After the systematization of “Juronujz” television, twelve employees – among them seven journalists – lost their jobs on Wednesday. According to the knowledge of “Vremen”, almost all of them are signatories of the announcement by which part of the editorial office dissociated itself from the new editorial policy of this television.
As “Vreme” learns, after the implemented systematization on Euronews television, on Wednesday 12 were distributed otkaza employees. There are seven of them journalists, while the rest are employees from the production sector – videographers, organizer and make-up artist. Among the fired journalists is Milan Šarić, one of the most recognizable faces of this media company.
Only one person among those dismissed is not a signatory of the statement of the part of the employees by which they dissociated themselves from the editorial policy of this television, so the general assessment of the workers at “Juronujuz” is that it is a kind of “retaliation” against the “rebels”.
“It is important to note that all the journalists and videographers who were fired are signatories of the petition by which the employees dissociated themselves from the management,” a source who is well versed in the events inside this newsroom tells “Vreme”.
He also explains how the dismissal came about, and notes that it took ten days.
Suspicious assessment of employees before dismissal
“Ten days ago, a notice board was put up in the newsroom, which we didn’t have until then. This was done on Sunday evening, and on Monday morning they hung two documents – one is the Decision on systematization, as well as the systematization itself and the new jobs that were established. In this way, they abolished almost all jobs in television, and created new ones. In the Decision on systematization, they wrote that a two-day evaluation of employees will be conducted based on the previous six months of work, as if based on that evaluation, a decision will be made on who will be declared technologically redundant”, says the source of “Vremena”.
He adds that the criteria that were indicated were “ad hoc” established, because it was not clear how the person who evaluated determined the expertise, competence and work ethic of the employees.
Although the Decision stipulates that the head of the sector can consult with others before deciding who will be fired, the source of “Vremena” claims that the editor-in-chief Dragana Pejović did not do so.
He points out that the journalists who were fired not only signed a petition against the management, but also directly confronted the manager of “Juronujza” about the new editorial policy.
“We have no doubt that this is another form of revenge for that announcement and the ‘purge’ that was announced by the management,” concludes the “Vremena” source.
The regional director of “Juronjuz”, Minja Miletić, did not respond to our request to comment on the layoffs at this television station.
The case of Marija Šehić
Njournalist Marija Šehić she was fired from this television at the beginning of June after a conflict with the management.
She was employed at Juronujuz for a little over two years. With Jelena Stojiljković, she worked on the show “Let’s talk”, she was a producer of news shows, and occasionally a presenter. Since September last year, she hosted the Morning Program.
That lasted until recently, when she was “removed” from studio shifts and transferred to directing.
And then came the dismissal.
How it all started
The cancellation was preceded by the fact that in April 78 journalists and media workers publicly distanced themselves from an unsigned statement sent on behalf of the “Juronjuz” editorial office in connection with the student blockade of RTS, which happened for the first time in the history of Serbian journalism.
In the letter, on behalf of “Juronjuz”, it was requested that the competent authorities react to the fact that students and citizens blocked Radio and Television of Serbia. They used formulations about being forced “to the camps” and that “street, raw and brutal revolutionary justice” was being carried out on colleagues from the RTS, which “must cause not only fear, but also disgust”.
The employees distanced themselves from such a statement, and the reactions of the journalistic associations followed
The Association of Serbian Journalists announced after the protest of “Juronujuz” employees that they were “exposed to professional degradation, various pressures”. The Slavko Ćuruvija foundation announced that this dismissal “represents revenge because it opposed the trampling of professional standards, pressures and mistreatment of journalists of this media company, since Minja Miletić, regional director, and Dragana Pejović, editor-in-chief, came to its leading positions”.
Source: VREME
