Professional standars

Ivana Vujanov writes: “It is evident that we are nearing the mental freezing point. According to research on most-watched programmes conducted by the Nielsen Media agency, among the top-positioned recently broadcast shows are the “Adulterers” on TV Pink and “Family Secrets” on TV Prva. After the scenes of violence that were aired at 5.00, the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA) has launched proceedings against TV Pink because of violation of the Law on Broadcasting.
(Dnevnik – Special Supplement, 27.10.2012)

The Complaint Committee of the Press Council has unanimously decided that the daily newspapers Press and Politika had violated the Code provisions on the obligation to state sources and the obligation to publish a response, respectively, said the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) yesterday.
(UNS, Beta, Pregled, Politika, 31.10.2012)

The electronic media report more ethically on violence against and among children as compared to the print media. Although most of the published articles in the press does not violate the journalistic code of conduct and the rights of the child, the most high-profile articles – those featured on the front pages – usually violate this code. Ethical standards are honored in around two thirds of the articles, while in less than a third the journalistic code has been violated with regard to children's rights and the best interest of the child. Full identity of children was revealed in almost 30 percent of published articles. Unnecessary ethnical identification was evident in around 15 percent of the articles.
(UNS, 01.11.2012, Dnevnik, NUNS, 02.11.2012)

The director of Radio-Television Serbia (RTS) brutally insulted students of journalism at a lecture he recently held on the Faculty of Political Science, reports the daily newspaper Kurir. Instead of receiving advice on methods in journalism, shocked students were insulted by this master of journalism. He began his lecture by calling the students “the useless generation”.
(Kurir, NUNS, 01.11.2012)

“I did not insult the students! My words were aimed against silicone lips, breasts and other such beauties in our journalism, who are unfortunately present in every media outlet in Serbia”, explains the director of RTS, Aleksandar Tijanic.
(Kurir, NUNS, 02.11.2012)

At the annual Assembly of the Association, held today, representatives of news agencies from Southeast Europe called on all users to stop violating copyright and related rights by using news, photographs and other products of news agencies without authorization.
(Tanjug, NUNS, 02.11.2012)

Ivana Vujanov writes: “The programme of Serbian Science Television is still in the experimental phase and is being broadcast for six hours a day, which is exactly six hours more than the amount of science programme broadcast by the public service broadcaster of Serbia. RTS is still avoiding its legal obligation to broadcast a significant percentage of science, educational and documentary programme. Incredibly, in the last year RTS broadcast only 0.41 and 7.08 percent of science-educational and documentary programmes, respectively.
(Dnevnik – Special Supplement, 03.11.2012)

The head of the Traffic Police, Dragisa Simic, said that he would ensure that the investigation about the incident involving the vehicles from the presidential convoy is quick and successful. He called on the media to refrain from sensationalism.
(Tanjug, NUNS, RTV, 06.11.2012)

Awards, training courses and competitions

Marko Somborac, a caricaturist with the daily newspaper Blic, has received the Dusan Bogavac Award for Ethics and Courage in Journalism. During the ceremony held in the premises of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), he thanked the jury, the readers and the newspaper Blic, as well as “the previous and current governments, the president and the parliament for their contribution to his work”.
(24 sata, Blic, 25.10.2012)

Photo-reporters with the company Ringier Axel Springer – Marko Djurica, Nebojsa Markovic and Oksana Krutenyuk – are the recipients of awards in three categories at the national public contest “Press Photo Serbia 2012”. The main award, NSPlakata, in the amount of 1,000 euros was given to Marko Risovic for his photograph “East of Paradise”.
(NIN, 25.10.2012)

This year's Djoko Vjestica Award for Humanism in Journalism, established by the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) and the company Lemiks from Belgrade, was given to Silvija Slamnig, a journalist with the daily newspaper Kurir, and Sadik Hamidovic, journalists with the internet radio station Radio Veselje from the city of Nis.
(UNS, 25.10.2012, Kurir, 26.10.2012, Kurir, 27.10.2012)

The Association of Journalists of Serbia and Montenegro gave yesterday the Lifetime Achievement Award to journalists Dimitrije Boarov, Miodrag Vukovic and Rodoljub Petrovic. Dimitrije Boarov reports on economy, Rodoljub Petrovic is the RTS and Tanjug correspondent from Cacak, while Miodrag Vukovic has worked as the editor of Pobjeda from Montenegro, a columnist and a TV critic.
(Beta, Politika, Pregled, 30.10.2012)

The traditional Politika Award for Best Directing at BITEF was presented yesterday to its 35th recipient, a young Belgrade director, Milos Lolic, for his play “Blood Weddings” (“Krvave Svadbe“).
(Tanjug, Pregled, 31.10.2012)

German organization for international cooperation, GIZ, and the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), organize a two-day seminar for journalists entitled “Professional Reporting on the Process of Harmonization of Legislation of the Republic of Serbia with EU Norms and Legal Foundation”. The seminar for 10 journalists from Belgrade media outlets and 10 journalists from regional and local media outlets will be held on 19-20 November 2012 in Best Western Hotel M in Belgrade.
(NUNS 02.11.2012)

Media audience

A report issued by the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA) shows that the electoral list “Choice for Better Life” and Boris Tadic had the most airtime on all television stations during the election campaign for elections held this year.
(Kurir, Politika, Vecernje novosti, 30.10.2012)

According to official information from ABC Serbia, an average number of 114,648 copies of the daily newspaper Novosti were sold each day in September, which is 7,017 copies more than the number sold by the daily newspaper Blic (107,631) and 4,772 more than the newspaper Alo! (109,876), whose price is 15 dinars.
(Vecernje novosti, 02.11.2012)

The editorial team of the daily newspaper Informer calls on the authorities and professional journalistic associations to immediately investigate whether the reports on sales and ratings of daily newspapers in Serbia are being falsified.
(Informer, Kurir, NUNS, 02.11.2012)

The number of readers per copy of certain daily newspapers has increased almost four-fold in a year, despite the fact that their circulation has dropped drastically. A copy of these newspapers is being read by no less than nine individual readers, which is a number that is several times larger than the worldwide average! This record number is stated in official records of the sold circulation and total number of readers, which have been suspected by some publishers – among them the daily newspaper Kurir – for years.
(Kurir, 03.11.2012)

“In the previous week, two tabloids (Kurir and Informer) expressed their doubt in credibility of the certificates issued by ABC Serbia about the circulation of other newspapers (but not their own) covered by the ABC auditing system”, said yesterday the company ABC Serbia and warned that the intention behind these criticism was dangerous and aimed at confusing the situation in the media scene of Serbia. “One of these two tabloids [Kurir] had already been thrown out from ABC Serbia, while the other one is being subjected to additional auditing”.
(ABC Srbija, Newsletter, FoNet, Alo!, Blic, Blic online, UNS, NUNS, 06.11.2012)

Media transfers

The public service broadcaster of Vojvodina, Radio-Television Vojvodina (RTV), has announced a public contest for the position of the editor-in-chief of Radio Novi Sad.
(NDNV, 30.10.2012)

Anniversaries

The president of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), Ljiljana Smajlovic, presented today awards for 50 years of membership in the UNS to Vitomiru Bujisic, Rastko Guzina, Dusan Drazic, Branislav Jovanovic, Milica Knezevic, Nedeljka Popovic, Miroslava Putnik, Milena Radosavljevic and Kosta Rakic, thanking them for their loyalty to UNS.
(UNS, 24.10.2012)

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ljubisa Vukadinovic, the veterans of football clubs Crvena Zvezda, Napredak and Trstenik will revive a tournament in Trstenik, its birthplace. The tournament is dedicated to the greatest sport journalist and editor of the daily Politika, whose fame rivaled that of the greatest football players in the former Yugoslavia.
(Politika, 29.10.2012)

A local radio station, Radio Han, which operates within the public company “Informativni Pres Centar”, celebrates 16 years of existence.
(Vecernje novosti, UNS, 01.11.2012)

The weekly magazine Zrenjanin has celebrated six decades of continuous publication. With a circulation of 11,000 copies per issue, putting to shame many weekly magazines in Serbia and beyond. Today, the majority owner of the newspaper is the media group “Info Local”, while its privatization has contributed to more pronounced commercial orientation of the newspaper.
(Vecernje novosti, UNS, 01.11.2012)

According to numerous opinions and polls, one of the most moving photographs of the Second World War is the one that shows a young revolutionary, Stevan Filipovic, standing with a noose around his neck, under the gallows, in the center of the city of Valjevo on 22 May 1942. On 4 November 1944, the daily Politika was the first to publish the photograph on its cover page. Today, after seven decades, the marriage couple Korockin-Davidovic categorically claims that they discovered the identity of the person who made the photograph. In their words, the photograph was taken by then 17-year old Slobodanka Vasic, who at the time worked for the store held by Kosara Antic in Valjevo.
(Politika, 04.11.2012)

The weekly magazine Svet yesterday celebrated publication of its 800th issue in the Belgrade Hotel Hyatt Regency. The magazine is published by the company Color Press Group.
(ABC Srbija, Newsletter, 06.11.2012)

In Memoriam

A former editor of Ilustrovana Politika and a longtime member of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), Branko Djurica, passed away at the age of 78. During his career, he worked for Tehnicke Novine, Mladost, Politika Ekspres and Radio TV Reviji.
(Beta, Politika, Blic, 30.10.2012)

A journalist and a longtime member of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), Slobodan Nestorovic, passed away at the age of 71. After graduating from the university, he began working for the newspaper Narodne Novine in Nis, where he remained until his retirement in 2009.
(UNS, 30.10.2012)

A longtime editor of the cultural section of the daily Blic, Rasko Kovacevic, passed away this morning after a long and difficult illness. He worked as a journalist for the newspaper Borba and Radio Belgrade, where he hosted the night programme.
(UNS, 08.11.2012)