How and why is the government brutally targeting Veran Matić through films and newly established media. “It’s a pattern. Hell is coming,” the president of ANEM’s Board of Directors told “Vreme”.
In the day when Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) announced that the same owner registered seven new ones portal, part of that network began coordinated attacks on Veran Matić, president of the ANEM Board of Directors. On several newly founded local portals, almost identical texts appeared, in which Matić is accused, among other things, of high treason.
The portals Serbia in the East, Glas Aranđelovac, Lučani live, Palanačke vesti, Stara Pazova live, Nova Pazova live and Podunavlje live published two identical texts, with minimal differences in the titles.
The documentary film “Evil Age 2”, produced by the Center for Social Stability, is cited as the basis for the accusations. With the publication of such news, the targeting of Matić continued.
Election campaign form
Matić tells “Vreme” that this is a form that will be applied in the coming period.
“Distribution of parts of the film through the network.” newly established and recently purchased portals is an attempt to conquer the media space by targeting, inciting and fabricating lies, with the aim of putting pressure on people and organizations that the government sees as a problem both now and in the future”, Matić assesses.
Repression against journalists and the media today, he says, is greater than at any time in the last 30 years.
“I think this is all part of the upcoming election campaign. Hell is coming. It will get worse, regardless of the fact that it seems to many to be the peak now. Journalists who report professionally will be increasingly attacked and threatened, in this way – by the fabrication of fabrications and lies and massive distribution that should prevent the possibility of reacting to those lies,” says Matić.
The center of power in the digital space
In addition to the already existing centers of media power in national television, tabloids and print media, a new one is now being created – in the digital space.
After taking over the majority of the television and print market, says Matić, there will be an attempt to completely master the digital space, which is used to carry out repression. As an example, he cites organized bot attacks on the Instagram accounts of leading independent media.
“On the one hand, Serbia is being completely blacked out when it comes to reliable news and information, and on the other, it is being systematically covered with lies, targeting and accusations of those who think differently,” warns Matić.
What aired in Evil Age 2
The film was broadcast in prime time on the national television channels B92 and Prva, as well as on cable television Informer, and Veran Matić was directly targeted in it. In the texts published on the newly formed portals, there are claims about his alleged connection with George Soros, foreign embassies and organizations like USAID, as well as “serious evidence” of his involvement in the secession of Kosovo.
The same allegations were published by Informer, which replayed the aforementioned film on Thursday, February 5. The production of the film is underwritten by the non-governmental organization Center for Social Stability from Novi Sad.
On the occasion of the broadcast of the film and its distribution, journalist and media associations, members of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists (SRG), assessed that they were “intimidated and alarmed”, warning that such content opens a public “hunt” for the president of the ANEM Board of Directors.
Portals of the same owner and editor-in-chief
Some of the portals that published the attacks on Matić are part of a network of ten new internet media owned by Zaple Media Group from Novi Sad. He is listed as the editor-in-chief of all portals Gradimir Bankovic, associate of the Center for Social Stability.
Zaple Media Group was founded on December 11, 2025, and the first new local portals were launched already at the beginning of January. In recent years, Banković has appeared in the media as an analyst of the social and political situation, presenting himself as an associate of the Center for Social Stability. On the Center’s website, however, the “biography” field next to his name remained empty, unlike most of the other collaborators.
According to data available at the Agency for Business Registers, Zaple Media Group lists an apartment in Novi Sad as its address, without telephone contact. The company is not even in the available white pages, and the e-mail address, to which “Vreme” sent questions on several occasions, remained unanswered until the conclusion of this text.
The Center for Social Stability has so far broadcast several government propaganda films and organized anti-blockades.
Source: Vreme
