The company United Media (UM) has cautioned that one of the most drastic campaigns against the journalists of our media was launched on Sunday evening on the Pink television station in which they were directly implicated in the political conflict in Kosovo.
“This is a serious threat to the safety of all company employees which is why a swift reaction of the relevant state bodies is necessary,” said UM.
The company noted that, in a special Pink TV program on 25 December, Serbian Progressive Party MP Vladimir Djukanovic, as well as editors-in-chief of pro-regime tabloids Dragan J. Vucicevic and Sasa Milovanovic, repeatedly marked United Media journalists as targets, insinuating that “the Luxembourg media” are working in collaboration with the Government in Pristina on jeopardizing the safety of the Serbs in Kosovo.
What they cited as the reason for such dangerous claims was the failure of the media operating within United Media to report on “armed clashes” in Zubin Potok, waiting, instead, for instructions from Pristina.
“These accusations are completely unfounded and are an attempt to discredit the journalists and media working within United Media and to label them as enemies of the people. Given that insinuations about the betrayal were made by an MP and editors-in-chief of pro-regime tabloids for hours on a television station with national coverage, we see this as serious pressure on our media’s normal and professional work and as a drastic threat to security. This is not the first time that journalists have been implicated in political conflicts, however, following the Pink TV special program, this has gained a new dimension, one reminiscent of the actions against the independent media in the 1990s, when journalists were killed in Serbia,” said UM.
United Media calls on all relevant institutions to take all the necessary steps to ensure adequate protection of journalists and the honoring of their rights and freedoms. “The police and other state bodies are responsible for the safety of all citizens so our journalists’ safety is precisely their responsibility,” said United Media, adding:
“We are witnesses that campaigns against free media are launched every time the ruling establishment does not like the topic or the issue they are critically reporting on. As a result of such behavior, the threats that the journalists of N1, Nova and Danas are receiving on a daily basis are increasingly serious and frequent. This is why it is necessary for the public to unanimously condemn the rhetoric that we heard on Pink TV last night, because we had the opportunity in the past to witness the outcomes of similar campaigns pursued precisely on this television station.”
United Media noted that it would inform all international journalism associations about the latest threats to journalists’ safety.
