07. 02. 2014

20 YEARS OF FONET

Belgrade, February 7, 2014 (Fonet) - The news agency FoNet will mark on 7 February the 20-th anniversary as the first private and independent agency in Serbia, which works in accordance with the standards of professional and impartial journalism.

The Agency began operation in 1994 in Belgrade under conditions of a regime media monopoly and various forms of oppression, during the last decade of the 20-th century, against the non-state media in Serbia.

From the first day of work, FoNet broadcasts to media and the public true, professional, and unbiased information about events in the country, region and the world.

Clean, reliable and clear message, based on facts, without any influence from any quarter, is the legacy of two decades of work of FoNet, which shares the fate of most independent media in Serbia.

After the democratic changes, FoNet works in a more favorable environment, although it is exposed to all the problems of the economic crisis, a society in transition, and unfavorable legal solutions in the media sphere.

The challenges FoNet is facing include unfair business practices, conservation of old and establishment of new monopolies, and the breach of copyright and of basic ethical and professional standards in the media scene.

The twentieth anniversary of FoNet is marked by a clearly established and recognizable multimedia concept of (news) agency production, which in addition to traditional information services news, written, audio, photo and television, also includes Internet television FoNetweb.tv, unique in Serbia and the region.

Authors of FoNet news, reports, photos, videos and television reports are agency journalists, photographers and cameramen in Belgrade, correspondents and contributors from Serbia, the region and from abroad.

The Agency continues its successful cooperation with a number of the most influential electronic and print media in Serbia, the region and internationally and is strengthening its position in the media landscape, by operating on market principles, and despite the severe economic crisis.

FoNet cooperates with several international media, including Reuters, AP, ANSA, EPA, DPA and Voice of America, as well as with private agencies from the former Yugoslav republics.

FoNet is a member of the Association of Private News Sgencies in Southeastern Europe ( APNA ), Serbian Media Association and the Association of South East Europe Media (SEEMO).

FoNet accepts and abides by the principles of the profession prescribed by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (IJAS).