The Future Has Started

The future of the local press in Serbia, although at the time no one realized it, could be glimpsed in 2004 when the "Timok" newspaper was purchased by a certain confectioner from Raska. He was very disappointed after seeing empty offices with only a several typewriters in them and soon gave up on the deal. "Timok" later became a branch of "Narodne Novine", a newspaper published in Nis, whose (actual) owner was Vitko Radomirovic, the head of the "Belle Amie" TV station. There was nothing peculiar about this transaction, apart from the fact that with the paper Mr Radomirovic had also acquired several hundred square meters of highly valued commercial premises in the very center of Nis.

Another highlight of Serbian privatization of local print media is the sale of "Cacanski Glas" to a high school student, Milos Bojovic, whose father, Zoran, already owns half of the town.

Around the same time, Dusan Stupar, a former head of the Belgrade section of the secret police, Udba, more widely known by the newspaper column "Vojko and Savle", had aready bought numerous media outlets in Vojvodina. "Vojvodina Info" became the owner of local newspapers in Sombor, Vrsac, Subotica, Kikinda...

Why are these media outlets and these individuals significant when discussing the future of Serbian local print media? The answer is simple: these outlets and these people are the "future".

Before October 5, 2000 there were around 20 independent local newspapers in Serbia, mostly members of the Association of Independent Local Media Outlets, "Local Press". Some of these outlets – like "Nezavisna Svetlost" from Kragujevac, "Kikindske", "Smederevska Sedmica", "Borske", "Moj Kovin" – were exposed to harassment by the then regime, but kept their spirit up and gave a huge contribution to democratic changes in their communities. In almost all of these media outlets, "the locals" were more of the fighters against the regime than journalists in a true sense of the word. Frankly speaking, this was the only available choice during Milosevic's dictatorship. Most of these outlets are now closed or near closure. Unprepared to face the new environment, without assistance from anyone and exposed to brutal market conditions, they have disappeared, becoming victims of the media transition. One of the reasons for this was the fact that they had not asked for state's help after "our" side seized the power.

After the democratic changes, the other, municipal newspapers, continued doing what they had done previously – mostly propagandistic journalism – but for another master. They were well-paid by municipalities. Soon thereafter, privatization came as a rude awakening, but soon proved to be a false alarm. Later on, after people like Radomirovic, Bojovic, Stupar and others came on stage, propagandist comrades continued their work without worrying about who their bosses were or what was the editorial policy of the moment. They had never worried about such things, so why change habits?

The few truly independent local media outlets that managed to survive all the dangers present in the "democratic Serbia" faced the economic crisis of 2009. A drastic drop in purchasing power was only the tip of the iceberg. If there is one threat that has the potential to wipe out the independent local press, it has to be the bankruptcy of "Futura" and huge cuts in marketing budgets of banks, insurance companies and mobile providers. According to some analyses, this stream of revenue in the local media decreased by no less than 40% in 2009 as compared to the previous year. It goes without saying that marketing revenue on the local level has been halved in most of media outlets due to the crisis, meaning that the most important source of income was reduced to obituaries.

There is no available data on how much "Futura" owes to the local press, but from what could be heard during certain events, the sums amount to several hundred thousand dinars on average. These amounts of money may be considered pocket change in case of newspapers like "Blic" or "Novosti", but taking into account the bankruptcy of "Futura" and the impossibility of collecting the outstanding debts, it may easily be the straw that broke the camel's back.

Some of the local print media outlets, after the loud announcements from the Ministry of Culture, hoped for a bailout by the state. It turned out to be a false hope. Announcements of assistance to local media – apart from a highly suspicious selection of recipients – proved only that the government has no long-term strategy with regard to all local media outlets, not only the local press. Project funds in the amount of 300,000-400,000 dinars – the amount of an average grant – cannot replace long-term measures that are actually necessary if Serbia truly cares about the local press. As it seems, it does not care. Not because the assistance was offered to "Diskos" from Aleksandrovac, but because no one from the Ministry has given any thought to this subject. When asked about the problem, the universal reply is that "the market will decide on their future...".

But, what market? The market that is territorially limited, ravaged by the economic crisis and criminal privatization, populated by citizens who cannot afford food on their table, let alone newspapers, while the state i.e. the local self-government has become the biggest advertiser.

Economic independence is a crucial precondition for an independent editorial policy. Unfortunately, the local press in Serbia will feel the harshness of this axiom of journalism during this and the following years. If you want to know what awaits them in the future, look at the beginning of this text.

Vukasin Obradovic

MC Newsletter,
March 12, 2010