The management of Euronews in Serbia continues to attack, censor, and spread falsehoods.
We did not wait long for a new embarrassment from the management of Euronews Serbia, which has been in conflict for months with a significant part of the editorial team that is fighting for professional operations.
The management of this media outlet, whose operations have drastically changed to the detriment of professionalism since the appointment of Minja Miletić, Dragana Pejović, and others to leading editorial positions both on television and online, has now attacked journalistic and media associations and the union because we stood by journalist Marija Šehić, who received a disgraceful and unfounded dismissal from Euronews, as confirmed by the latest statement from Euronews management. Furthermore, claims of censorship, the prohibition of asking questions, and the harassment of Euronews journalists were not fabricated by the associations; rather, numerous journalists from this editorial team reported these issues to the associations.
We have been accused by Euronews management of employing “tabloid methods” in our defense of Marija Šehić, and our professionalism has been ironically questioned.
It is concerning that contrary to the code and fundamental principles of journalism, a response from the media management has been published on the Euronews website, while the main news article from which the audience should have learned about the association's stance on Marija Šehić's dismissal has been removed. It is paradoxical, therefore, that the statement from “Euronews management” claims that no information is being suppressed in this media's programming.
We consider this censorship, but not the only example of journalistic unprofessionalism employed by Euronews management while they lecture about “tabloid methods.”
It is still unclear how many versions of the infamous unsigned statement from Euronews dated April 18, “We call on the authorities to enable RTS to operate,” exist, in which inappropriate phrases such as camps, ghettos, and the Khmer Rouge were used. The most extreme versions continue to be available on the websites of some tabloids (such as Informer), while a milder version of the text appears on the Euronews website.
It is untrue that Euronews management has not been contacted. In addition to individual journalists, union representatives from Nezavisnost contacted members of management last month, requesting a meeting regarding the issues that journalists and other workers at this media outlet face in their work. That meeting has yet to take place.
Finally, it is unacceptable that the management of Euronews Serbia, in an attempt to discredit the justified criticism from journalistic associations, has unfoundedly dragged in the company Telekom Srbija, suggesting that the aim of our reactions was to cause it harm. The associations reacted solely to the unfounded and retaliatory dismissal of Marija Šehić and the erosion of professional standards, not to the ownership structure of the media.
We expect the company Telekom Srbija to reject such attempts to manipulate its name in internal disputes between management and its own journalists.
Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS)
Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS)
Independent Association of Journalists of Vojvodina (NDNV)
Association of Online Media (AOM)
Business Association of Local and Independent Media “Lokal Pres”
Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)
Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation
Association of Media
GS KUM Nezavisnost
