The trade unions of the portal and newspaper Nova and the weekly Radar, N1 and Forbes condemned the way in which all the directors of those media in Serbia, saying that he will not accept that journalism is anyone's prey.
In a statement, the trade unions condemned the way in which Alpak Kapital takes over media in Serbia that operate within the Adria News Networks group, which is still part of United groups, recalling that today the owner of that Portuguese company, Pedro Vargas Santos David, was registered in the Agency for Commercial Registers as director of all media from the group - N1, TV Nova, Nova.rs, Radar and Danas, at his own request.
Stating that this was done in the middle of summer vacations, without any notification to the employees, which caused even greater concern, the unions warn that they are particularly concerned that Vargas was registered as a new director, while the owner is still managed by United Fiber Sarl, which operates or has operated within the United Group.
According to the union, it can be concluded that the Portuguese company is in a hurry to take over N1, Nova, Danas and Radar as soon as possible, without having previously received all the necessary permits and consents from the relevant institutions, so with the support of BC Partners, co-owner of the United Group, it has started to replace the top people in the newsroom.
"Journalists of our media suspect that things will not stop here, and that they will continue with changes of editors, with the intention of making the remaining independent and professional media conform to the wishes of the current regime," said the unions. They add that the changes in the leadership positions and in the ownership structure will not affect the editorial policy, professional attitude towards journalistic work and integrity - as long as their newsrooms work in that composition.
The United Group officially changed its owner: The directors of N1, Nova, Radar, Danas were immediately replaced
Emphasizing that the fact that no move taken by the management of Adria News Network so far inspires confidence that it is a matter of good intentions, the unions tell the new owner and management that the media is not just a business, but that it first of all responds to the public and public interest, and only then to the ownership structures.
"For the sake of that public, we fought all these years to work independently, professionally, in accordance with the highest principles of the profession. We resisted all pressures, attacks, verbal and physical, and we will continue to resist," the unions said.
The new director was asked to hold an urgent meeting with representatives of the representative unions, as well as a written guarantee that he would not interfere with the editorial policy and the positions of editors and journalists.
Source: FoNet
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