Information

Based on the 148 completed contests for co-financing media content in Serbia for the year 2026, funds totaling 1.83 billion dinars have been distributed.

Journalistic and media associations (the Association of Independent Electronic Media ANEM, the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia NUNS, Lokal Pres, and the Association of Media) demand that the local government in Šabac and the relevant Ministry of Information and Telecommunications urgently reconsider the decision regarding the allocation of funds in the competition for project co-financing of media content in that city, as well as the work of the competition committee that evaluated the projects.

The company Infomačva received the most funding in the competition for project co-financing of media content in Šabac – 6.6 million dinars, as stated in the resolution published today by this local government.

Competitions for co-financing projects in the field of public information in southern Serbia in certain local government units have not been announced despite the legal deadline, while the largest sums of money from those that have been announced and completed are mainly awarded to larger city and regional media, according to data from a new report by the Media Association.

Out of 159 announced competitions for project co-financing of media content in Serbia, 144 have been completed, in nine cases the legal deadline for making a decision on the allocation of funds has expired, and the process is still ongoing for six competitions that were announced later.

In Šumadija, 80 media projects were supported through competitions for co-financing media content in 2026, with a total of 71,700,000 dinars. Every third funded project focuses on cultural and historical heritage, while nearly a quarter addresses tourism; however, none of them have been identified as dealing with corruption, public spending, or oversight of institutional operations. In this way, the project co-financing model, which is currently crucial for the financial sustainability of local media, has completely displaced investigative and critical journalism from local media and communities.

The system of competitive co-financing of media content in Serbia increasingly loses its meaning and moves away from its fundamental purpose – as established by law – and the results of this year's competitions organized by the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications indicate that it has experienced a complete failure.

The media publisher Zaple Media Group has received a total of 16.2 million dinars, or approximately 138,000 euros, in this year's completed competitions for project co-financing of media content, as indicated by an analysis from the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM).

The most money from a total of 50 media competitions announced this year in Vojvodina was awarded to Radiotelevizija Pančevo, which received a total of 31,145,000 dinars for project implementation.