Who is Stevica Smederevac, the new president of the REM Council?

Stevica Smederevac was born in 1961. His biography states that he graduated from the Faculty of Law in Novi Sad in 1988 and obtained a master’s degree in 2010 from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, specializing in management in culture with the thesis “European Law in the Field of Electronic Media and Protection of National Interests.”

He emphasizes that he is educated as a Master of Management in Culture and a Bachelor of Law, and works as a journalist and media manager “with over 25 years of experience in RTV and RTS,” as well as an expert in media programming and legal regulation “with more than 13 years of experience in the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media.”

According to his account, from 1988 to 1991, he was an associate in the Informative Program of TV Novi Sad, and from 1991 to 1996, he was the editor-in-chief of the City Program of TV Novi Sad.

“Editor-in-chief of the Informative Program of TV Novi Sad (1995-1996); Chief and Responsible Editor of the Informative Program of TV Novi Sad (1996-2000); Director of TV Novi Sad (1998-2000); Editor in the Documentary Program Department of TV Belgrade, as well as the author of several documentary programs and series (2000-2007); Responsible Editor of the Documentary Program Department of TV Belgrade (2007-2010); Responsible Editor of the Scientific-Educational Program Department of TV Belgrade (2010-2012),” his biography states.

At REM since 2012

In 2012, he transferred to the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA), now the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM), where until 2024 he served as the Head of the Monitoring and Analysis Department, and later as the Assistant Director of REM for Monitoring and Analysis, as reported by Istinomer.

In his biography, he highlights “data on authorial-organizational media projects.”

“Authorial conceptualization and launching of the entire City Program of TV Novi Sad (1993-1995); conceptualization of all program content and all forms of business for TV Novi Sad (1995-1999); organization of the operation and relocation of TV Novi Sad during NATO bombing (1999),” he notes.

As “other authorial-organizational media projects,” he lists:

“Set up the programming and production of Radio-Television ‘Jesenjin’ in Novi Sad (2000-2001); established the program scheme and organized the operation of the radio station IN in Belgrade (2006-2007); organized (2008-2009) the operation of the studio ‘Hamer production’ in Novi Sad, which continued to operate under the name ‘Res media’,” his biography states.

He emphasizes that he published the book “European Media Law and the Protection of National Interests” (2013) and that from 2012 to 2024 he was “the author and responsible person for the preparation of several reports” for RRA, now REM.

“Screenwriter and editor of the series ‘Violence Against Children,’ Documentary Program Department of RTS (2000-2003); screenwriter and editor of the series ‘Guidelines of Faith,’ Documentary Program Department of RTS (2004); co-author of the series ‘Viewpoint,’ Scientific-Educational Program Department of RTS (2010-2011); author of several monothematic documentary programs in the Documentary Program Department of RTS, such as ‘White Plague,’ ‘Orchestra of the Guard,’ ‘White Houses in the Distance,’” he highlights in his biography.

At the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee for Culture and Information, held on May 17, 2023, Smederevac represented the REM report on the monitoring of commercial media service providers from October 2022 to March 2023, with a special focus on reporting cases of violence.

“Smederevac then stated that RTV Pink met all legal requirements and obligations from the broadcasting license across the entire territory of Serbia and that the law stipulates that genres must be represented, but not the percentage, adding that Hepi has not had any reality show for a year and a half. He mentioned that REM receives ‘a plethora of complaints’ about incidents occurring in reality shows, such as scenes of violence, but that when the services look into it – ‘there is none’ and that ‘scandalous and violent moments are not broadcast by the television,’ as they have a 30-second delay, but that printed media shows it, or it is displayed through clips on social media, and from closed channels. Regarding the appearance of convicted Kristijan Golubović on television, Smederevac stated that media and regulators are prohibited from denying civil rights to individuals who have served their sentences and that there are no legal grounds to prohibit their appearance.” (FoNet, May 25, 2023)

At the end of 2024, he submitted his candidacy for a member of the Council of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM).

After the Committee for Culture and Information annulled the decision on the selection of members of the REM Council, and previously seven out of 18 candidates who made it to the shortlist withdrew their candidacies, a new competition was announced at the end of April 2025.

In May 2025, he again submitted his candidacy for a member of the Council of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM).

In September 2026, he was elected as the Chair of the REM Council.

What did Cenzolovka write about Smederevac?

Stevica Smederevac has worked in various services of REM for 14 years, and the Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation has previously challenged his candidacy, claiming that he participated in the illegal operations of this regulatory body.

As previously reported by Cenzolovka, Smederevac, through his long-standing work in various REM services, has participated in the non-transparent and illegal operations of the Regulator.

As they reported, Smederevac has defended television stations such as Pink or Hepi against claims that they do not comply with the law.

"After the mass shootings in May 2023, REM presented a report on the monitoring of national televisions Pink, Hepi, Prva, and B92, primarily focusing on violence, since that was the most important topic in Serbia at the time. The REM report on violence did not mention a word," stated the SĆF.

Smederevac then responded to public criticisms that these televisions do not comply with laws and programming guidelines, which are prerequisites for obtaining national licenses.

“Most of those media fully meet legal requirements, by all parameters, and that is good news and a great relief. For years, we have had discussions on how to reach those levels. This time, media service providers have taken their licenses and guidelines quite seriously, and they have made an effort to meet all the conditions set for this year at least regarding genre structure,” Smederevac said at the meeting of the Committee for Culture and Information on May 17, 2023.

The Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation, after analyzing the adherence to their own guidelines in the programs of televisions Pink and Hepi, concluded at that time that Smederevac was not telling the truth: “Pink, for example, has not fulfilled more than 50 percent of its promises from the programming guidelines.”

TV Hepi did not perform better – with 57% informative content and 40% reality shows, it had almost no space for other program genres. Additionally, it spread propaganda, hate speech, and disinformation.

Constitution of REM

The first constitutive meeting of the REM Council was held after four elected council members, who had previously resigned from their positions, announced that after the adoption of the authentic interpretation of the Law on Electronic Media, they decided to participate in the work of this body.

These include Dubravka Valić Nedeljković, Ira Prodanov Krajišnik, Mileva Malešić, and Rodoljub Šabić.

The other four members of the REM Council are Stevica Smederevac, Milan Petković, Miloš Garić, and Snežana Miljković.

In the category of national councils of national minorities, during the voting in the Serbian Assembly in November of the previous year, neither of the two candidates received a majority, which is why the ninth member of the REM Council was not elected, and this should be done subsequently.

Source: N1