Report on Media Covering Southern Serbia
As part of the project "System for the Prevention of Violence and Protection of Journalists," the Association of Independent Electronic Media, together with its partners the Center for the Development of Local Media (CRLM) from Požarevac and Insider TV, aims to improve the system for protecting journalists and media workers. One of the project activities includes the preparation of a report by CRLM on the state of local media, addressing security, financial, and all other relevant aspects concerning the independence and professionalism of the media.
In response to questions about the safety of journalists and media, collaboration with associations and state institutions, political pressures, education, financing, and business operations, editors and management from various media outlets in Niš, Vranje, Pirot, Bujanovac, Dimitrovgrad, and other cities in southern Serbia provided answers.
The authors of the report, Jana Jacić and Jelena Milenković, concluded that journalists in southern Serbia are exposed to all forms of security threats – political pressures, verbal threats, and during protests, they can easily become targets of physical attacks. Their safety is also compromised by both the police and the Security Information Agency.
The survival of smaller independent editorial offices is in question due to financial instability, and a particular problem that interlocutors highlight is the distance from the center, specifically Belgrade, both in terms of collaboration with journalistic associations and in accessing donor funds. It is precisely this financial instability that those opposed to independent journalism exploit, leading to the active use of SLAPP lawsuits in southern Serbia, which serve to financially drain them.
You can view the entire report on the state of media reporting in southern Serbia here.
The project "System for the Prevention of Violence and Protection of Journalists" is supported by the European Union, Norway, and the Balkan Fund for Democracy, a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
