says, the "Yu" channels broadcasts films that were made in Yugoslavia.
(Politika, 12.08.2012)

Opinions, awards, training courses and competitions

The International Youth Media Summit is now taking place in Belgrade. The Summit has brought together participants from the USA, China, Japan and Panama to examine seven of the most important problems facing each country in the world – poverty, health care, environmentalism, discrimination, violence, women's rights and empowering of youth to use the media in the process of social changes. The Summit is attended by 80 participants from 26 countries. The participants will make films about these topics and record their activities during the Summit. At the same time, young people aged 15-22 will work on IT and media literacy.
(Danas, Politika, 04.08.2012)

The jury has decided to give the Ana Njemogova Kolarova Award, which is being awarded for the first time this year for articles about the Slovak national minority published in any language except Slovakian, to Mandica Knezevic, a journalist with Radio Novi Sad. She has won the Award for her radio report entitled "Craftsman Njemcek's Violins". The decision was supported by 80 percent of the jury's votes. Among other top contestants were the documentary film "Meskarke" by Brankica Draskovic (70%) and newspaper articles "Zuzana Cipkar and her Chimney Cleaner" by Zeljko Markovic (60%). The jury noted that the submitted works had not covered the whole range of available topics, and that many of the works fell into the trap of stereotypical concepts about the Slovak national minority. On the other hand, the jury welcomed the fact that the Slovak national minority has been the subject of reports published by the leading domestic media outlets like RTS, RTV and Dnevnik.
(NUNS, UNS, 06.08.2012, Alo!, 24 sata, Blic, Danas, 08.08.2012)

This year, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network will organize a school of investigative journalism in Mavrovo, Macedonia, on August 19-25, 2012. Like in the previous years, the attendees coming from the region will learn the basics of investigative journalism necessary for cooperation with editorial teams in the Balkans. The school will focus on investigation of corruption in the Balkans. The journalistic school is organized with support from the Open Society Institute from London, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the OSCE Missions to Kosovo and Macedonia, and the American Embassy in Skoplje.
(B92, UNS, 09.08.2012)

The traditional regional Press Media Summit will be held this in October of this year in Belgrade, and its main topic will be the cross-border sale of print media in the region. The event is aimed at examination of the issue of cross-border sale and consolidation of the regional print media market that would benefit all participants in the newspaper publishing industry. The estimated 200 participants will have a chance to exchange their opinions about crucial business issues, improvement of regional cooperation and development of the print media. Proposals and ideas related to the Summit can be sent to the email address office@abcsrbija.com.
(NDNV, 15.08.2012)

The Office of European Integration of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, in cooperation with the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) and with support from the Agency for International Assistance of the Kingdom of Sweden and the International Management Group (IMG), will organize a seminar for media professionals entitled "The Management of the Project Cycle". The seminar will be held on September 17-18, 2012. The goal of the training is to prepare the participants and strengthen their skills necessary for preparation and implementation of projects, as well as application for public contests for donations, with special emphasis on the public contests organized by the EU.
(NUNS, 15.08.2012)

The Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program at the Washington, D.C.-based National Endowment for Democracy, invites applications for fellowships in 2013-2014. For more information, visit www.ned.org/fellowships/reagan-fascell-democracy-fellows-program.
(NDNV, 15.08.2012)

Media visits

Laslo Sas, the journalist who was pardoned by the President of the Republic of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic on Friday, visited the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) after meeting with the president and thanked for the campaign led by UNS and other journalistic associations and the media. Sas was accompanied by a journalistic crew from TV K23 from Subotica, which reported on his meeting with the president and his visit to the UNS.
(UNS, 07.08.2012)

The media audience

According to a report by the auditing company ABC, the daily newspaper Vecernje Novosti holds the first position in Serbia with regard to the number of their sold and printed copies. The newspaper is followed by Blic, Press, Politika... ABC points out that the newspapers in Serbia have sold less copies this year than in the previous year.
(Vecernje novosti, NUNS, UNS, 06.08.2012)

The website www.alexa.com has published a list of 500 most-visited website in the world in 2012. The four most popular websites are Google, Facebook, YouTube and Yahoo – the same as in the previous year.
(B92, UNS, NUNS, 15.08.2012)

Media transfers

During the following several weeks, the editorial team of the Morning Programme of RTS, led by Dusica Tasic, will feature Olivera Kovacevic and Olivera Jovicevic. While the permanent members of the morning programme staff, Maja Nikolic and Natasa Miljkovic, are having their summer vacation, the Monday, Wednesday and Friday shows will be hosted by the author of the programme "Yes, Maybe, No", while Tuesday and Thursday shows will be hosted by the editor of "The Question Mark".
(Vecernje Novosti, 12.08.2012)

The city news center Apolo Novi Sad has announced a public contest for the position of the edior-in-chief of TV Novosadska during the following four years.
(Apolo, NDNV, 14.08.2012)

In Memoriam

The chess player and journalist Svetozar Gligoric has passed away in Belgrade at the age of 89. Gligoric was a member of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) since 1947. During his journalistic career, he worked as a journalist and foreign policy editor. He worked for the newspapers Borba (between 1945 and 1954) and NIN (between 1954 and 1960), as well as Radio-Television Belgrade. He was the recipient of the Golden Microphone Award.
(UNS,14.08.2012)