The heroic work of local media

Matić emphasized that the state has cut off all independent and professional media from project co-financing revenues and redirected it towards "media that most frequently violate the journalistic code and tabloids." Therefore, it is now important to correct and properly implement project co-financing.

"Today, local media are abandoned; no one talks about them. Everyone talks about Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), everyone discusses those big topics, but it is about their survival and protection," Matić pointed out.

According to him, it is crucial to pay attention to the media that have selflessly and very professionally worked in recent years.

"Those who have worked very professionally are still in a very unstable situation regarding the survival of their media, their jobs, and their professionalism," Matić stated.

He pointed out that the entire media group United Media is in a state where journalists are wondering whether they will have jobs tomorrow. As a member of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists, Matić reminded that, on the occasion of the International Day to Combat Crimes Against Journalists, this group submitted an initiative to review previous cases of murders and attacks on journalists.

"We cannot expect an immediate answer, of course, but we are not seeking quick answers; we are asking for the establishment of institutions that will work on these cases over a longer period and that will lead to their resolution," Matić said.

For example, he added, it has taken 10 years to prosecute the murder of Slavko Ćuruvija, and we have had two sentences of 100 years each for four defendants in that case, only for them to be amnestied by a decision of the Appeals Court, which the Supreme Court confirmed was done by denying the law. He emphasized that judges who, by violating the law, prevented justice in the case of Ćuruvija's murder must also be prosecuted.

Speaking about the mandatory directive of the Supreme Public Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac for reviewing the work of prosecutors in various cases, Matić stated that he submitted data on cases related to violence against journalists and the operations of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade on Friday.

"I have submitted the entire list of those cases and expect that we will receive some responses during the week. Especially those responses that concern colleagues who had to leave the country due, among other things, to persecution by the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office," Matić said.

Regarding changes due to the change of government in Serbia, Matić emphasized that all media and journalists who have violated the law must undergo a very serious professional review, and those who have done so should have their broadcasting licenses revoked intensively.

"I expect the new government to not only reset the media scene as it has been done before but to strategically lay the foundations for organizing the media space and informing in Serbia in a way that corresponds to modern times, while also sanctioning all the wrongs done in the past," Matić emphasized.

Commenting on the initiative from civil society organizations, media associations, and professors submitted to the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) for revoking the broadcasting license of TV Informer, Matić noted that it is important to do this as soon as possible and added that a similar initiative will also be submitted for TV Pink.

"These are cancerous parts not only of the media system but of society as a whole. If you do not implement changes, in a certain period, they will start operating again in the same way, sowing poison and functioning for someone with power," Matić said.

He also highlighted that it is now necessary to record ownership of the media.

"It is impossible for some small businessman from a town around Smederevo to suddenly buy Novosti, Politika, and numerous other media outlets. It is a public secret that (acting Minister of Finance) Siniša Mali stands behind him, thus representing the capital and power of those tabloids and local television stations that have been purchased or established in the past period," Matić assessed.

Source: FoNet