In ideal societies, the media would live off the audience and ads, and would not belong to tycoons, corporations and regime satraps. This "ideal" does not exist completely anywhere, and in Serbia it does not exist even in traces.
In even democratic societies, it would not matter much that one corporation sold some cable television, newspapers and portals to another corporation. But Serbia is far from that.
That's why the sale is N1, Nova S, Danas and Radar, which "Vreme" announced a long time ago, first class news. In general, Vreme followed the saga in the most detail because who else would? The regime media certainly won't, except for some gloating that "Sholak broke", and the listed media can't investigate their bosses on their own.
Draža Petrović, the owner of the now-sold "Danas", once said in our podcast "This Situation" that the situation in the company is informed from "Vremen", as self-management workers used to be informed from factory newspapers.
Why is it important?
Why did we write so much about the dismemberment and sale of United Group? Because, in an abnormal media situation, especially N1 and Nova S are the largest and most financially powerful media in the country that criticize the government. In fact, the only such large televisions.
Everything else is the propaganda of the regime, which, through the state-owned Telecom, invested two billion euros of the people's money in the operation to seize the remnants of the media sky and dismember the United Group. It must have been very important to them.
Then it is time for the "factory newspaper" to allow itself some evaluations and predictions. The most important question is - will N1 and the others dilute the criticism and, little by little, become something like Belgrade's Euronews, i.e. mimicry?
Because she just bought them - and overpaid! – the corporation that runs the Euronews channels around the world. Its business model is selling franchises to European right-wingers and wannabe dictators. They operate with dirty money, and the boss is close to the disgraced Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orban.
That whole circus brought huge billions to the investment fund BC Partners as the majority owner of United Group. And for God's sake, Dragan Šolak as a minority. Although he publicly complained about the sale, he did not try to buy N1, Nova S, Danas and Radar with his money, as, for example, he used his money to buy a Premier League football club.
And that whole circus would hardly have worked if the Serbian authorities had not felt that the flames of rebellion in Serbia were beginning to engulf their armchairs. The only idea, we in the factory newspaper think, as well as our colleagues from N1, Nova S, Danas and Radar, can be to numb critical media before decisive elections.
What might that look like?
Brent Sadler, an old wolf of the journalistic profession, since he became the editor and director in charge of all these media, always insists on "professionalism", on separating news and evaluation, on the rule of respecting the other side. If you approach the aforementioned media coldly and professionally, then complaints can easily be found.
An illustrative episode about which "Vreme" wrote in detail is a protest in front of the rectory at the end of March, after the police stormed the building. N1 goes with a live broadcast, the reporter is at first confused, but then she picks up the strings, and it goes on and on.
Sadler requested that the broadcast be interrupted and Dnevnik be played regularly. He said that it makes no sense to just drop out of the program scheme, that live reporting must be prepared and announced from the studio, that it does not have to be followed for hours when nothing (in particular) is happening. And of course, in theory, he was right.
Igor Božić, then the first man of N1, and later regretted, did not want to stop the transmission. He argued that it is a significant event, and citizens usually rely on N1 broadcasts. After all, that television is the most watched when it broadcasts the protests live. Of course Božić was right.
Now there is no doubt that Sadler's logic will be followed. Less "pumping", more detailed journalism, insisting that government representatives be invited to the program. Professionalism, Sadler would say.
It cannot be bad for the public interest and audience in Serbia - if it stops there. Admittedly, many viewers will claim that N1 has "sold out", that it has "betrayed" and so on, as soon as they see a government representative on the show for the first time or as soon as a Dnevnik does not start with a sharp criticism of the government.
But that's hooking the cat by the tail. The viewer who really wants to know what is happening should look at another indicator - people and their workbooks.
Spine issue
There are various characters in every work organization - phlegm, opportunists, careerists, but also people of integrity. In good newsrooms, there are more of the latter.
When obscene demands start arriving "from above", when the editorial policy threatens to become an immoral compromise or even go into propaganda, then phlegm and opportunists remember that they have children and loans, and careerists even smell an opportunity to improve and advance.
And people of integrity? They are leaving. Some talk about it publicly, others do it quietly, it's already a matter of artistic impression.
That litmus test has so far been infallible in Serbia. As people of integrity were leaving, you could see B92 and Studio B disappearing, that's what those famous names meant. You saw the adaptation of RTV, you saw the exodus from Euronews, the departure of almost the entire editorial staff of NIN.
N1, Nova S, Danas and Radar were lucky because the corporation they belong to found some interest in critical journalism. That is why there are a large number of people of integrity in those media. While they are there, it means that the media can be trusted by the audience.
And if they start to leave, this "factory newspaper" will inform the readers about it.
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