The President of the Croatian Journalists’ Association (HND) Hrvoje Zovko said that events on the media scene in Serbia could spill over into Croatia.
Commenting the possibility of people close to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic taking control of United Media and its independent media outlets, Zovko said that Vucic wants control over all media at a moment when he has been visibly shaken by the ongoing protests. “At this sensitive moment for him, when he is visibly shaken, Vucic would certainly like to have all the media under his control and silence any critical voices. Although this is happening in Serbia, the story directly concerns our own media space, and naturally, by the law of communicating vessels, it could spill over into Croatia and affect our media environment and society as a whole,” he said.
United Media (which is owned by United Group) is the owner of record of N1 and Nova TV stations in the region.
Zovko said that it’s clear how vital and important to the public the independent media are in Serbia as well as how important providing accurate and timely information is.
According to him, the new United Media management is moving ahead slowly. “It seems they’re in no hurry — and clearly, they want to avoid any damage to their reputation. They appointed people who used to be prominent figures in journalism and it seems that they are using that argument to take over United Media while keeping the brand intact but diluting the journalistic essence. That’s what’s making them go slow. Besides, the European Commission is keeping an eye on what’s happening,” Zovko said.
He said that the initiative to find investors and buy United Media outlets from United Group and its owner BC Partners is not a bad idea. “But if that’s the route to go down, it should happen quickly, as soon as possible, because it’s evident that Vucic — regardless of how long he remains in power — wants to bring United Media under his control,” Zovko said.
Source: N1
