A year has passed since the journalists of Juronjuza distanced themselves from the unsigned statement: "We would do the same today."
Former employees of Euronews Serbia stated today, on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of their distancing from an unsigned statement by that media house which called for the termination of the student and civic blockade of Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), that they would respond in the same manner as they did then.
On April 18, 2025, Euronews Serbia called on the relevant authorities in an unsigned statement to allow the operation of RTS, which had been blocked at the time. Seventy-eight employees distanced themselves from this action, claiming it was done without their knowledge, leading to some being dismissed while others voluntarily left their positions.
One year marked since the solidarity resistance of 78 journalists and media workers against the misuse of media and the editorial board of Euronews Serbia (photo: Press Center UNS)
Former journalist of Euronews, Marija Šehić, stated at a conference in the Press Center of the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) that after the 78 employees distanced themselves, everyone knew what awaited them.
"We expected that. All of us who signed that statement knew what could follow. I expected that a dismissal would come in the near future," Šehić noted, adding that there was censorship at the station and that those who did not agree with it were removed. She assessed that all journalists today would react the same way as they did back then, as "what they are doing does not allow them to remain silent on such matters." Šehić added that she did not want all of this to be forgotten, but she wanted "all those people who did not allow them to do their jobs, who wanted to tarnish that television and the journalists for their own interests," to know that former employees would not forget and would strive to ensure that no editorial board finds itself in such a situation.
One year marked since the solidarity resistance of 78 journalists and media workers against the misuse of media and the editorial board of Euronews Serbia (photo: Press Center UNS)
Another former journalist, Stefan Goranović, stated that the unsigned statement on behalf of the editorial board was "everything that we (the journalists) are not." "Journalists and people who worked at Euronews simply do not use such language. They simply do not engage in that. We worked for years in an editorial board where there was initially skepticism, but very quickly we were the ones who dispelled doubts that we would work for the authorities and we endeavored that only the law and ethics would guide us when reporting. I think that is why we raised our voices within a few hours," Goranović said.
He noted that there were journalists at Euronews who were punished for asking questions at press conferences, and some were even financially penalized "for refusing to ask a scripted question to the president," as well as for their reporting methods. Former Euronews journalist Miloš Milić assessed that the statement was the first time that employees publicly expressed what was happening in the editorial office, and that it was the culmination of months of internal conflicts, resistance from the staff, and their punishments.
"Some colleagues ended up going to therapy with psychiatrists and started taking calming medications. These were truly traumatic periods for many of my colleagues - both for those who ultimately received dismissals and for those who left voluntarily before and after that," Milić said. Representative of the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) Dragana Bjelica stated that many more journalists would have spoken at today's gathering, but "their stomachs do not allow it."
"If viewed in this light, the political commissars in media and editorial positions at Euronews Serbia have succeeded, as the victory over public testimony was claimed by the nausea provoked by the thought of the events when hierarchy began to dominate the editorial office, rather than journalistic knowledge, experience, and arguments, when political conformity became a shield for inhumane actions, and pointing out censorship led to attacks, distortions, and lies," Bjelica stated.
According to her, those "ousted" from Euronews are not only measured by dismissals, technological redundancies, or non-renewal of fixed-term contracts, but many left voluntarily due to changes in editorial policy.
"It was not some politician or economic power that cleared out journalists, cameramen, and technical colleagues, but primarily two appointed colleagues, Minja Miletić and Dragana Pejović," Bjelica noted.
Source: UNS
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