The media landscape of our country is polluted by the expansion of fake, sensationalist and manipulative news, alongside polarization, political influences, and various other influences. Meanwhile, journalists, particularly investigative ones, face constant attacks, pressures, and threats, with few resulting in legal consequences.

Rade Đurić, lawyer at the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (PHOTO: BOS)

In 2023, the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia reported 183 attacks on journalists, including physical attacks, property damage, threats and intimidation. The Reporters Without Borders (RSF) described the media environment as "contaminated by propaganda, influence peddling and fake news" following the allocation of four national broadcasting frequencies to pro-government media in July 2022.

The Freedom House, an organization dedicated to monitoring democracy worldwide, also notes that the media environment in Serbia is characterized by extreme propaganda. Additionally, media freedom faces threats from SLAPP lawsuits targeting journalists, lack of transparency in media ownership, politically affiliated media owners and high degree of self-censorship. These, among other democratic indicators, have seen a steady decline in our country from year to year. As a result, the Freedom House concluded that in the last year Serbia has experienced the most significant regression in human and democratic rights over the past decade.

The future of journalism lies with the young

To foster greater media independence, sustain the local media and improve the quality of work, particularly among young journalists who are at the beginning of their careers, Belgrade Open School, with the support of the Kingdom of Sweden, is organizing the Academy of Journalism for the third year in a row as part of the "Advancing Media and Youth CSOs Partnership for Prosperous Democratic Development of Serbia – MAY4DD" Programmme. This multi-month educational initiative aims to improve practical reporting skills, introduce investigative journalism, launch new techniques to the work of young journalists, and encourage mutual networking and cooperation.

Jelena Zorić, journalist at Vreme and BIRN (PHOTO: BOS)

This year's Academy of Journalism ended with the final training in Šabac, where participants had the opportunity to learn more about the challenges in investigative journalism from Vreme and BIRN journalist Jelena Zorić, and from the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia lawyer Rade Đurić about the safety of journalists.

This was also an opportunity for the participants of the Academy of Journalism to present their final works - complex media content, on which they worked during the past two months with their mentors – to the selected journalists from eminent media companies.

Uglješa Bokić, participant of the Academy of Journalism (PHOTO: BOS)

On that occasion, three journalists were awarded valuable cash prizes for the best final works: Lazar Ranđelović from Tebrizam for the work "Roads of the wild landfills of Bor", Tamara Radovanović from Južne vesti for the text "Without references to dizzying incomes: Millions for two companies in the last 4 years of the SNS government in Niš" and Ana Adamović, a journalist of the Studentski list for the text "Investor builds, institutions sleep".

Tamara Radovanović, winner of the 2nd prize at the Academy of Journalism (PHOTO: BOS)

Source and PHOTO: BOS

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