Executive editor of the portal Nova.rs Bojana Anđelić told "Vreme" that the way they are employed is notified of the new owner's letter "scandalous" and that the management's actions confirm the editorial staff's suspicion that the goal is to take control of the portal's content ahead of the elections.
"First of all, it is scandalous the way we found out that the new owner sent us a letter in which we were given a deadline of 48 hours to make a statement about an offer. The employees first read that information on N1, and the letter arrived in our email about twenty minutes later, at 7:40 p.m. to be exact. It was sent after working hours, and it is in English," Anđelić said.
She believes that the moves of the new owner confirm the editorial staff's suspicions that the intention is to establish control over the portal's editorial policy ahead of the upcoming elections.
"What is important, and what we are talking about all the time, is that all the moves they are making only confirm our suspicion that they want to take control of the content of the Nova.rs portal before the elections. October 25 and 26 are important to them, the days when independent media will report on everything that is happening on the ground - on attacks, theft, abuse, violence and everything that they want to hide," Anđelić said.
Nova.rs journalists received the ultimate memo: Either cooperation or severance pay
She pointed out that the editorial office will not give up working in the public interest, despite the pressure and uncertainty regarding the future of the portal.
"We made a decision a long time ago to work in the public interest, and a high price is paid for such a decision in Serbia, and we are ready to pay it. We are not going anywhere," Anđelić said.
Employees of the newsroom announced a protest at 18 pm in front of the Nova.rs newsroom in Mihajla Pupina Street. Anđelić invited journalist associations, citizens and colleagues from other media to join them.
Photo: Private ArchiveBojana Andjelic
If they refer to "French practice", let them apply it to the selection of editors
Anđelić also pointed out that French legislation and practice are mentioned in the new owner's letter, so she called on the management to follow them consistently when it comes to choosing the editor-in-chief.
"It is interesting that in the letter they refer to French legislation and practice. If so, here I invite them to apply the practice of choosing editor-in-chiefs in French media such as 'Le Monde'. In that media, 60 percent of journalists must approve a new editor. So, journalists have the right to veto," she said.
According to her, such a model is a way to protect editorial independence and prevent the owner from directly influencing the content of the media.
"It is the only way for the media to remain independent of the owner's influence on the editorial policy," Anđelić concluded.
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