Media competitions in Vojvodina and Belgrade: Who received funding and who was on the committees.

Overall, the largest amount of funds went to the media owned by Vladan Stefanović, which received 37,300,000 dinars, according to an analysis that covered media competitions in Vojvodina and the City of Belgrade.

The analysis indicated that most of the funding was allocated to media and journalistic associations close to the government.

Regarding RTV Pančevo, this local television station received 21,600,000 dinars solely from the competition in Pančevo—15 million for the project “Pančevačko popodne” and 6,600,000 dinars for the project “Pančevačko jutro.”

The second largest recipient in Vojvodina was VTV, owned by Vladan Stefanović, which received a total of 24,500,000 dinars.

In addition to VTV, funds were also awarded to Radio Subotica (5,000,000 dinars), Magazin Dani (5,600,000 dinars), and City Radio (2,200,000 dinars), all also owned by Stefanović.

Dnevnik Vojvodina received 18,520,000 dinars, while Novosadska televizija received a total of 13,000,000 dinars.

Among media associations, the largest amount of funding in Vojvodina was awarded to the Association of Electronic Media ComNet, which received 2,500,000 dinars, while among journalistic associations, the most funding went to the Journalists' Society of Vojvodina (DNV), which received 650,000 dinars.

The second highest amount awarded among journalistic associations in Vojvodina was to the newly established Association of Journalists of Serbia (ANS), which was granted a total of 550,000 dinars from the City of Novi Sad competition.

It is worth noting that ANS was founded in June of last year at the initiative of 135 journalists, primarily from pro-government media, and participated in media competitions for the first time this year.

Vrbas has yet to announce a competition, despite the deadline being March 1

Out of 45 local governments in Vojvodina, 44 have announced competitions for co-financing media projects. A total of 48 competitions have been announced in local governments (four in Sremska Mitrovica, two in Novi Sad, and one in each of the other local governments), while the Provincial Secretariat for Culture, Public Information and Relations with Religious Communities has announced two competitions.

A total of 441,684,000 dinars has been allocated to the 48 local government competitions, while the Provincial Secretariat for Culture and Public Information has allocated an additional 85,000,000 dinars. Thus, a total of 526,684,000 dinars has been allocated in Vojvodina for co-financing media projects.

Vrbas is the only local government in Vojvodina that has not yet announced a competition.

The municipality of Vrbas is four months late in announcing the competition for co-financing media projects, as the Law on Public Information and Media stipulates the obligation to announce competitions by March 1.

Composition of media commissions changed due to members withdrawing

The most frequently appointed member of competition commissions in Vojvodina was media expert Rada Stajić, who was selected to serve on commissions 13 times, meaning she was a member of a quarter of the competition commissions.

In addition to her, three other candidates were selected to serve on ten or more commissions, while four were selected for nine commissions each. This data indicates a lack of diversity within the commissions, meaning that primarily the same individuals—mostly candidates with 100 points—participated in the allocation of funds.

The analysis of media competitions showed that of the 44 out of 50 commissions in Vojvodina (including the Provincial Secretariat), the commissions were composed entirely of members with 100 points.

In the commissions in Kovin, Bela Crkva, Novi Bečej, and Sremska Mitrovica (for internet media), member Đorđe Kovačević, who had 95 points, was also included, while in the commissions in Bela Crkva and Kovin, as well as in Opovo and Žitište, member Aleksandar Simić, who had 94 points, was involved.

This year’s competitions also saw withdrawals from originally selected commission members, leading to replacements with other candidates.

In Subotica, Ladislav Lazić was replaced by Jelena Dopuđ. In the internet competition in Sremska Mitrovica, originally selected Slađana Ostojić was replaced by Jelena Dopuđ, while in Kovin, according to the commission's minutes, Sonja Kokotović was replaced by Aleksandar Simić.

The president of the Journalists' Society of Vojvodina (UNS-DNV) and UNS's candidate for competition commissions, Predrag Rava, informed UNS that he was invited by the Municipality of Ražanj to replace a commission member who withdrew from participation, but two weeks later he was informed that the member had changed their mind.

“They told me he withdrew because the work in the commission pays only 7,000 dinars, and when I called them later, they informed me that he would indeed participate in evaluating projects. If I hadn't called, I wouldn't have been notified about this at all,” Rava said.

In the City of Belgrade competition, the most funding went to the publisher of Informer

The analysis also covered the City of Belgrade competition, in which pro-government media received the highest funds.

Although the extent to which a media outlet adheres to ethical and professional standards (according to the decisions of the Press Council) is one of the criteria for project evaluation, among the record recipients in the competition are media outlets that often violate the Code of Journalists of Serbia.

The record recipient in this competition was Insider team, the publisher of Informer, which was approved a total of nine million dinars for three projects—5,000,000 dinars for the project “Voice of Belgrade,” 2,000,000 dinars for the project “Streets of Belgrade – History, Culture, and Daily Life of the Capital,” and 2,000,000 dinars for the project “We Are All Important in Belgrade.”

Consistently, Studio B also received nine million dinars for project implementation this year, which is 3,500,000 dinars less than last year.

Media Network, which is the publisher of the daily newspaper Srpski telegraf and its online edition Republika.rs, received 4,700,000 dinars, while Alo Media System received 4,500,000 dinars.

The company Tačno received 4,000,000 dinars, while the MINACORD media production company was awarded 3,000,000 dinars.

Among journalistic associations, the most funding in the City of Belgrade competition went to the Association of Sports Journalists of Belgrade, which received 2,000,000 dinars for the project TV series “Sport is Law – 2026,” and the newly formed Association of Journalists of Serbia, which received 1,110,000 dinars for the project “Social Policy of Belgrade – Who and How Takes Care of the Most Vulnerable.”

Additionally, the City of Belgrade has allocated 85 million dinars for media projects this year—equal to last year.

In the commission that evaluated projects in the City of Belgrade competition were media expert Tatjana Ćitić, Ladislav Lazić (proposed by ComNet), and Petar Njaradi, representative of the PLEJ association.

None of the 17 city municipalities of Belgrade have announced a competition to date. It is worth noting that according to the Law on Public Information and Media, city municipalities are not obligated to announce competitions.

Author: Aleksandra Ničić / UNS

The project of the Association of Independent Electronic Media “Participatory Monitoring of the Implementation of Co-Financing Processes for Projects” is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the MATRA program. ANEM is solely responsible for the content and it does not necessarily reflect the official views of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.