Media Professionals Call for Urgent Stop to Financing of Lawbreaking Media Outlets

Cameramen(Beta/Armenija Zajmi Besevic)

Media professionals in Serbia appealed on Oct. 30 for an urgent stop to the financing of media outlets that have been breaking the law and for disabling "the further spread of untruths and hate speech," which should be followed by a probe into actual ownership of said media outlets, the method of their financing and responsibility for their actions in the previous period.

"We, media professionals, appeal for an urgent stop to further misuse of public and state money, public resources and public media space for the further spread of untruths, toxicity and hate speech, and for an end to the practice of polluting the public sphere through violations of the Law on Information, the Code of Ethics, and the very Constitution of Serbia," they said.

They further said that abuse of the media sphere and violation of all ethical standards are some of the main reasons that have led Serbia into its current state, and voiced the expectation that the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) will urgently strip Informer TV of its broadcasting license.

"An investigation into actual ownership of media outlets, the method of financing and responsibility for their actions in previous years must be conducted immediately after they (the media outlets) have been prevented from causing further damage and [after] attempts to not realize the changes the citizens have unambiguously voted for in the elections have been thwarted," reads the statement.

Thirty-nine journalists signed the statement, including: Igor Bozic, Zeljko Bodrozic, Branislav Sovljanski, Filip Svarm, Slobodan Georgiev, Jelena Obucina, Vesna Malisic, Dragoljub "Draza" Petrovic, Vuk Cvijic, Zoran Kesic, Danica Vucenic, Natasa Miljkovic, Mladen Savatovic, Ivan Radak, Jovana Gligorijevic, Miodrag Sovilj, Mia Bjelogrlic, Branko Cecen, Adam Santovac, Zlata Kures, Vojkan Kostic, and Radovan Seratlic.