The same commission members and the same media: The five largest beneficiaries received nearly three quarters of the funds in Sandžak.

Four local governments in Sandžak - Novi Pazar, Nova Varoš, Priboj, and Prijepolje - allocated 47.23 million dinars this year for media content production projects. The analysis of the results shows a pronounced concentration - RTV Novi Pazar received almost 42 percent of the total amount, while the five largest beneficiaries took nearly three-quarters of the available funds.

At the same time, the same publishers appear as winners in multiple municipalities, and the members of the commissions that decided on the projects are repeated. Slađana Ostojić, a candidate from the Professional Association of Journalists of Serbia (PROUNS), was a member of the commission in four local governments and thus participated in the decision-making regarding the distribution of all 47.23 million dinars.

Data for Tutin and Sjenica show a different picture - Tutin distributed only 59,000 dinars out of the planned 100,000, while two calls in Sjenica, with a total value of one million dinars, according to the available documentation in the Unified Information System (JIS), were not completed.

RTV Novi Pazar received almost every second dinar

The largest call was conducted in Novi Pazar. The city distributed 31.2 million dinars, or about 65 percent of the total amount allocated in the four observed local governments.

RTV Novi Pazar received 19.8 million dinars. This is 64 percent of the Novi Pazar call and nearly 42 percent of the total amount distributed in Novi Pazar, Nova Varoš, Priboj, Prijepolje, and Tutin.

A1 net and Sandžak TV follow with two million dinars each. Sandžak TV received three separate amounts - 1.5 million, 300,000, and 220,000 dinars - totaling 2.02 million. UG Free Media received 1.2 million, and Forum 10 received 1.1 million dinars.

Judging by the titles of the approved projects, citizens of Novi Pazar will be offered content on ecology, culture, technological development, sports, gender equality, European integration, agriculture, and the prevention of peer violence. However, among the supported projects, themes of investigative journalism are not highlighted, and the same case applies to other municipalities in Sandžak.

The commission in Novi Pazar consisted of Slađana Ostojić at the suggestion of PROUNS, Petar Njaradi at the suggestion of Pleja, Petar Kočić at the suggestion of the Journalists' Association of Vojvodina (DNV), as well as self-nominated Jasmina Mijailović and Nenad Perić. The biographies of all selected members were scored with a maximum of 100 points.

Three connected beneficiaries together received 11 million

When the allocations to the same beneficiaries in different municipalities are combined, after RTV Novi Pazar, the largest beneficiaries are the Informational Center Priboj with 5.4 million and TV 5 Užice with 4.85 million dinars. PP Media from Prijepolje received 2.23 million, while Sandžak TV received 2.02 million dinars.

The top three beneficiaries together received 30.05 million dinars, or 63.6 percent of all funds.

Additional concentration is indicated by the ownership connections of certain beneficiaries. According to the data provided in the analyzed documentation, TV 5 Užice, Informational Center Priboj, and Konzum Lav are part of Best Media Team, whose ownership structure is linked to the companies Alo Media System and Insider Team, the publisher of Informer. These three beneficiaries received a total of 11 million dinars, or 23.3 percent of the money distributed in four major calls.

PP Media has the widest territorial representation - it received funds in all four local governments - 250,000 in Novi Pazar, 500,000 in Nova Varoš, 350,000 in Priboj, and 1.13 million dinars in Prijepolje. Informational Center Priboj, TV 5 Užice, Konzum Lav, and Radio San Užice received funds in three municipalities each, while Glas Zapadne Srbije received funds in two.

Themes mainly focus on culture and ecology

Nova Varoš allocated the planned 4.8 million dinars. The largest amounts, one million dinars each, were awarded to TV 5 Užice and Informational Center Priboj. Zlatarske Vesti and Bukovača Kompani received two allocations, totaling one million dinars each, while PP Media received 500,000, Radio San Užice 200,000, and Konzum Lav from Čačak 100,000 dinars.

The commission consisted of Slađana Ostojić at the suggestion of PROUNS, Milijan Nikolić at the suggestion of the Media Culture and Education Center, and self-nominated Jasmina Mijailović.

As in Novi Pazar, among the supported themes, ecology, cultural and historical heritage, art, youth, and elderly citizens prevail.

Priboj planned 6.5 million dinars for the call. Initially, 3.9 million was distributed to four publishers, while the JIS noted that the project of TV 5 Užice was revised to 2.45 million dinars and that the revision of the project of Konzum Lav valued at 150,000 dinars is pending. If these revisions are completed as noted in the system, the entire planned amount of 6.5 million will be utilized. Approved projects mainly relate to culture and ecology.

Members of the Priboj commission included Slađana Ostojić, Violeta Jovanov Peštanac, a candidate from ComNet, and self-nominated Siniša Batalo. However, not all mandatory call documentation was published on JIS.

No explanation for the selection of the commission member in Prijepolje

Prijepolje distributed five million dinars. TV 5 Užice and Informational Center Priboj received 1.4 million each, PP Media 1.13 million, and Konzum Lav 500,000 dinars. Forum Women Prijepolje received 220,000, Radio San Užice 150,000, while Glas Zapadne Srbije and Informational Company Polimlje each received 100,000 dinars. The projects relate to inclusion, sports, investments, culture, and digital security.

Decisions on the projects were made by self-nominated Jasmina Mijailović, Slađana Ostojić as a candidate from PROUNS, and Violeta Jovanov Peštanac at the suggestion of ComNet. Peštanac was selected even though her biography was scored with 95 points, while there were candidates proposed by associations whose biographies received the maximum score of 100 points. An explanation for such a selection is not available on JIS.

The same members in multiple commissions

The most pronounced repetition exists with Slađana Ostojić, who was a member of the commissions in Novi Pazar, Nova Varoš, Priboj, and Prijepolje. Jasmina Mijailović appears in three commissions - in Novi Pazar, Nova Varoš, and Prijepolje - while Violeta Jovanov Peštanac made decisions in Priboj and Prijepolje.

Petar Kočić and Nenad Perić, members of the Novi Pazar commission, also participated in the commission in Tutin. There, they were joined by Ladislav Lazić, a candidate from ComNet.

The mere repetition of members is not evidence of irregularities, but it raises questions about pluralism and how local governments select their commissions - how many candidates there were, why the same individuals are chosen in multiple cities, how members individually scored projects of repeat beneficiaries, and whether they reported potential conflicts of interest.

Tutin distributed 59,000, competitions in Sjenica were not completed

Unlike other local governments, Tutin distributed only 59,000 dinars out of the planned 100,000. RTV Kraljevo and Ibarske Novosti received 30,000 dinars for a project promoting public utility services, while the Citizens' Association Arsa received 29,000 dinars for content on local topics.

Sjenica announced two calls - one for the production of media content in the languages of national minorities, and the other for achieving public interest in the field of public information. Each had 500,000 dinars allocated. According to the documentation available on JIS, neither call was completed.

Findings indicate that competitive co-financing in this part of Serbia is characterized by a high concentration of funds, the repetition of the same beneficiaries in multiple municipalities, and a small circle of commission members. For a complete assessment of the justification of the distribution, according to the Law on Public Information and Media and the regulation governing project co-financing for media content production, it is necessary to publish complete call documentation, individual scoring lists, and reports on project implementation. However, our analysis has shown that this obligation has not been fully met.

The ANEM database with the results of the calls for project co-financing of media content for the year 2026 is available at this link.

The register of selected members of the competition commissions in 2026, initiated by ANEM, is available at this link.

Author: Ivana Kragulj, NUNS

The project of the Association of Independent Electronic Media "Participatory Monitoring of the Implementation of the Co-Financing Process for Projects" is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the MATRA program. ANEM is solely responsible for its content, which does not necessarily reflect the official views of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.