Nikola Lazić (Bujanovačke): There is no compromise when it comes to journalism.

You once said, "It’s bad everywhere, but even worse in the south." So, how did you survive these first ten years of Bujanovačke?

I consider and feel Bujanovačke, don't be surprised, as one of my own children. Ten years is a huge period, especially given the media situation. In 2015, Serbia was better than it is today, but somehow I measure these ten years in Bujanovačke according to a dog calendar – we multiply the weight of one year by seven. Because of everything I started and we did together, I feel immense pride; from a newsroom where we worked hand in hand, we have come to our own office, space, and equipment. It’s not perfect, but we can function without technical problems.

You say it’s not the same to work in Bujanovac as it is in Subotica or Novi Sad. It’s clear you’re referring to the challenges of a multiethnic environment burdened by a range of problems and prejudices.

We started with the motto that journalism has no nationality; we address Serbs, Albanians, and Roma, and all of them are our loyal readers. I am most proud that we have broken down barriers and shown that accurate, timely, truthful information is equally important to everyone, regardless of their name or what faith or nationality they belong to. This is evidenced by the section “Report to Bujanovačke,” which we opened two years ago with the help of donors. People report all the problems they encounter, whether communal or even political. We have developed a network of reader-reporters in all forty populated areas who inform us daily about current events, effectively making us a bridge between citizens and the authorities; in at least 90 percent of cases when we publish a story, the local government reacts immediately and resolves the issue.

Many won’t understand, but I am very happy to live and work in Bujanovac, to have the opportunity to experience all these diversities. To enable this for others, we designed an application that automatically translates news into Albanian, so both Albanians and Serbs can receive timely information in their native language.

Bujanovac has larger media outlets that are financially supported; aren’t they that "bridge"?

I don’t want to speak poorly of my colleagues, although I don’t consider TV Bujanovac a media outlet; they don’t have their own news program but broadcast Informer, and their portal relays national "news" about the president and his party, ignoring local issues. However, that doesn’t prevent the Ministry from giving them large sums of money for something they don’t do. Believe me, I’ve lived and worked here for a long time, and I don’t know anyone who follows that, let’s say, television.

Does the local government support them?

They have given them some money, although this year’s story with the Competition for co-financing media content is somewhat different. A committee cobbled together from scratch allocated a third of a modest three million to that television and two others from Vranje that don’t even report, and TV Bujanovac is owned by one of them! As far as I know, the competition has been annulled because the local government concluded that such a proposal from the committee does not meet the needs and interests of the citizens of Bujanovac and does not satisfy the criteria of the competition. However, they are generally favored by the committees at various levels and regimes, where there is no room for us.

How do you survive under those conditions? Thanks to the readers?

You’re asking how we survive? Readers are key, but thanks to our efforts from the beginning to respect the tenets of the journalistic profession and the Code of Ethics, we have gained a solid reputation and trust with international donors. It’s not a huge amount of money – although there’s a notion that all “foreign mercenaries and domestic traitors” work for large sums – we’re talking about money that doesn’t even cover basic costs like salaries and fees, rent, and operations. But it’s not insignificant. We secure part of the necessary funds through marketing, although it’s quite difficult to find clients who would make longer-term contracts due to the economic situation here in southern Serbia. We can hardly reach national advertisers, just like other local media. So we can’t be relaxed, but month by month, we manage.

What is the hardest part for small media in small communities?

The hardest part is achieving some balance, not compromise, because there’s no compromise when it comes to journalism, but in small communities, you live with your heroes; you meet the people you write about every day in cafes, stores, on the street, everyone knows each other. This isn’t anything new; it’s the fate of local media. We talked about advertising; there are people who would like to support us and promote their business, but they are simply afraid of attracting some inspection upon themselves. A few years ago, we had a situation where several advertisers withdrew after direct pressure from the SNS, but we survived that too.

It's difficult to achieve that balance between the need for professional reporting and living in a small community, where people have a conditioned reflex and think that all journalists are liars, mercenaries of some centers of power. There’s also a group around the ruling party that stubbornly labels us as a fascist media outlet, even though that has nothing to do with us. But some fool might read it and believe it. We ignore these attacks, and that’s what hurts them the most. And here the rule is – if you’re not in Bujanovačke, it’s as if you don’t exist!

Of course, I believe it’s not good when everyone praises you; grounded criticism is needed to ensure we’re doing things right, and we act accordingly.

You were the editor-in-chief of Vranjske, and Bujanovačke should also have the designation "newspaper." The times for print are bad, but do the same rules apply?

The portal requires speed, but in situations that require the so-called other side or source, we call, and if they don’t respond, we inform our followers that we are waiting for a response. We always publish reactions and denials.

You know, here, turn it this way or that, everything is viewed through the prism of Albanian-Serbian relations, and without intending to be pretentious, when we founded Bujanovačke, we had these relations in mind and the desire to be a bridge among people, a gathering place. But also to correct a great injustice that national media inflict on this region, which only report on Bujanovac in terms of, excuse my precision, “Albanian terrorists.” When someone is caught with drugs, he is not a person caught in smuggling but an Albanian… It’s especially difficult to explain this to those who view everything from the proximity of Kosovo, so we wanted to somehow mitigate that burden we carry. We offer real information from the ground.

I must ask you one more question – if it were July 2015, would you embark on the adventure of Bujanovačke again?

Absolutely, I would. I’ve been doing this job for several decades; I don’t know anything else that provides me with a living. Don’t forget that I left the position of editor-in-chief of Vranjske without knowing where Bujanovačke would take me. And I’m still here.

Source: Novi magazin