Veran Matić was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award: "I will help young people in resetting journalism."

Matić stated that he began his journalism career over 40 years ago. As he mentioned, he started his journalistic days like a journalism student, who now takes their first steps in journalism through their involvement in protest fires.

There are many young journalists, he added, who are protecting the participants of the protests by documenting with their phones and cameras and sharing the recorded footage with the public.

“I want to dedicate this award to them, namely the journalist who will receive this recognition in 40 years from now,” he said.

He added that new generations are resetting journalism, and he will be there to assist them.

From his days as a journalist, editor, and producer, the jury explained, Veran Matić has remained on the front lines of the profession for decades.

“Having myself been persecuted, arrested, and wiretapped, I have focused my efforts on the safety of journalists and the fight to investigate the murders of colleagues and to prosecute and punish the perpetrators. Not neglecting his complete opus in journalistic and philanthropic work, in recent years Veran Matić has tirelessly supported every journalist who is threatened, prevented from working, or whose safety is compromised, which is why many colleagues rely on his support. His role today, in the crisis of freedom and the escalation of violence against journalists, is immeasurable,” the jury stated.

The second recipient of this award, Branislav Gulan, said he began his journalism career in the 1960s when, as a sixteen-year-old, he wrote for "Večernje novosti."

“I have been in journalism for over half a century. I have experienced the beginnings of communism, socialism, and various political regimes,” Gulan stated.

He mentioned that his first teachers of journalism were Staša Marinković, Nikola Burzan, and Toma Milinović, as well as the present Manjo Vukotić.

“They taught me that in a conversation I must always know more than my interlocutors, as this gave me confidence in my work. The golden rule of the profession is truth and knowledge. In such cases, one can also be lucky,” Gulan noted.

The awards from the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) were presented today, on the 144th anniversary of this association, at the UNS Press Center.

The "Žika M. Jovanović" award for contributions to the history of journalism and publicist works was awarded to journalist and doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Political Sciences Bojan Cvejić for his publication "Codes of Journalists in Serbia from 1965 to 2025."

Cvejić expressed his particular pleasure that the jury recognized the significance of this publication in the year we commemorate six decades since the adoption of the first journalistic code in this region, but also in a year when adherence to ethical and professional standards in Serbian journalism is at its lowest possible level.

“At a time when ethics in Serbian journalism is marginalized, the systematic and persistent effort of Bojan Cvejić in gathering and publishing the history of journalistic codes from six decades ago to today is very important. This is a unique publication, significant to the entire media community, but also to researchers, theorists, and future journalists, and as such, it has a broad social contribution to the history of journalism and media ethics, and we hope for its future,” the jury explained.

The "Aleksandar Tijanić" award for journalistic courage was awarded to Milan Ćulibrk. Ćulibrk stated that he was surprised by the UNS award because he does not consider himself the bravest person, but rather someone who does his job.

“We have come to an absurd situation where today, simply being a professional requires courage. I do not consider myself particularly brave. I am only the third in the editorial team to receive this award. Radar is the smallest editorial team that has the most recipients of this award,” he pointed out.

He mentioned that he would allocate a part of the monetary award to students at the State University in Novi Pazar, who have demonstrated what true courage really means over the past year.

The award was presented to Ćulibrk by the jury president Manojlo Manjo Vukotić, who noted that despite the efforts of UNS to do some things perfectly honestly and professionally, he is saddened by the small number of applicants and the deep divisions in society.

“The atmosphere for journalism is not good, and it has never been in such a bad climate in society. We are in the midst of a war that pours nuclear waste on the entire society and destroys the profession. All ten daily newspapers in Belgrade are now selling a total of 103,000 copies. At one point during a good period of Serbian journalism, three Belgrade papers—Politika, Politika ekspres, and Novosti—were selling about 700,000 copies,” he stated.

It may not be the death of journalism, as he said, but murder certainly is.

In the hall, as stated by the president of UNS Živojin Rakočević, is a “mosaic of the brightest personalities of the profession” who make the profession live. These individuals come from different editorial teams and often, he added, represent dissenting opinions.

The award was dedicated to his teacher by Nenad Mihajlović. He received the photography award, which this year is named after the renowned Novi Sad photographer Jaroslav Pap, for his entire annual opus, with a special emphasis on the photograph commemorating the anniversary of the roof collapse in Novi Sad, published in the online edition of The Guardian.

“It is a great honor to receive an award that bears the name of my teacher, friend, and colleague,” Mihajlović said.

The Golden Charter was awarded to Slobodan Radičević for three decades of work in UNS and for significant contributions to the development of this journalistic organization, especially standing out in the fight for the rights of local media.

Radičević stated that he is honored to join the ranks of those who have dedicated themselves to the development of the organization, which has faced various challenges over its 144 years of existence.

“The period during which I am receiving this award and when I was most active in UNS is the most challenging, as the profession is in deep crisis, while journalistic associations and organizations are being marginalized and discredited,” he noted.

He added that for the future he has a list of good wishes, among which is the desire for journalistic associations to fight for professional unity in relation to the current deep divisions.

“I hope that journalists will focus on reporting and research, not propaganda; that media programs will be managed by professionals, not political activists and representatives of big capital; that journalists and media workers will be unequivocally and institutionally protected from all abuses, pressures, intimidation, and attacks; that the instigators and murderers of journalists will be condemned most strictly; that the social and economic position and labor rights status of journalists and media workers will be fair and dignified, as only a materially independent journalist can be free; that small and local media will be more visible and influential; that young people will choose to study journalism to pursue this profession, not PR. Finally, for my UNS, of which I am still a member, I wish it to maintain its principled stance and not to cater to any side,” he said.

For comprehensive and exclusive information, namely the statement from the then commander of the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit of the Ministry of Interior Spasoje Vulević, Velimir Perović was awarded. He received the “Laza Kostić” award in the category of news/report.

Perović thanked the Beta editorial team and UNS, which, as he said, has been nurturing tradition for years and strives to protect the profession, which has recently been endangered “by quasi-politicians, criminals, and recently by police officers.”

The “Laza Kostić” award for reportage was awarded to journalist Jelena S. Spasić from "Kurir" for a series of reports from Prebilovci, which experienced tragedy during World War II.

“I thank the people who were my interlocutors, as it is not easy to speak about that suffering even after so many years. Prebilovci is something we must know and respect. We must cultivate a culture of remembrance. Prebilovci has only about thirty inhabitants and must survive. This depends on the politics—from the people in Belgrade and Banja Luka who must know what Prebilovci means to us,” she said.

For the caricature “Map,” the award was given to journalist Vladislav Filipović from the Kosovo Online portal, who thanked the jury for the award.

The award for the best annual editorial concept “Dimitrije Davidović” was awarded to the editor of the Aktuelnosti editorial team at RTS - Jelena Božović.

She mentioned that she has been in the Aktuelnosti editorial team for two years, where the foundations were laid by previous editors Dragan Stojanović, Branka Kerkez, and Jugoslava Đurica. In this rubric, she stated, she truly tried to bring some innovations to the team of 13 authors who work on 13 shows.

“The people in the editorial team are filled with love for journalism and the belief that their stories can change something, and that is what motivates all of us,” she noted.

Regarding the winners of the “Laza Kostić” award in the categories of news/report, reportage, and caricature, as well as the winners of the photography award “Jaroslav Pap” and the commentary award “Bogdan Tirnanić,” the jury consisted of: Predrag Rava (president), Milan Vlajić, Petar Živković, Dejan Nikolić, and Dubravka Nikolić.

On the other hand, the jury for the “Žika M. Jovanović” awards, the Golden Charter of UNS, the “Dimitrije Davidović” award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award consisted of: Olivera Milošević (jury president), Zoran Marković, Gordana Eror, Nemanja Milošević, and Sonja Ivković.

This year, the “Bogdan Tirnanić” award for commentary was not awarded. There were, as Predrag Rava said, quality proposals, but in the jury's assessment, none of them carries the weight deserving of the name of a journalist like Bogdan Tirnanić.

Source: UNS