According to exclusive information obtained by Nova.rs, United Group’s new CEO, Stan Miller, has decided to make urgent changes at United Media, and to appoint 75-year-old British journalist Brent Sadler as the key figure overseeing media operations in Serbia.
Sources say this decision was finalized even before the investigative outlet OCCRP revealed that United Group’s new CEO had been in talks with Telekom Srbija’s CEO to oust United Media chief executive Aleksandra Subotic. An audio recording captures discussions indicating that these changes were personally requested by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, through BC Partners’ European director, Nikos Stathopoulos. Sadler’s appointment, we have learned, is part of this pre-arranged deal for changes.
Nova.rs reached out to Sadler for comment, but he had not responded by the time of publication. Zeljko Bodrozic, president of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS/IJAS), also addressed these developments on Wednesday.
Sadler, a former CNN war correspondent, previously served as chairman of N1’s Editorial Board, but left the television station in 2019. Telekom Srbija hired him as an informal advisor during the launch of Euronews in Belgrade, and after his departure from N1, officials from the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), with Goran Vesic at helm,
publicly commended Sadler’s “courage” for accusing Dragan Solak of influencing N1’s programming.
For years, the website Antidot has been portraying Sadler as a witness of how N1’s programming is “orchestrated,” alleging he flagged supposed breaches of journalistic standards at N1 to CNN’s leadership, blaming Solak for pushing a pro-opposition agenda.
Since Greek businessman Nikos Stathopoulos took full control of United Group, sidelining founders and minority shareholders Dragan Solak and Victoriya Boklag, United Media editors and journalists have repeatedly warned of a real threat to their editorial independence.
Source: N1
