Analysis - Project Co-Financing

The situation and conditions under which journalists of local media in Serbia operate have further deteriorated in 2025. The rating given by media representatives is 2.23 for the previous year, compared to a score of 2.53 a year earlier, according to the research "Indicators of the State of Local Media in Serbia for 2025: A Case Study of Eight Cities and Municipalities and One Region," conducted by the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM).

A total of 80 candidates participated in the committees based on 172 completed calls for project co-financing of media content in 2025, although the official list of candidates included a total of 169 names. According to an analysis by the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), the independent expert Branimir Grulović participated in the majority of the committees, having evaluated projects in 65 calls from various governing bodies.

Projects that received support in 2025 through competitions for co-financing media content in Serbia were evaluated by various administrative bodies, ranging from 20,000 dinars to more than 30 million, according to an analysis of the competition results conducted by the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM).

The company Zona Plus from Niš, in addition to receiving the highest funds in competitions for co-financing media content, also leads in the number of supported projects from various state and local authorities. According to the database of media competition results established by the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), this company has won funding for 25 different projects, totaling 41,160,000 dinars.

The company Zona Plus from Niš, owner of the television of the same name, received the largest amount of funding in this year's competitions for project co-financing of media content in Serbia. According to the database of media competition results compiled by the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), this Niš company received funds from various authorities that announced the competitions, amounting to a total of 40,300,000 dinars.

The fees for members of the commissions evaluating media content in the competitions for project co-financing this year ranged from 2,000 dinars to 70,000 dinars.

The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) has published an analysis of the co-financing process for media content projects in Serbia for the year 2025. Summarizing the past year, it can be concluded that, regarding the co-financing of media projects, no progress in the right direction has been made. Quite the opposite.

More than one-fifth of local media journalists in Serbia earn less than 50,000 dinars per month, and the same number have salaries between 51,000 and 65,000 dinars, according to research conducted by the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) among 60 local media journalists.

When discussing project co-financing for media in 2023 and 2024, one can say for certain that both years have been marked by new media laws.