ANEM calls on citizens to donate to the Solidarity Fund for Independent Media.

Independent media are here. At protests. At blockades. At elections. In the mountains and in the sandy areas that are burning, in flooded villages, in polluted mines. They are present when public money is spent, when decisions are made behind closed doors, or when institutions refuse to respond. But the space for such journalism is becoming increasingly narrow. Journalists and editorial teams face threats, attacks, lawsuits, disruptions, and digital assaults, while simultaneously trying to secure funds for salaries, rent, bills, equipment, and daily operations. Several journalists and activists have been relocated since the beginning of the year due to threats to their safety.

Small editorial teams in the interior of Serbia are facing the greatest challenges. While they struggle for advertisers, project funding, and basic operating costs, public money intended for informing citizens goes to media outlets close to the authorities, while critical and professional media are left without support or receive only symbolic funding. For many small professional editorial teams at the local level, the question is no longer how to develop, but how to survive. At the same time, parts of the media across Serbia are being bought and taken over, raising serious concerns that changes in ownership are establishing political control over their editorial policies. Thus, public money sustains media that support the government, while those that hold the government accountable and ask questions are taken over or financially drained.

When a local media outlet disappears, the consequences are felt not only by journalists. Someone who monitors how citizens' money is spent, who investigates corruption and abuses vanishes. Someone who follows local elections and government decisions. Someone who gives space to issues that will never reach large national media. An informational desert remains, quickly filled with disinformation and propaganda. Support for independent media is support for the citizens' right to be informed, to know how their money is spent, to hold institutions accountable, and to hear the voices that the powerful try to silence. When independent media disappear, it is not just the editorial teams that vanish. It weakens the ability of citizens to control those who decide on their behalf, and the public space remains open to propaganda, disinformation, and unchecked political power. Therefore, when you receive 6,000 dinars from the budget these days, turn the attempt to buy your vote into an investment in freedom. Without independent media, there is no professional, verified, and responsible information, and without our support, there are no independent media. Donate to the Solidarity Fund for Independent Media.

Contribute whatever you can to:

Account Number: 265-1100310006448-08 Obilicev Venac 2/1, 11000 Belgrade

Bank: Raiffeisen Bank a.d.

Payment Code: 287

Purpose of Payment: Donation to Local Media

Collected funds will be directed to independent media that need support the most to continue working and informing their communities.

Because when an independent media outlet shuts down, it is not just one editorial team that disappears.

Another place where citizens can seek answers vanishes. Independent media have been there for us when it was the hardest.

Now it is our turn to be there for them.