PODGORICA, 18.11.2019. – There are more than 140 media on the small Montenegrin market with 625,000 inhabitants. According to the official registry of the Agency for Electronic Media (AEM) most of them are web portals – 57, including the few which are not registered but produce informative media content from Montenegro. There are 53 radio stations, out of which 16 public broadcasters (2 programs of the national radio and 14 local public broadcasters) and 37 private radio stations. Additionally, there are 22 television or TV channels. The national public broadcaster has 3 TV channels. In addition, there are 3 private television stations with national coverage, as well as 5 local public television. The other 11 are cable television. In Montenegro, there are 4 daily newspapers, 1 weekly newspapers, several periodical newspapers and 1 news agency.

Analysis of the financial statements from the website of the Tax Administration of Montenegro for 70 major media outlets, which generate over 95 percent of total revenues, shows that in 2018 they together earned about 35.7 million. Expenses amounted nearly 35.4 million, which means that the final profit amounted around 300 thousand euros. If we consider the remaining, less media, which are not included in this analysis, we can say that the Montenegrin media sector last year earned about 36 million euros. However, almost half, or at least 16.5 million, came from public sources (from the state budget and budget of local governments) while 19.5 million consists of income from marketing, other services or grants of their founders.

Public broadcasting services

The national public broadcaster Radio-Television of Montenegro (RTCG) has the biggest amount of the money in Montenegro. Within the RTCG there are 6 media, 3 television channels (Prvi, Drugi and Satellite channel), two programs of Radio of Montenegro and the RTCG portal. According to the financial report for 2018, the RTCG has earned nearly 14 million euros in total. The largest part of that, or 12.5 million came directly from the state budget while 1.17 million came from marketing and other commercial revenues, such as donations which generate 180 thousand euros. Total expenditures amounted to 13.32 million euros, out of which the most, 7.84 million, was allocated to salaries of employees. At the end of 2018, the Public Broadcasting Service has 717 employees. Finally, at the end of 2018 the RTCG had profit of 650 thousand euros. The financial report has highlighted that the Public Broadcasting Service has a debt of over 3 million euros to the radio-Difussion Center, as well as accumulated losses from previous years, which will be partly covered from the profit made in 2018.

Additionally, in Montenegro, there are 14 local public broadcasters founded by municipalities and are mostly funded from local budgets. All of them have radio stations, most of them in recent years launched web portals and 5 of them have TV channels.

The Radio Television (RTV) Budva has the largest budget among these media. Its last-year revenues amounted nearly to 950,000 euros, out of which 810,000 came from the local budget and the revenue from advertising and other revenues amounted to 140,000. Total expenditures amounted around 850,000 which means that the RTV Budva made profit amounting to around 95,000 euros and had 53 employees.

Radio-Television (RTV) Niksic has a smaller budget than RTV Budva but the largest number of employees among the local public broadcasters. In 2018 there were 69 employees. Last year, the RTV Niksic ended the business year with the surplus amounting to around 11,000 euros, with total revenues of 752.5 thousand euros (over 600,000 from municipality of Niksic and almost 130 thousand from marketing), while expenses amounted slightly more than 740,000 euros.

Among local public broadcasters, which have radio and television channels, the Radio-Television (RTV) Rozaje had the biggest revenue minus. Reported loss amounted to more than 90,000 euros, with revenues of 200,000 (which are almost all from the local budget) and expenditure of 290,000. The RTV Rozaje had 25 employees in 2018.

The minus of nearly 70,000 was recorded in the Radio-Television (RTV) Pljevlja. Total revenue was approximately 312,000 euros and total expenditure at around 380,000 while in this media there was 32 employees.
Radio – Television (RTV) Cetinje, which has not have the classic television channel but reporters film the TV reports and then broadcast  them on their web  portal, ended last year with a minus of 12.5 thousand. Total revenues amounted to 170,000 (out of which 138.5 thousand from the budget of the old royal capital of Cetinje) and expenses 182.5 thousand. 14 people worked in this media.

Radio – Television (RTV) Ulcinj, which, also, has not formed the television yet, (only radio), ended 2018 with a loss of 26,000 euros. Operating revenues amounted to 104,000 euros and 99 percent came from local budge, while expenditures amounted to 130,000. 10 people worked in this media. Accumulated losses from previous years has led to the fact that in 2019 they owed up to 15 salaries to their employees.

Radio Bar, with 25 employees, had revenues amounting to 344.5 thousand euros, expenses amounting to 343.2 thousand, while net profit at year-end amounted to 1.3 thousand euros.

Radio Herceg Novi, which during 2019 launched TV channel, ended last year with surplus amounting around 15,000 euros. Revenue came in the amount of 253,000 euros and expenses amounted to 238,000 for 20 employees. Radio Tivat 2018 ended with a minus of 1.3 thousand euros. Revenues, almost all from the local budget, amounted to around 254,000 euros and expenses to 255,000. It had 16 employees.

Radio Kotor had surplus around 6.5 thousand euros, with revenues amounting to 179,000, again, mostly from the local budget and 172,000 of expenses, and 13 employees.

Radio Bijelo Polje during 2018 had 12 employees and a net profit of 7.5 euros. Incomes are mainly from the local budget, about 183.5 thousand and the total expenses amounted to 176 thousand. Radio Berane was finished 2018 in the red by more than 50 thousand. Expenses were almost 206 thousand euros and revenues 155.5 thousand, including nearly 144 from the local budget, and 11.7 thousand of marketing. In this media, there were 23 employees who are in the worst position of the media in the north of the country because they are owed for years 8 salaries.

The smallest among local public broadcasters, Radio Andrijevica and Radio Danilovgrad, variously operated last year. Radio Danilovgrad with 8 employees had a profit of 2.5 thousand euros, with all the revenue from the local budget amounting to 93.5 thousand euros and expenses which amounted to 91 thousand. Radio Andrijevica has more employees, 10, as well as lower revenues amounting to 77.3 thousand euros and expenses to 78 thousand. So, this media operated with 767 euros of loss.

In general, local public broadcasters in 2018 had all together just over 4 million of revenue, which, along with the RTCG, makes 18 million euros, mainly from the public budget. When we combine their financial statements for 2018, they had a total loss of about 100,000 euros. The problem with the significant number of this media is accumulated losses from previous years, which in some cases measured in hundreds of thousands of euros, which was formed mainly due to accumulated debts for contributions for 330 employees.

Newspapers

The highest income among private Montenegrin media in 2018 were realized by newspapers, some of which have portals.

During last year, daily newspaper “Dan” achieved net profit of 108,000 euros. Revenues were almost to 3.5 million, nearly all from the direct sale of newspapers and marketing, and expenses were nearly 3.4 million. The “Jumedia mont” company, which publishes “Dan” also includes two radio stations –”D” and “D+”. 87 people were employed in these 3 media during 2018.

The daily newspaper ,,Vijesti” and its web – portal, two media within the company Daily Press, in 2018 made a profit of almost 165,000 euros. Total revenues were nearly 3.1 million, out of which 95 percent, or 2.95 million consisted of marketing and selling newspapers. 118 people were worked in these media.

Nova Pobjeda, which publishes the oldest Montenegrin daily “Pobjeda”, last year ended with a plus of just over 100,000 euros. Total revenues were approximately 2.5 million, expenses 2.4 million euros and they employed 114 people.

The only Montenegrin daily newspaper, operated with the loss last year, is “Dnevne novine”. It had total loss of 95,000 euros. This newspaper earns much less than the others and in 2018 generated 700 thousand euros but expenses were amounted to 795 thousand. It was a lot less employees, 45.

The only Montenegrin weekly newspaper “Monitor” had loss of 1,3 thousand euros last year. Total revenues amounted around 110,000, expenses 111.3 thousand and it had 5 employees.

These data shows that the Montenegrin daily and periodic press are still stable, although in recent years a decrease in circulation of almost all print media in Montenegro has been registered. There are more and more web portals which attract the attention of public. However, the marketing share for print media was at the level of several million euros. It is impossible to reveal the exact amount of marketing income from the financial statements because the total revenues of the print media in Montenegro in 2018 amounted to almost 10 million with over 90% of them coming from sale, also including the sale of newspapers at newsstands. In general, the Montenegrin newspapers in 2018 ended with a total profit of 290,000 euros and this was achieved with 350 employees. However, some newspapers have a large tax debt from the previous period which is repayable at the moment, as well as accumulated losses from previous years.

Television

At the scale of revenues among private media in Montenegro, second place is occupied by the television. In 2018, some TVs had significantly higher profits than newspapers. However, some of them had a great loss.

In 2018, Television “Vijesti” had total revenues of 2.1 million euros and expenditures of slightly more than 1.7 million, which means that the net profit, after taxation, was almost 400,000 euros. It is the largest profit among Montenegrin private media in the past year and was achieved with 68 employees.

TV Nova M had a loss of 773,000 euros last year, the largest reported among Montenegrin private media. They had high revenues of nearly 1.95 million as well as a huge expenditure of over 2.75 million. This is possibly a result of the fact that, during 2018, its owners had additional costs and investment when purchasing the TV Pink Montenegro. This television after buying were renamed to “Nova M” and it had 67 employees.

The third private television station with national coverage in Montenegro, Television Prva, had a profit of 10,000 euros in 2018. Total revenues were 1.62 and expense 1.61 million. There were 41 employees in the TV Prva.

Immediately after the previous Pink M was sold and renamed the Nova M, its former owner was re-established in Montenegro the cable channel Pink M. For 4 months of last year he had a loss of 26 thousand euros. This was the income and total expenses were 52 thousand and had only 2 employees.

TV A1, which is established on the basis of the former Atlas TV (which is in bankruptcy), operated with a loss in 2018. In the financial report of its founder, the company Atlas Media Group, a loss of nearly 250,000 euros has been reported. Total revenues were only 15,000 euros and expenses almost 265,000. 9 people worked for the Television A1.

Cable TV “Corona” from Bar had profit of 22,000 euros in 2018, with revenues of just over 60 thousand and an expense of 38,000 euros, with 2 employees.

Cable TV “San” from Bijelo Polje had a loss of 2.5 thousand euros. 4 employees generated an income of 52.5 thousand euros while total expenses amounted to 55,0000 euros.

Cable TV “Novi” from Herceg Novi had a loss of 33,000 euros in 2018. Revenues amounted to 23.5 thousand euros and expenses to 56.5 thousand. This television reported that have only one employee.

TV Teuta achieved the best business results among private cable TV. This TV from Ulcinj realized a profit in 2018 of more than 70,000 euros. Revenues amounted to 465,000 and expenses to 395,000. 14 people worked in TV Teuta.

Television “Srpska” is one of the cable televisions, as a media of the minority Serbian population in Montenegro, largely financed by the Fund for the protection and exercise of minority rights which is a part of the state budget. Last year, together with “Srpski” radio, it generated a little loss of 400 euros, with revenues of 168.1 thousand euros (of which 35.7 thousand euros from commercials) and expenditures of 168.5 thousand euros and did not have any permanent employee.

Considering major cable television in Montenegro, there are no available data about operations of TV 7 (formerly TV 777), as its founder is company Lottery of Montenegro, whose main activity is gambling. Together, gaming and television, according to the financial report, brought a net loss for this company of over 250,000 euros.

Therefore, in general, the private television stations had the worst operating result of all media in 2018. Despite the fact that they generated revenue of nearly 6.5 million, out of which about 6 million came from advertising (which means that the marketing share for all television is over 7 million if we add 1.17 million euros of  the RTCG marketing revenue), the total loss was almost 600,000 euros. In addition, some broadcasters have large accumulated losses from prior periods and the tax debts to be paid, which can be a challenge in the future.

Web portals

The CDM Portal had the largest profit among Montenegrin portals in 2018 and it amounted over 66,000 euros. Revenues amounted to 210,000 euros and costs to 144,000 euros. There was 10 people in the portal.

Portal Analitika had a profit of just over 1,000 euros. Revenues were 150 thousand and costs 149 thousand for 10 employees.

Portal Standard had net income of about 10.5 thousand euros. Total revenue was almost 154,000 and expenses of nearly 144,000 euros. It was 5 people in this portal.

Portal IN4S operated with a loss of 3.7 thousand. Its revenues amounted to 30.5 but expenses to 34.2 thousand euros and it was reported only 1 employee in this media.

From the portal of the Tax Administration of Montenegro, we were unable to find reports on the operations of the youngest portals: FOS media and Borba.

Part of influential portals operates as a part of the daily newspapers such as Portal ”Vijesti”, that was launched in 2011. During 2019, the same thing was done by daily “Pobjeda”. Also, within the national public service there is a portal of Radio-Television of Montenegro (RTCG). The largest private radio station – Radio Antena M has portal as well. As data on the operations of these portals are in the financial statements of their “older brothers”, it is impossible to accurately calculate the value of the digital media sector in Montenegro.

Radio stations and news agencies

The minimum profits of Montenegrin media were reported among radio stations. The Radio Antena M had the largest profit that in 2018, with its portal, amounted to 5.5 thousand euros. Total revenues amounted to 302.5 thousand euros and expenses amounted to 297 thousand euros. This radio employed 15 people.

In addition to Antena M, there are 36 private radio stations in Montenegro. One of them is founded by church. Radio Svetigora, the media of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral ended last year with a loss of almost 7.5 thousand euros. The revenue amounted to 40.5 thousand and expenses to 48 thousand euros. The one employee. Most other private radios have a few employees, too, so it does not have a large annual income. Slightly higher revenues in the last year were reported by private Radio Skala from Kotor, 57 thousand, but the costs were 81 thousand and the final loss was almost 24 thousand euros. In this radio there were 4 employees. Also, Radio Jadran from Herceg Novi, which has 3 employees, was up 4.8 thousand euros, with an income of 50 thousand.

The only Montenegrin news agency MINA in 2018 had a profit of 9.5 thousand euros. Total revenues were 183 thousand and expenses 173.5 thousand. 13 people were worked in this media.

This article has been produced with the support of the European Endowment for Democracy (EED). Its contents do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of EED. Responsibility for the information and views expressed in this publication lies entirely with the author.

Prishtina, 16. 11. 2019 – For the first time since its establishment, the Association of Journalists of Kosovo – AJK and the Kosovo Bar Association – OAK have signed the Memorandum of Understanding, which will provide free legal protection and representation for all members of AJK.

“The OAK will offer free legal representation and protection to the members of AJK, in the cases when they are going to be court procedures regarding their job, including legal consultancy for AJK, which will help the members to do their job,” is written on the MoU signed by the President of AJK – Gentiana Begolli Pustina and the President of OAK – Osman Havolli.

Through this MoU, the signatories have been committed to cooperate in different fields.

The President of AJK, Begolli Pustina said that is one of the most important agreements for AJK, considering that the majority of our colleagues for the reason of low salaries and the high cost of legal services have been handicapped to protect their rights.

In these kinds of circumstances where are many threatening cases and impeding journalists to do their job, legal protection is more than necessary. I thank the President of OAK – Mr. Osman Havolli, who decided to sign the MoU in the 46 anniversary of Kosovo Bar Association, said Begolli Pustina.

It is a further step of AJK’s efforts to assist its members in order to improve the environment and to make their job easier.

BELGRADE, 15.11.2019. – N1’s Director Jugoslav Cosic said on Thursday he would file criminal charges against “some pro-regime media” for “organised and planned campaign” against him and denied accusations he was “paid Kosovo lobbyist,” the news agencies reported, carrying his statement.

Cosic said that the Keyconnection Media d.o.o. whose co-owner he was, was established in 2005 and registered as an agency dealing with the TV industry.

“Besides production, consultancy, education and marketing, the company has been cooperating with civil society and competed for different grants as did other agencies and production groups for 14 years,” Cosic said.

He added that the company had not a single financial violation and that all data about its businesses were accessible at the Business Registers Agency (APR).”

“When I started working with Adria News d.o.o. in 2015, I resigned as the Keyconnection Media d.o.o. CEO and quit. Since then, I’m only a shareholder and don’t have any operational or managing duties in the company,” Cosic said.

He added that the scans of illegally obtained documents which Bogoljub Pjescic published proved that Keyconnection Media cooperated with IREX and the US embassy.

Cosic said that IREX’s $ 47,432.50 grant from ten years ago, was meant for several months of organisation, shooting, production and broadcasting across local TVs of a serial of public debates during which students talked to the ministers, held at the Youth House in Belgrade.

He added that “25,974.357 Dinars was a total amount of the US embassy grant as the aid for media in five years (2009-2013.) During that period, Cosic said, Keyconnection Media d.o.o. trained some 150 students in journalism and media.

Additionally, he said, the project included 60 TV half-hour shows broadcast as series on Studio B TV and many local TV channels, members of ANEM.

The Euro 249,862 income Keyconnection Media d.o.o. made in two years was based on the consultancy contract with the Albanian Gener2 company dealing with construction, telecommunications and retail.

“The contract was specifically about the foundation of a new A2 TV from Tirana, which is an exclusive CNN partner. Every paycheck went through the legal channel via National Bank of Serbia (NBS), and the tax was paid in full for the profit made,” Cosic said.

He pointed out that “the campaign of lies against me, led by Bogoljub Pjescic, an informant, (and the tabloids) Informer, Srpski Telegraf, Alo, as well as Marjan Risticevic, an MP has only one goal. To discredit and frightened me.”

“The informant Pejscic published documents about the Keyconnection Media d.o.o. that were obtained criminally, immediately after the announcement that the whistleblower Aleksandr Obradovic from Krusik factory will be my guest on the Pressing talk show. At that moment, he called me three times. The message is the campaign is meant to show that arms trade is a touchy topic, and it aims to frighten and endanger me,” Cosic said.

He added: “I have never had any contact with anyone’s lobbyist, not Kosovo’s not Albanian. This frightening campaign is an attempt to execute me as an independent journalist publically. In this country, where the journalists were killed and hurt, every such campaign must be taken seriously, and I’m taking it very seriously,” Cosic said.

BEOGRAD, 15.11.2019. – Direktor televizije N1 Jugoslav Ćosić je, povodom “organizovane i planirane kampanje” koju protiv njega vode “pojedini režimski mediji”, odbacio optužbe da je “plaćeni kosovski lobista” i najavio krivične prijave protiv svih aktera te kampanje.

Kako je naveo Jugoslav Ćosić u saopštenju, agencija Keyconnection Media d.o.o. čiji je suvlasnik, osnovana je 2005. godine i registrovana je kao agencija koja se bavi televizijskom industrijom.

“Pored ostalih produkcijskih, konsultantskih, edukativnih i marketinških aktivnosti, punih 14 godina sarađuje i sa civilnim sektorom konkurišući za različite grantove kao i brojne druge agencije i produkcijske grupe. Nikada nije imala nijedan finansijski prekršaj, svi podaci o poslovanju kao i akcionarima javno su dostupni na APR-u. Kada sam 2015. zaposlen u kompaniji Adria News d.o.o. dao sam ostavku na mesto direktora Keyconnection Media kao i otkaz. Od tada pa do danas sam isključivo akcionar i nemam nikakve operativne ili upravljačke aktivnosti u Keyconnection Media”, naveo je Ćosić.

Direktor N1 dodaje da se iz skena dokumenta koji je pribavljen krivičnim delom i koji je objavio Bogoljub Pješčić vidi da je Keyconnection Media sarađivao sa IREX-om i američkom ambasadom. Kaže da je IREX-ov grant od 47.432, 50 USD, od pre deset godina, bio namenjen višemesečnom projektu organizacije, snimanja, produkcije, kao i emitovanja na mreži lokanih televizija Srbije, serijala javnih debata u Domu Omladine, na kojima su studenti razgovarali sa ministrima u Vladi Srbije.

“25.974.357,00 dinara je ukupan iznos granta američke ambasade iz fonda za pomoć medijima, za period od pet godina (2009-2013). U tom periodu Keyconnection Media je obučila oko 150 studenata novinarstva i medija. Pored predavanja medija i obuka, rezultat tog projekta je 60 televizijskih polučasovnih emisija prikazivanih u formi serijala na TV Studio B i mnogobrojnim lokalnim TV stanicama iz Mreže ANEM. Prihod od 249.862 evra Keyconnection Media je ostvarila u periodu od dve godine, na osnovu konsultantskog ugovora sa albanskom kompanijom Gener2, koja se bavi građevinskom industrijom, telekomunikacijama i retailom. Konsultantski ugovor bio je specifično vezan isključivo za osnivanje nove televizije iz Tirane A2, koja je ekskluzivni partner CNN-a i čiji je investitor Gener2. Svaka uplata je išla legalnim tokom, preko Narodne banke Srbije, na ceo iznos plaćen je zakonski porez na dobit”, navodi se u saopštenju.

Ćosić je istakao da “kampanja laži koju protiv njega vode doušnik Bogoljub Pješčić, Informer, Srpski telegraf, Alo i poslanik Marijan Rističević, ima samo jedan cilj”.

“Da me diskredituje i zaplaši. Doušnik Pješčić je sken dokumenta o prihodima Keyconnection Media, koji je pribavljen krivičnim delom, objavio neposredno nakon najave gostovanja uzbunjivača iz Krušika na N1. U istom trenutku čak tri puta me je pozvao na mobilni telefon. Poruka koja mi je kampanjom poslata je da je oružje opasna tema i njen cilj je da me zastraši i ugrozi. Nikada nisam imao kontakt sa bilo kojim ili bilo čijim lobistom, pa ni sa kosovskim ili albanskim. Ova zastrašujuća kampanja je pokušaj moje javne egzekucije kao nezavisnog novinara. U zemlji u kojoj su novinari ubijani i povređivani svaka ovakva kampanja mora biti shvaćena ozbiljno i ja sam je primio veoma ozbiljno”, dodaje se.

PODGORICA, 14.11.2019. – In this world, you will hardly find a country smaller than ours and with “higher” politics (and politicians). Joking aside, in Montenegro, as many people think, politics is perhaps the most attractive and most profitable occupation. Everyone wants to deal with politics, from the illiterate, through the semi-literate, to the overly literate, that no one understands, nor will anyone understand, because their ideas for ordinary people are “untouchable”. The average Montenegrin citizen is unmistakable when it comes to choosing the wrong model, so in a dysfunctional democratic system, he looks up to those we pay to collect political points with insults, instead of meaningful arguments. The model of behaviour which with little effort and without much thoughts can destroy one’s life, expands at the speed of light. And here’s the problem.

Everything uttered takes the form of a final, inviolable truth addressed to like-minded people, whose power to judge as thinking beings ready to conclude something on their own is mostly described by the term consumer or user. Unfortunately, most public opinion is transformed into an ordinary consumer, who receives information the way it is served – like favorite food served by (malicious) masters from various kitchens.

The unattainable ideal is to satisfy the hunger for objectivity in one place, or in one media, because the employer must respect the will of his employer who, again, has his employer …

So how we, as responsible persons, doing journalistic job, can save ourselves and others, inside and outside of the newsroom? By respecting the Code of Journalists, a set of long-established rules that everybody knows?

There is a little to do with the principles of conduct in any field, since the rules generally are meant to be broken, especially in public jobs such as journalism, where the goal justifies the means, more than in other professions.

In eternal race for exclusivity, journalists easily fall into traps and by disobeying certain principles of the profession, publish unverified informations that often offend someone’s honor and reputation. Although these are legally and materially recoverable categories, for the common man it is something even more expensive than life. This we should to have in mind when we create any information, because the work we do requires quick decisions and a huge amount of improvisation. It’s normal that we can’t always remember every letter of the some law, but in the simpliest way, we can make filters for every  information before it ended up in someone’s ears:

Do not publish the unverified information;

Do not make predictions, and do not make personal judgements;

Do not create the information with bad intention;

If public do not care for the information, don’t publish it.

Dynamic daily shift requires that you have everything of informations and “something more” so carefully check is simply not possible. When fighting for viewers, listeners and users, everyone that I know had at least once made a mistake and published the untruth. It happened me, too, but I did not end up in court due to beginner’s luck. Possible guilt means being marked, with unnecessarily dirty biography which certainly does not guarantee a better employer.

If we want to improve the society in which we live, it is fair to start with our  profession.

Television journalism has definitely bottomed, as employee’s performance, rather than quality stories, is measured by popularity on social networks. Critically-minded journalists have been replaced by those who do not ask questions but systematically work to prevent the people from finding out the truth. In smaller communities, the situation is even more complicated.

Since I have been worked as journalist at the local level, too, I guarantee that it is the cruelest and most challenging thing to deal within this profession. With every investigative ,,high-quality” story, you are one step closer to the Bureau for the unemployed, rather than promotion, and whether you wanted or not, in such environment, you more break than respect the law. The two sides of the story are almost non-existent and if ,,accidentally” you get them, the “truth” with the help of the “invisible” hand of the editor is always dictated by someone in power.

Although we are constantly torn between our ideas, wishes of the editors  and  expectations of the public, years of experience tell me that no one can make you do anything that could end up with sending you to court. On the path to truth, the people will target you and tend to speculate, whether because of the house you work for, the person you love or the God you pray to, someone has privileged treatment in the media content you create. Be the ruler of every letter you write and every word you say, and remember that you are a corrector and not an evil generator.

Welcome to the profession where you will apply almost nothing you learned on faculty!

Goran Delic, journalist

The text was created within the project “Monitoring to free media” implemented by the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro within the framework of a major project “Judicial Reform: Upgrading CSO’s capacities to contribute to the integrity of judiciary”, financed by the European Union and implemented by the Center for Monitoring and Research (CEMI) in partnership with the NGO Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM) and the Network for the Affirmation of European Integration Processes (MAEIP)

BELGRADE, 13.11.2019. – European Parliament official Tanja Fajon MEP told the latest issue of Diplomacy and Commerce magazine that she is completely devoted to Serbia’s accession to the European Union, but warned of problems with the level of democracy, freedom of the media and rule of law.

“My vision is that the complete Western Balkans should become a part of the EU,” Fajon, the Chair of the European Parliament Delegation to EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee, said and added that she sees Serbia as an equal member of the EU and a part of the family of European countries.

Fajon said that Serbia has to resolve current problems in terms of the level of democracy, freedom of the media and free and fair elections in order to speed up the accession process. She said that the speed of progress on the path to the EU depends on the willingness of the Serbian authorities and noted that some progress had been made in certain areas such as economic development, constitutional reform and efforts to draft a new media strategy but that limited progress has been achieved in combating organized crime and corruption.

She also warned of improper implementation of new regulations and laws.

Speaking about elections, she said there is a need to secure democratic and fair conditions and improve the media situation, where all parties are equally represented, especially on the state TV stations. Fajon said that it seems that both private and public media are not completely free, adding that the frequent attacks on the media are unacceptable.

Fajon warned that the opposition boycott of elections and parliament is not a good development and will not bring positive changes. “My opinion is that European Parliament mediation is necessary and that it will improve the electoral situation in Serbia,” she said.

She warned that Serbian society is very polarized with months of anti-government protests. “I am receiving letters from citizens who are concerned about constraints on the freedom of media and speech and the limited space for democratic dialogue,” she said and added that she is aware of criticism the EU is not objective towards the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and the government and is supporting his autocratic acts.

Fajon said that it is important for Serbia to remain engaged in the dialogue to normalize Belgrade-Pristina relations which she said is a huge challenge for both Serbia and for Kosovo. “It is my hope that in the near future, both sides find a satisfactory agreement, from which everyone can benefit,” she said.

Read the whole interview here.