Journalists and employees of Serbian news portal Nova.rs have publicly objected to moves by the new management of Adria News Network (ANN), alleging that the company is seeking to alter the outlet’s editorial policy by bringing in journalists from pro-government media.
In a statement published by Nova.rs, employees said ANN management had presented Deputy Editor-in-Chief Ratko Femić with the names of journalists it wanted to bring into the newsroom. According to the employees, the list included journalists working for pro-government outlets such as Alo and Večernje Novosti.
Femić is currently overseeing the newsroom following the removal of Editor-in-Chief Mihailo Jovićević.
Nova.rs employees said the new management, led by Pedro Vargas Santos David and ANN Executive Director Brent Sadler, had failed to reassure staff that they would be able to continue working independently following the change in ownership.
They recalled that Jovićević was first removed as director of United Media Digital, the company overseeing Nova’s digital operations and its Nova newspaper and Radar weekly, and was subsequently dismissed as editor-in-chief.
Employees described the decision as politically motivated, pointing to the fact that Nova.rs was experiencing its highest audience levels since its establishment at the time.
According to the newsroom’s statement, part of the editorial staff has since been working under difficult and tense conditions. Instead of appointing a new editor-in-chief, employees allege that Sadler attended a meeting with Femić carrying a list of journalists he wanted to hire on three-month contracts.
“It is disturbing that Sadler, who promised support for independent journalism, comes under these circumstances with the names of journalists working for media outlets controlled by the current government of the Serbian Progressive Party,” the employees said.
They argued that the move could indicate an attempt by the new management to create a different editorial policy and “neutralize” the critical and investigative journalism that Nova.rs has pursued since its establishment.
The employees also claimed that the budget for marketing campaigns on social media platforms and Google had been eliminated, which they said could directly reduce the reach of their reporting.
They further objected to what they described as the management’s decision to offer political parties participating in Serbia’s upcoming parliamentary elections advertising space on the portal at what they called “astronomical prices.”
According to the employees, the pricing could potentially be affordable primarily to the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), raising concerns that the campaign period could result in Nova.rs being surrounded by SNS advertising.
“We clearly distance ourselves from such a decision. Our position is that there should be no paid political party advertising during the election campaign, because under these circumstances we believe our media platform could only be abused for political purposes,” they said.
The employees said the developments were taking place just 25 days before Serbia’s parliamentary elections and argued that the new management was seeking to reshape and silence the outlet’s critical and independent voice at a politically sensitive moment.
“We will not agree to that,” they said.
The statement was signed by 61 journalists and employees of Nova.rs.
