The United Group, one of the largest independent media owners in the Western Balkans, announced that it had rejected an offer from potential buyers seeking to acquire its Serbian outlets.
According to Mihailo Jovicevic, editor-in-chief of the Nova.rs news portal, this indicates that efforts to restructure their media under a new umbrella company are still underway.
He referred to a recently leaked conversation between Telekom Srbija executive Vladimir Lucic and media consultant Brian Miller, in which they discussed a plan to consolidate media ownership structures in Serbia.
“The plan envisions creating a single parent company that would absorb all major publishers in Serbia, and even Montenegro’s Vijesti, which is quite telling. The idea is that we would all become part of one firm with a new director,” Jovicevic explained.
The ultimate objective, he said, is control over editorial resources:
“Newsrooms operate based on staffing and operational conditions. Editors decide how stories are shaped, but managers decide how many people you have, what equipment you get, and in what conditions you work. If this plan is implemented in January, these decisions will no longer be in our hands.”
Another element of the plan, he said, is the creation of an ‘editorial board’ that would monitor the newsrooms’ work:
“They would supposedly assess whether we are ‘independent enough’. That’s the most absurd part of the proposal. We don’t have all the details because UG has not answered our questions, but if this is true, it will be the most absurd aspect of working in this new structure.”
Jovicevic stressed that journalists must continue to resist:
“We have spent – N1 for 11 years, and our portal for five and a half years – building a space of freedom and professionalism. We will not, and must not, abandon it.”
Source: N1
