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In the past year and a half, there have been 102 cases of hate speech reported in domestic media, according to research by the Institute for Media and Diversity – Western Balkans. The findings indicate that the most common targets are women and political dissenters, while the main sources are tabloids and television stations with national licenses.

The project of the Novi Sad Cooperative "Medijakult," which received nearly 5 million dinars in last year's competition held by the Provincial Secretariat for Information, was fully realized by other companies, even though the Law on Public Information and Media (ZJIM) does not permit this.

More than two weeks have passed, but I still feel a sense of discomfort, as journalists should not have to face such situations and disrespect for their integrity while reporting from an event, says Vremena journalist Katarina Stevanović, who was harassed by the police. Professor Smiljana Milinkov and photojournalist Marija Čolaković also speak about threats and attacks on them for Cenzolovka.

In August 2025 alone, there were 25 physical attacks on female media workers, 14 of which were carried out by police officers—those whose duty it is to ensure our safety in the workplace. When online harassment, verbal threats, and sexual harassment in newsrooms are added to this, it is clear that female journalists work in an environment of fear and insecurity.

The political crisis in the country that followed the collapse of the canopy in Novi Sad has shaped the results of the monitoring of hate speech in the media conducted by the Institute for Media and Diversity - Western Balkans. In this atmosphere, established harmful narratives and hate speech, especially those targeting women and ethnic groups, have been used as political tools against students, demonstrators, the opposition, civil society, as well as ordinary citizens who participated in blockades and protests.

Reporters and television crews from N1 have been the target of verbal and physical attacks more than 40 times from November of last year until today.

The Commissioner for Equality Protection, Brankica Janković, assessed that the position of the media is difficult, there are numerous pressures, freedom is often called into question, and professional reporting is measured by courage.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Serbia William Montgomery, in an interview with Nedeljnik, reflected on the events of the 2000s, the advisor to then-Prime Minister Vladimir "Beba" Popović, and the threats received by Veran Matić, who was then the director of B92.

On this day, 12 years ago, the Commission for the Investigation of Journalist Murders in Serbia began to take shape, officially established in February 2016. The President of the Board of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) and a member of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists, Veran Matić, stated that at that time there was a certain level of political will to put an end to impunity, to identify and punish the killers, but that the climate changed after 2016.