Nova TV News Director Slobodan Georgiev warned that a plan to shut down media outlets within United Media (UM) is currently underway, forcing editors to seek support from European institutions.
Program directors and editors of the media outlets operating within United Media sent a letter to the European Commission, European Parliament, Council of Europe and international journalists’ organizations to alert them to developments, which, they said, “pose a direct risk to editorial independence and the integrity of the newsrooms.”
Georgiev said that United Media (UM) outlets have no other option, as the intention is to “internationalize the issue.”
“In a situation where you don’t have a normal government you can engage with, and when we are blocked from communicating with the management of the company we work for, we have to seek help. And we have to keep all actors around the world up to date on what is happening,” he explained.
According to Georgiev, a deal has clearly been made to shut down UM media outlets.
“We will not agree to that. And we want to inform everyone about it, including Ursula von der Leyen, Antonio Costa, Donald Trump, and Keir Starmer… Everyone in the world needs to know that if they do nothing, they are participating in this project to shut down the only free media in Serbia,” he stressed.
He added that for “radicals, media don’t exist,” but only propaganda services, because they don’t understand that free media can exist.
The main message of the letter, he said, is for the European community to pay attention and help save free media in Serbia.
Georgiev explained that, in the letter, they point out that, in addition to what has already happened at UM, the majority owner is now announcing new management, planning to create a new company, establish editorial boards, and bring in some experts.
“We haven’t seen any of them. The only thing we are hearing is the government telling us we will be shut down. I would like to hear the company explain the conversation between (United Group CEO) Stan Miller and Vladimir Lucic, the director of Telekom – they never explained that,” he stressed.
The editors’ goal, he said, is to protect the people working within UM, which is why they proposed a management buyout, which the majority owner rejected, saying they won’t sell to “a third party.”
Source: N1
