Concern about "tabloidization" of media in Serbia

Concern about "tabloidization" of media in Serbia

BELGRADE -- The tabloidization of the media is turning into the tabloidization of the whole of society and the state, it was said during a conference held in Belgrade.

Participants gathered to mark two decades since the founding of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), Beta reported.

"The media scene in Serbia presents a depressing picture of poorly paid journalists prone to self-censorship, corruptible, and pandering to the interests of political parties and individuals," NUNS president Vukašin Obradović told the panel at the Belgrade Media Center.

Warning that the phenomenon of tabloids had become not only part of journalism as a profession, but also of Serbian society as a whole, Obradović noted that the tabloids were focusing less on show business, which was normal, and more with day to day politics.

No government in Serbia before or after the 2000 democratic changes, has demonstrated understanding for the need to build or promote the social system by creating a free or independent media, according to him.

Beta reported that among the important topics discussed at the conference was the disrespect in the media for the basic principles of society - the presumption of innocence, the right to privacy and the protection of personal information, the issues which were addressed by Information Commissioner Rodoljub Šabic and Ombudsman Saša Janković.