Journalists from the Serbian media outlet Nova S are warning of pressure on editorial policy days before early parliamentary elections on October 25. The reason is the decision of Alpac Capital owner Pedro Vargas Santos David to introduce new management to the news site.
On October 8, David visited the editorial office and introduced Marko Stepanović as the future editor-in-chief, and Ivana Mastilović Jasnić as his deputy. Both are former journalists at the Blic newspaper, which is considered close to the ruling party in Serbia.
“This is a brutal attempt to change our editorial policy“, said Natasa Korlat from the Nova S editorial team. According to her, the journalists refuse to work with the proposed leadership and will not change the editorial line in the midst of the election campaign.
Not a single employee supported the proposal
The team expressed its disagreement through an anonymous survey among employees. 75% voted against Alpac Capital's proposal, while 25% abstained. Not a single employee supported it.
The journalists have proposed their own candidate for editor-in-chief - Ranko Pivljanin, who is part of the editorial team and has experience in independent media. Nova S employs 65 people who have declared their intention to protect the media outlet and its editorial independence.
„We refuse to work with them. Our beliefs are not for sale. After seven years of work, we will not change our editorial line, especially in the midst of an election campaign. We are not leaving, we are staying“, said Korlat.
Fears of change in media policy
Nova S, the N1 television channel, the Nova S website and the „Danas“ newspaper are among the media outlets critical of Aleksandar Vučić's rule. Fears of limiting media pluralism have intensified after changes in the management and program of other media outlets from the United Media group.
In April last year, the editor-in-chief of N1, Igor Božić, was dismissed. In September, the satirical political show “24 Minutes with Zoran Kesic“ was taken off the air.
The Alpac Capital deal has not yet been fully approved by Luxembourg's audiovisual regulator ALIA. While awaiting the decision, Nova S's editorial team insists on maintaining its current independence and is proposing its own management.