The system of project-based co-financing of media content in Serbia is becoming increasingly meaningless year after year and is moving further away from its basic, legally defined purpose, while the results of this year’s calls issued by the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications show that it has ended in complete failure.
Instead of using the allocation of public money to promote the public interest and support the development of media pluralism and professionalism, the money allocated through this system has become a means of openly financing media outlets, organisations and media groups close to the authorities, many of which continuously violate ethical standards. Only at first glance is it paradoxical that professional, independent and critical media have been punished for reporting in accordance with media ethics and professional standards, which should in fact be one of the key criteria for the allocation of funds.
The analysis of project-based financing, prepared by the Coalition for Media Freedom, shows that the Ministry’s funds are largely concentrated around a limited number of interconnected owners and media networks, many of which are undeniably part of the pro-government media system or are politically and commercially linked to government structures. Instead of public money being allocated on the basis of project quality, contribution to the public interest and respect for professional standards, the call has been turned into a mechanism for strengthening the political and economic power of media actors serving the media needs of the authorities.
In 2026, the Ministry allocated 482 million dinars through nine calls. A total of 1,224 projects were submitted, 421 were funded, while 803 projects were rejected. However, behind the appearance of competition lies a deeply unequal system in which a significant share of funds ends up with the same media groups. The media network linked to Radoica Milosavljević received 41.2 million dinars, the Best Media Team group, linked to the publishers of the tabloids Alo and Informer, received 32.6 million dinars, Slavko Stijaković’s network received 27.4 million dinars, Aleksandar Milutinović’s network received 22.3 million dinars, and Vladan Stefanović’s media group received 21.7 million dinars.
The data clearly show that project-based co-financing no longer functions as support for diverse media, but as a system for concentrating public money in the hands of several privileged media centres. These privileged media groups also access citizens’ money through other media-financing mechanisms.
It is particularly devastating that tabloid publishers who have violated professional standards for years also dominate among the beneficiaries of state funding. Financing media outlets that continuously violate the Journalists’ Code of Ethics of Serbia sends a direct message that professionalism, ethics and accountability to the public are no longer criteria for receiving citizens’ money — quite the opposite.
The picture is even worse considering that many critical media outlets and organisations have completely given up applying, because discrimination has become obvious and the outcome of the calls is clear in advance. When these media outlets no longer apply because they know they will be discriminated against, then it is no longer a public call, but administrative cover for a pre-arranged distribution of money to those deemed suitable.
At the same time, leading independent professional organisations — NUNS, UNS, ANEM, Local Press and the Association of Media — did not receive funds in this call, while significant support was granted to organisations publicly described as close to the authorities or as so-called GONGO organisations. Such a distribution is not an accidental mistake, but part of a broader process in which independent actors are being pushed out of the public financing system, while organisations serving as pillars of support for the authorities are being institutionally strengthened.
The analysis also shows a dramatic weakening of independent local media. The share of Local Press network members in the Ministry’s funds fell from 6.38 percent in 2023 to 3.28 percent in 2024, and in the 2026 call amounted to only 1.07 percent of the total allocated funds. This is not merely a statistical decline, but an indicator of the systematic exhaustion of local newsrooms working in the interest of citizens.
Decisions on the allocation of funds were made by commissions whose composition and integrity raise serious doubts. Public money was decided on by commissions composed predominantly of members of questionable professional and moral qualities, within a system in which organisations close to the authorities play a significant role in proposing commission members. This further raises the issue of conflicts of interest, political influence and the real independence of decision-making.
Journalists’ and media associations and trade unions demand an urgent and thorough reform of the system of project-based co-financing: prevention of conflicts of interest in the selection of commission members, full transparency of beneficiary ownership, limits on the concentration of funds among connected media groups, mandatory consideration of the history of violations of professional standards, and the publication of detailed explanations for all decisions.
If our demands are not met, the project-based co-financing system will continue, increasingly, to undermine the media market, strengthen favoured and unethical media, and suffocate media outlets that uphold their profession and its standards.
Analiza konkursnog finansiranja – Konkurs Ministarstva informisanja i telekomunikacija 2026.
Signatories:
Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)
Association of Media
Association of Online Media (AOM)
Branch Trade Union of Culture, Arts and Media “Nezavisnost”
Business Association of Local and Independent Media “Local Press”
Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS)
Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina (NDNV)
Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS)
Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation
