Deutsche Welle’s Serbian language portal said it was told by United Group sources that the recent changes do not mean its media outlets in the Western Balkans would be sold off.
United Group recently launched the Adria News Network (ANN) as the umbrella management for all United Media outlets, sparking speculation that N1, Nova S, Radar weekly and Danas daily would face major changes in editorial policy. The speculation of changes to come in the media outlets in Serbia initially started with the publication of an audio recording of a phone call between United Group CEO Stan Miller and state-controlled Telekom Serbia CEO Vladimir Lucic which included talk of the removal of United Media CEO Aleksandra Subotic allegedly at the demand of Serbian President Vucic.
United Group source quoted by DW denied claims that the new management would curb critical reporting and added that the goal is to protect independent journalism.
The UG sources said editorial staff would continue to have authority over content and take editorial decisions daily. According to them, the idea is to create a platform for independent journalism in the Balkans, not reduce the number of employees or cut down expenses. They said the executive news editor (according to DW Brent Sadler) is there to protect editorial independence in the entire organization and secure a balanced and fair product in line with standards of journalism. The new media framework was set up to make sure there is no inappropriate influence from the authorities, political players, shareholders or UG management.
They said the ANN was formed to meet the promise of making news operations completely independent and added that the decision has the support of BC Partners as the majority shareholder in United Group. The decision does not have the support of UG co-founder and minority shareholder Dragan Solak who was dismissed from his management posts.
The United Group sources denied any deal with the Serbian authorities. They said the ANN would take all necessary steps to protect their journalists.
Source: N1
