SERBIA'S MEDIA SCENE IN APRIL 2024
The monitoring of the media scene for April brings an overview of key events related to freedom of expression, amendments to the regulations under the jurisdiction of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media, problematic points in the field of project co-financing and news in the field of combating SLAPP proceedings.
In Monitoring, you can read the key findings of the Freedom House report "Nations in Transit" for the year 2023.
From the point of view of the analysis of the media scene in Serbia, April was marked by several important events. The legal proceedings for the burning of the house of journalist Milan Jovanović have been legally concluded. It has been 25 years since the murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija. In the case of Dinko Gruhonjić, journalist and professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad, and Ana Lalić Hegediš, executive director of the Independent Association of Journalists of Vojvodina (NDNV), their security was not assessed, even though the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Permanent Working Group for Security journalist announced that the assessment will be carried out in the first half of April. The European Federation of Journalists therefore financed private security for both of them. Ana Lalić Hegediš had to be moved to another location for security reasons. April did not pass without threats to journalists: to Nenad Kulačin and Marko Vidojković, authors of the "Good, bad, evil" podcast, to Dinko Gruhonjić and journalists from the media working as part of United Group. Just as there were threats, there were also pressures: journalist Nikola Stevanović from Bujanovac was removed from the session of the Headquarters for Emergency Situations called because of the three-day fire at the city dump; against Marko Dragoslavić, a FoNet photojournalist, a request was filed to initiate a misdemeanor proceeding, even though Dragoslavić was only doing his job - reporting from citizens' protests.
In April, a regular meeting of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists was held. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted the Recommendation on Suppressing the Use of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP).
Media monitoring was published with the financial support of the European Union. The Association of Independent Electronic Media is solely responsible for its content, and that content in no way expresses the official views of the European Union.
This Monitoring Report was prepared by expert monitoring team from the law office "Savović" in cooperation with ANEM, and the entire report can be found at this link.
