Information

In nearly two-thirds, or 17 out of 29 commissions formed to date for the evaluation of media projects, all selected members have achieved the maximum score of one hundred points, and most of them come from pro-government journalistic and media organizations, according to a study by UNS.

The representative of the Professional Association of Journalists of Serbia (PROUNS), Slavoljub Ristić, and the representative of the Journalists' Society of Vojvodina (DNV), Biljana Ratković Njegovan, have been replaced by other members in the committees for evaluating media projects in Svrljig and Dimitrovgrad, as well as in Rekovac and Gornji Milanovac, due to a conflict of interest, UNS has learned.

The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) has sent official letters to the local governments of Dimitrovgrad, Čajetina, and Svrljig requesting the annulment of the decisions regarding the appointment of committees for project evaluation within the grants for co-financing media content. This request is based on the fact that Slavoljub Ristić, who holds a public office, was selected in all three cases. The letter was also addressed to the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications, urging the removal of this candidate's name from the Unified Information System (JIS) so that the authorities issuing the grants cannot select him again.

The Ministry of Information and Telecommunications published on February 10 the register of candidates for members of the competition committees for co-financing projects in the field of public information, which includes a total of 110 names – 72 candidates were proposed by journalistic and media associations, while 38 applied independently.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia appointed Slavoljub Ristić, the General Secretary of the Professional Association of Journalists of Serbia (PROUNS), as the President of the Board of the Public Institution Film News on March 12 of this year, thus making him a public official.

The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) has sent official letters requesting the local governments of Rekovac, Gornji Milanovac, and Doljevac to annul the decisions regarding the appointment of committees for evaluating projects within the competition for co-financing media content, considering that Biljana Ratković Njegovan, who holds a public office, has been selected in all three instances. The letter has also been addressed to the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications, urging the temporary removal of this candidate's name from the Unified Information System (UIS) so that the authorities issuing the competitions cannot reappoint her.

The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) is organizing online consultations on project writing and calls for project co-financing of media content on Thursday, March 26, from 1 PM to 4 PM.

The system of project co-financing for media content, which is intended to ensure media pluralism and the production of content in the public interest, has, in practice, become one of the most controversial mechanisms for distributing public funds in Serbia over the past few years. Instead of supporting professional journalism, numerous competitions increasingly end up as a model of political allocation of funds, where the fate of hundreds of millions of dinars is decided by a small group of people who appear year after year in dozens of competition committees across the country.