Information

In the competitions for project co-financing of media projects in Vranje and other cities and municipalities in southern Serbia, the quality of content does not determine which media will receive funding, but rather a "corrupt system that evaluates projects," believes the majority of representatives from local media in Vranje, Surdulica, and Bujanovac.

Local governments in southern Serbia allocated the most funds this year in competitions for project co-financing to media outlets from Vranje. RTV Vranje received a total of 14,350,000 dinars in Vranje and Trgovište, TV Vranjska Plus received 14,765,000 dinars in Vranje, Vladičin Han, and Trgovište, while the portal Koštana received 800,000 dinars in Vranje and Vladičin Han.

The Municipality of Bujanovac decided on August 11 to reject the proposal of the commission for the distribution of funds for the media content co-financing competition made on June 17. As stated in the conclusion of the Municipal Council, a budget revision for 2025 was conducted on July 18, and the funds allocated for the media were reduced from the originally planned three million to 200,000 dinars.

The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) has published a public online database of all announced competitions for project co-financing of media content of public interest in Serbia for the current year at all levels of government.

Of the 174 announced competitions for co-financing media content in Serbia, 19 local governments have not allocated funds intended for the media, according to an analysis conducted by the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM).

In the completed competitions for project co-financing of media content, among those that have received the most funding so far are the Novi Sad Dnevnik, Vojvodina Press, Novosadska TV, and Radio-television Pančevo, which have participated in a larger number of competitions.

Večernje novosti has received a total of 11,380,050 dinars this year from the completed competitions for project co-financing of media content, for both the print edition and the portal. This media outlet has applied for nearly all competitions at all levels.

Despite the law from 2023, which improved the provisions on the transparency of such competitions by stipulating mandatory criteria for compliance with the Journalists' Code, and whose implementation is monitored by the Press Council, the competitions published during 2024 have significantly reduced public financing in certain municipalities, according to the European Commission's annual report on the state of the rule of law in Serbia.

Last year, Pančevo allocated as much as 29 million dinars to the media through public procurement, primarily for promotional video clips. Previously, 40 million was set aside for media competitions, but now it is almost 10 times less since a legal requirement was established that pro-regime media cannot meet – to provide truthful information while respecting the ethical code.