At a glance
members working in this country
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Serbian Media Scene vs. European Standards, Report based on Council of Europe's Indicators for Media in a Democracy, 2012
The report points out that the blind spot of the Serbian media system are informal alliances of ruling political forces and big industrial and commercial businesses which are allowed to infiltrate the media in a non-transparent way and fulfill through them the common interests of the state and the businesses.
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Freedom of the Press 2017: Serbia
Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić and allied media outlets, particularly the Informer tabloid, continued a campaign to portray investigative and critical media as foreign-backed propagandists.
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Freedom of the Press 2016: Serbia
In June 2015, a trial opened against four former state security officials accused of the 1999 murder of investigative journalist Slavko Ćuruvija.
2 October 1997
Alert
Authorities dismiss top management at Studio B television
Incident details
Zoran Ostojic, Lila Radonjic journalist(s) legal action(CPJ/IFEX) - On 30 September 1997, after ousting the opposition
mayor of Belgrade, Zoran Djindjic, from office, the combined
forces of the Serbian Socialists, Radicals and the Renewal
Movement moved to sack the top management at the popular
municipal television station Studio B TV and replace them with
their own supporters. Zoran Ostojic and Lila Radonjic, the
director and editor-in-chief, respectively, of Studio B TV, were
dismissed from their posts. They were quickly replaced by the
station's former director, Dragan Kojadinovic. (It was
Kojadinovic's program policies favouring the Serbian war lobby
which prompted over 100 employees to quit the station in 1993.)
The station's entire board of directors was also sacked and
replaced by members of the Serbian Renewal Movement, the Radical
and Socialist parties. Aleksander Cotric, a member of Vuk
Draskovic's Renewal Movement, was appointed to head the new
board.
Since the mass demonstrations in 1996 that brought the opposition
to power in Belgrade and other cities, Ostojic and Radonjic
helped make Studio B TV more diverse and professional. Before
losing control of the station, the staff of Studio B TV broadcast
live footage of the unfolding events, as well as calls to
citizens to attend an evening opposition rally.
Several thousand Belgrade residents demonstrated on 30 September
in the city centre against the removal of Djindjic and the
managers of Studio B TV. Scores of police wielding batons beat
and detained protesters. The Association of Independent
Electronic Media (ANEM) in Serbia has protested the hasty,
politically-motivated overthrow of Studio B TV's management, whom
they regarded as impartial and professional. ANEM leaders
complained that the television officials were dismissed without
public knowledge and expressed fear that the new managers would
place party interests before the public interest.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
the personnel and editorial policies of any media outlet, be it
public or privately-owned
politically-motivated attempt to silence the only alternative
television station in Belgrade
on press freedoms and President Slobodan Milosevic's personal
pledge to CPJ to guarantee the rights of journalists and media
organizations to work freely, without political interference, and
to ensure a diversity of views in the media
Appeals To
His Excellency Slobodan Milosevic
President
Republic of Serbia
Fax: +381 11 656 862 / 682 167 / 682 850 / 636 775
His Excellency Zoran Lilic
President
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Fax: +381 11 656 862 / 682 167
Ministry of Information
Republic of Serbia
Fax: +381 11 685 937 / 659 370
e-mail: mirs@eunet.yu
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
Source
Committee to Protect Journalists
330 7th Ave., 11th Floor
New York, NY 10001
USA
info (@) cpj.org
Fax:+1 212 4659568
- Most covered free expression issues in this country