All the journalists and editors from the revered weekly magazine have walked out, citing fears that the new owner will change its concept – and will start a new publication.
The entire editorial staff of the Serbian weekly magazine NIN have left and announced that they will continue to work in a new weekly magazine. In a collective statement, they explained that they wanted to keep their professional integrity.
“The new owner of NIN d.o.o. Jelena Drakulic Petrovic announced a change in the conception of the weekly NIN, but she did not assure us that we will be able to continue doing our work as before – uncompromisingly and guided exclusively by the imperatives of professional journalism,” their statement said.
United Media announced later that they will form a new weekly magazine within this media group.
“The current editorial staff of NIN, together with Vesna Malisic and Milan Culibrk, will be part of the new weekly edition, which will soon be in front of readers across the country,” media portal N1 published as part of the United Media statement.
NIN got a new owner in the form of its former general director Jelena Drakulic Petrovic in August 2023. It was owned previously by the Swiss company Ringier for 14 years.
Drakulic Petrovic said then that they would “continue to nurture independence, trust and information and critically deal with socio-political events”.
NIN is one of the oldest newspapers in Serbia. It was established in 1935, but was soon banned. It continued to be published regularly in 1951.
It was often the target of attacks by the authorities. Some politicians, such as Vladimir Djukanovic, former deputy of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party or Nebojsa Stefanovic, a former minister, filed lawsuits against NIN because of its writings about their affairs and criminal activities.
Source: BalkanInsight
