N1 TV news director Branislav Sovljanski said the station is ready to operate professionally during the campaign for the October 25 elections just like it has always done.
He said N1 would invite all political players to its studios to ask questions in the public interest. He said he does not believe in neutral journalism, but in professional journalism, and added that N1 would cover election night and the announcement of results unless “someone switches off our channel.”
“We will try to create an election program of the kind that should exist on a serious television station. We will try to have all those taking part in the elections, giving them an opportunity to present their program and debate their positions. The problem is the political reality show we have, where we no longer talk about political party program at all, but about something completely different. But that is the reality,” he said.
Sovljanski said all political players, including state officials, would be invited to appear on N1.
“Everyone will be invited and will have the opportunity to say what they are offering the citizens of Serbia, but also to answer our questions – questions we will ask in the public interest. We invited state officials before, and in previous elections N1 invited representatives of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), but they did not accept those invitations. We will do the same this time,” he said.
Asking questions is what we do
Sovljanski said N1 had to question government officials because they remained the country’s decision-makers. “I hope they will finally accept our invitations,” he said.
Commenting on insults directed at N1 by government officials in recent years, Sovljanski said this must not change how journalists operate.
“That is the spectrum and the folklore in which we live. We could withdraw and say – we don’t want to talk to you – but that is not our job. Our job is to ask questions. If their choice is to insult us, and it has been their choice all these years, that is their choice,” he said.
He added that journalists must continue insisting on answers, even when interviewees avoid questions or make false statements.
I know the public trusts us
Asked whether viewers expect government officials to appear on N1, Sovljanski said he did not know what the audience expected, but that he knew N1 owed its viewers professional programming.
“I don’t know what the audience expects, but I know that our audience has trusted us all these years and I know we will not let them down. I would like to see interviews with people from the government, but not for them to enter into confrontations with us, but with their political opponents,” he said.
According to Sovljanski, N1 viewers will have the opportunity to watch election debates and presentations of election tickets during the campaign.
He said the station would cover the elections as it had in the past.
“Only if someone switches off our channel. Otherwise, we will work as before – following campaign headquarters, statements, everything,” he said.
New Programs on N1
Sovljanski confirmed that N1 would begin broadcasting the program “Utisak nedelje” and “Kvadratura kruga” this autumn.
“I’m genuinely pleased. Our weekend schedule was emptier, and now Olja Bećković will do exactly what she did before. Nothing will change; she will work with all the freedom she had,” he said.
Sovljanski said he was not afraid of changes and that the newsroom would continue working as before.
“If I were afraid of anyone, I wouldn’t be sitting here. What the owner will do with us is a question for the owner. What we will do is what we have done so far. In these five months that I have been here, has there been a forbidden subject, guest or anything similar? Nothing has changed. In fact, the programis richer by two shows,” he said.
On “24 Minutes with Zoran Kesić”
Commenting on the case involving the program“24 Minutes with Zoran Kesić,” Sovljanski said Kesić was a colleague and friend of the newsroom and that N1 employees had supported him.
“We heard both sides in that case, what the owners said and what Zoran said. Zoran is our colleague, my friend. We all supported him in this newsroom with a letter and we will always support him. There is also a protest tonight and everyone who is able to should support him,” he said.
He added that he could not interfere in the owners’ decisions, but said the fact that Kesić was able to speak on N1 about a decision made by another television station within the same ownership group was, in his view, evidence of freedom of speech.
“Do you know of anywhere where a television station stops working with someone and then that person comes onto another television station belonging to the same owner to talk about it? That does not exist anywhere, and it is the ultimate proof of the freedom of speech that exists at N1,” he said.
Asked where journalist Zaklina Tatalovic was, Sovljanski said she was on leave.
“If someone wants to engage in politics and journalism, then there is no place for them on N1. I really do not believe that someone can or should be politically active and think about a political career while also having space to work on television and use that television space for possible future political promotion. Anyone planning to do that should clearly draw a line and say – I want to go into politics,” he said.
Asked why there was no customary rerun of the Iza vesti show featuring Zoran Kesic, who spoke about the canceling o his satirical talk show on Nova TV, Sovljanski said that was his decision and nothing to do with Kesic. He said it was related to journalist Danica Vucenic stating on air that former N1 columnist Ljubodrag Stojadinovic had been censored.
He said all of Stojadinovic’s columns had been published on the N1 website without a single letter being changed, and that it had been the columnist’s decision to end his cooperation with N1.
Asked about correspondence between Pedro Vargas and Minister Boris Bratina, and whether he recognised N1’s journalism in it, Sovljanski said he did not believe in neutral journalism, but in professional journalism.
He added that nobody had asked him to favour anyone or ban anything. “Nobody has asked me to favour anyone or ban anything. As long as that remains the case, I am here. This society needs N1 and I hope everyone understands that – the authorities, the owner and the opposition,” Sovljanski said.
Asked whether he had the owner’s permission to allow N1 to continue working as before, Sovljanski said he did not need such permission.
“I am the news director of this television station. I am responsible for the programme, guests and topics. Those are my boundaries. We work as before,” he said.
Source: N1
