Outgoing N1 TV News Director Igor Bozic was notified by new management on Friday of his removal from the position and informed that he is currently unassigned and will no longer lead the newsroom pending a decision by the Adria News Network Board regarding his status. At 7 pm on Monday, N1 employees gathered outside the station’s building to express concern over these developments.
The gathering was intended to alert both the public and the new management to the staff’s concerns. An N1 reporter on the scene noted that representatives from several journalists’ associations joined the employees outside the building.
N1 journalist Mladen Savatovic said that staff are worried and that all the changes that have taken place have been “very poorly communicated.”
“No one has officially come to explain to us why Igor Bozic is no longer the news director or what this means for the future of the newsroom,” Savatovic said.
He added that employees received no guarantees that the editorial policy will remain unchanged and noted that they expect such assurances in writing, rather than just verbally.
“It is a very bad experience when you find out this information unofficially and indirectly in the company hallways. I will be here tomorrow at the same time and place until we receive written guarantees that there will be no drastic changes to editorial policy… The primary demand remains concrete written guarantees. In the business world, you cannot just take someone’s word for it. We know what we have been exposed to for the past 11 years,” Savatovic said.
Journalist Zana Bulajic noted that the staff would wait to see what new N1 director Brent Sadler has to say on Tuesday.
“We have been repeatedly told that there will be no change in editorial policy and that everything will stay the same… But now that the first among us – our news director – has been removed, it feels as though this won’t be an isolated case. Our fear and concern is that tomorrow it will be someone else,” Bulajic said.
“What we are seeing does not inspire confidence. Let’s hear what the new management has to say tomorrow. Removing the person who headed the newsroom is not something that puts our minds at ease,” she added.
Igor Bozic’s current status is “employed but unassigned.” The new N1 Board is currently reviewing his position and is expected to define his role in the coming days.
Adria News Network has not provided a public explanation for the decision to remove Bozic. New director Brent Sadler has announced that he will meet with staff on Tuesday to answer their questions.
Source: N1
