Mass media in Serbia
Both state-owned and for-profit corporations operate television, magazines, and newspapers, which depend on advertising, subscription, and other sales-related revenues.[4] The Public Information Law explicitly protects journalistic secrecy, and the Criminal Code excludes journalists from the obligation to disclose their sources to the courts, unless for grave crimes (punishable by more than 5 years sentences, art.41)[4] Despite the 2004 Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance, media efforts are often obstructed by authorities.Insult is still a criminal offense, but not punishable by prison - although journalists can be imprisoned if unable to pay the associated harsh fines.The 2009 Data Secrecy law foresees the liability of journalists if they reveal information related to national security, public safety, and foreign affairs.[6] Foreign investors are allowed to own up to 49% of the capital of broadcast license holders, but their actual influence on the editorial line is hard to determine.Media are increasingly reliant on state subsidies, which are allocated opaquely, particularly in case of irregular or one-off grants, thus reinforcing the avenues for political pressures.The advertising market is also occupied by state-owned companies[4] The category of journalist is not a registered or licensed profession in Serbia, with formal criteria and procedures.The context of business and political pressures, coupled with the lack of legal protection and the difficult working conditions make so that the general perception of the category by the broad public is of politicised and corrupt "dictaphone holders".[9] From 2010 to 2024 the Press Council has expanded its jurisdiction to include online media and has received over a thousand complaints from citizens and organizations about violations of the Journalists' Code of Ethics.This can be due to concerns that the Code restricts their editorial freedom and business interests, or because they are influenced by political or economic groups that do not support the principles of independent and ethical journalism.[14] According to the 2015 Freedom House report, media outlets and journalists in Serbia are subject to pressure from politicians and owners over editorial contents.Tabloids in Serbia are "characterized by conservativism, nationalistic ideology, hate speech, and disregard of professional and ethical norms,"[2] possibly linked to secret services or political and business interests.The quality press, often the leading independent papers back in the 1990s, suffer today from limited readership and financial difficulties after the withdrawal of external donors.Thin resources result in their journalists specializing mostly on political issues rather than broader topics, like economics or the environment, that could attract new readers interested in quality journalism.In addition, there are many Serbian editions of international titles, such as Cosmopolitan, Elle, Grazia, Men's Health, National Geographic, Le Monde Diplomatique, Playboy, Hello!A precursors was Studio B, set up in 1970 by the journalists of Borba (back then the Communist Party's newspaper), based on the model of western radio stations, with a lot of music and some short local news programmes focusing on everyday life's issues and how to solve them – as opposed to the much more establishment-style (top-down and politics-focused) of Radio Belgrade.B92 also spurred the growth of a network of independent radios (ANEM), re-broadcasting B92 news programmes together with locally produced contents.Under the Communists and Slobodan Milošević, state broadcasting was controlled by the ruling party, leading to RTS headquarters being targeted and bombed during the NATO action against Yugoslavia.[21] Television is the main source of news and information for citizens (85%, against 11% for the press and 2% for radio and internet each), while the biggest share of audience goes to entertainment programmes.[2] The financial sustainability of the whole sector remains in doubt, and broadcasters favour cheap and light programmes rather than high-quality in-house productions.Traditional media have taken up online position too, following the lead of B92 and its concept of super desk, editing stories for radio, TV and website alike.[3] UNS was founded in Belgrade in 1881, and in Socialist times defended the autonomy of the media within the limis of the self-government ideology of the Yugoslav Communist Party.Yet, its collaboration with the previous government remains a bone of contention with NUNS, that pushes for a ban over all journalists associated with the former administration's promotion of war, hate speech, ethnic and political discrimination.[2] Serbia does not have a tradition of journalists' trade unions and media business organisations, as associations have been dealing with social protection in the past.The print media is not regulated, but since 2010 the Press Council works as a self-regulatory body to ensure the implementation of the journalists' Ethical Code.[2] The RRA is defined as an "autonomous legal entity", "functionally independent of any state organ, as well as of any organisation or person involved in the production and broadcasting of radio and TV programmes".[9] The RRA has taken over wide competencies formerly tasked to state bodies, including issuing broadcasting licences (which is legally conditioned to the lack of owners' affiliations to political parties[4] and setting the rules during electoral campaigns or mourning periods.[citation needed] According to the European Journalism Centre, the RRA lacks human and financial resources to perform its tasks.The RRA remained crippled by the original credibility crisis and the two-years long process of frequency allocation gave rise to doubts about its independence.Additionally, the four founder organizations delegate their best experts to be members of the Press Council’s Complaints Commission which rules on violations of the Journalists’ Code of Ethics.
Culture of SerbiaHistoryMiddle AgesMonarchsPeopleLanguagesSerbian languageOld SerbianTraditionsKinshipMythologyfolkloreCuisineFestivalsReligionChristianitySerbian Orthodox ChurchPatriarchRoman CatholicismProtestantismHinduismJudaismArchitectureComposers (list)HeraldryLiteratureComicsEpic poetryDancesTelevisionCinemaMonumentsWorld Heritage SitesSerbian Cultural Heritage listsForts and castlesPalaces and manor housesMonasteriesSymbolsCoat of armsNational anthemMatica srpskaSerbian Academy of Sciences and ArtsNational Museum of SerbiaSerbiasubscriptionConstitution of Serbiafreedom of speechEuropean Journalism CentrePress Freedom IndexReporters Without Bordersstate monopolySlobodan Milosevicoverthrow of Slobodan Miloševićmedia policyEuropean Convention on Human RightsInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rightsfreedom of expressiontransparency of media ownershipDefamationInsultprivatisationpresumption of innocenceself-censorshipMedia freedom in SerbiaCensorship in SerbiaFreedom HouseList of newspapers in Serbiaworkers' self-managementtabloidPolitikanewspaperspapers of recordDnevnikMagyar SzóInformerVečernje NovostiSportski ŽurnalmagazinesNedeljnikPolitikin ZabavnikLepota & ZdravljeSvet KompjuteraCosmopolitanGraziaMen's HealthNational GeographicLe Monde DiplomatiquePlayboyHello!Radio BelgradeZaječarStudio BRadio B92Radio Television of SerbiaRadio Belgrade 1Radio Belgrade 2/Radio Belgrade 3Novi BeogradTelevision in SerbiaCommunistsTV Novi SadTV Pristinafree-to-airRadio Television of Serbia (RTS)Happy TVdigital broadcastingTanjug TačnoTanjugRadio France InternationaleNovi PazarArchives of YugoslaviaInternet in SerbiaKupujemProdajemInternational Federation of Journaliststelecommunications fieldVojvodinaSerbskija noviniWayback MachineEuropean ParliamentOpen Society FoundationsOsservatorio Balcani e CaucasoarticlesTimelinePrehistoricRoman timesPrincipalityGrand Principality