Cenzolovka: The TV Mačva portal, which received 6.6 million dinars in Šabac, does not have an Impressum.

The audience in Šabac, thanks to the newly established TV Mačva, now has the opportunity to watch a show modeled after Informer's Collegium – Šabački radar. There is also the News show, hosted by a participant from the recently concluded ninth season of Pink's reality show Elita.

The founder of the new Šabac television, which still lacks all necessary permits but is nevertheless included in Telekom's cable offering, is the company Infomačva doo from Šabac.

This is yet another in a series of joint operations by the tabloids Alo and Informer in western Serbia. A smaller share in the company Infomačva, established this year, is held by Dragan Mandić, the former owner of the Loznica-based Lotela.

In addition to television, Infomačva doo has operated the portal Mačva TV (macvatv.rs) since April. In the recently concluded competition for co-financing media content of public interest from the City of Šabac, the portal received a record – 6.6 million dinars, significantly more than other participants.

However, according to the law, the portal Mačva TV could not even participate in this competition.

The law does not apply to everyone

This year, the City of Šabac delayed the announcement of the competition for co-financing projects for the production of media content of public interest, raising the question of whether this was done specifically because of Infomačva. The legal deadline for announcing the competition expired on March 1, while Šabac published the public call only on May 8.

Both the city administration and the commission, which rated this portal's project with the highest score, overlooked the legal provision found in the co-financing regulation, which prevented this media outlet from participating in the competition.

Specifically, Article 22 of the Law on Public Information and Media states that “publishers of media that do not include basic information about the media in the form of an imprint do not have the right to participate in the competition.”

The same is stated in the Regulation on Co-financing Projects for Achieving Public Interest in the Field of Public Information.

The project of the portal macvatv.rs received the overwhelmingly highest points and funding, even though its Imprint section was empty ten days after the announcement of the funding distribution decision for the Šabac competition. Nothing had changed even by the time this text was published.

BLOCKADE ASSOCIATIONS

The decision of the commission to award funds to the newly established media house has been criticized by journalistic and media associations, demanding that the City of Šabac and the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications review it.

– Given that the capacities of applicants are also scored during the evaluation of projects, such as the duration of activity, continuity in working with the target group for which the project is intended, and the average number of employees in the previous year, in this case, it is unacceptable to award someone a multi-million amount for co-financing a project that is incomparably larger than all those reported in the mentioned competition, states a joint announcement by NUNS, ANEM, Local Press, and the Media Association.

From TV Mačva, or from the host of the new show Šabački radar, a response was sent to the associations – that “the Šabac competition was conducted according to the law,” stating that the journalistic associations are “clearly biased against us,” that they “apply double standards,” and that they “attempt to exert pressure on young media while simultaneously ignoring competitions from which funds are awarded to associations and media outlets aligned with them.”

Heavy artillery for the opposition and media

The show Šabački radar, yet another local version of Collegium from TV Informer, recently premiered, similar to the Užice and Valjevo variants of this program about which Cenzolovka has already reported.

The Šabac collegium is hosted by Nina Kuburović. In an article about her move from Belgrade to Šabac, titled “TV Mačva has taken heavy artillery,” published on the portal of this media house, Kuburović is described as “a sharp political analyst, a lawyer, and one of the most direct television personalities.”

This “heavy artillery” has been targeting local opposition actors for about ten days. Several times, media outlets such as Nova S, N1, and Podrinske have also been in the crosshairs, which according to Nina Kuburović “exclusively engage in disseminating what the blockaders do” and “attempt to turn citizens against their own country.”

In the studio, she is often joined by her colleague Marko Vesić, with whom she collaborates on the podcast and portal “Ozarenje,” as well as representatives of local authorities.

In the first episode, the audience could also see and hear the mayor of Šabac, Dr Aleksandar Pajić, as well as the newly appointed editor of TV Mačva, Ivana Nenadović. She also hosts the News show. She has been known to the local public for over two decades as a host of various programs on Šabac televisions, and she gained wider recognition this year by participating in the ninth season of Pink's reality show Elita.

While Nenadović is responsible for managing the television, which is practically broadcasting “wildly” via Telekom's cable offering, the official editor of the portal, which received 6.6 million dinars from the budget of the City of Šabac, is Radmila Isaković.

Isaković is also the director of Infomačva doo, and judging by her social media posts, she still holds the position of coordinator of the Council for Information of Western Serbia in the Serbian Progressive Party.

CLONES OF THE COLLEGIUM IN BAČKA PALANKA AND NOVI SAD

Another of the well-known TV faces from Informer's Collegium has recently been reassigned to a local station. Journalist Petar Popović now hosts two shows – one on RTV BAP from Bačka Palanka and the other on Novosadska TV.

The replica of the Collegium on RTV BAP airs in the morning under the name – Puls Palanke, while Puls Novog Sada is broadcast in the afternoon on Novosadska TV.

Bačka Palanka television has been owned by Alo and Informer since this year. The founder of Novosadska TV is the same-named limited liability company, which is a subsidiary of Srbija danas doo.

Source: Cenzolovka