Serbia Government Bias
Government
Government Type: Multi-party parliamentary democracy
Leader: President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic
Political Party: Serbian Progressive Party
Political Position: Populist right-wing big tent political party.
Press Freedom
World Press Freedom Rank: Serbia 79/180
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Serbia 79th out of 180 countries in its World Press Freedom Index. In their review of Serbia, Reporters Without Borders’s report labels the “Fight against impunity continues” and points out that there has been an increase in intimidation against journalists and “Journalists are subjected to almost daily attacks that increasingly come from the ruling elite and pro-government media.”
Media Ownership and Government Analysis
Serbian Media consists of privately-owned and state-owned media outlets, with TV serving as the primary source of information. Balkan Insight states that the main broadcasters are the national broadcaster RTS, RTV, TV Pink, and B92. Print press is dominated by conglomerates: Ringier Axel Springer Media AG, Adria Media Group, Insajder Tim, and Kompanija Novosti.
The Serbian government influences media through different models of state funding, which are not transparent. In 2014, new media laws adopted by the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia served the Serbian government new means to support pro-government private media outlets through advertising contracts or subsidies. Besides the funding, another issue is the transparency of media ownership. A 2016 EU commission country report on Serbia states that “Privatisation of state media outlets has not led to greater transparency of ownership or funding sources, including state funding.” Another means the Serbian government uses to intimidate critical media outlets is through selective enforcement of tax laws. Here is an example “Serbian Media Outlet Accuses Tax Office of Harassment.”
Overall, in Serbia, Government controls media in many different ways resulting in reporting that tends to favor the government.
Last Updated on May 11, 2022 by Media Bias Fact Check
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