Whether or not academician Nikola Hajdin is the grandfather of N1 television journalist Žaklina Tatalović has been turned into a question of general national interest. Tatalović said she did, the son of academician Dr. Rada Hajdin said she didn't, and the regime media shouted this as the ultimate proof that the TV tycoons are lying. The roll call became viral, and various informers dealt with this topic almost as zealously as they glorified Aleksandar Vučić.
After several days of silence, on Monday, N1 also made a statement.
It was said that an organized discrediting campaign was launched against their journalist Žaklina Tatalović, after some media and political actors intensively questioned her earlier public statements about the alleged family relationship with the late academician Nikola Hajdin.
On the N1 website, it is stated that a "campaign of targeting, lynching and drawing a target" is being conducted against Tatalović, with the assessment that the goal is not to establish the facts, but to put pressure on the journalist known for reporting on political and social issues. The television assessed that private details from the journalist's life are being used as a means of public discrediting.
"Due to the inaccurate claims circulating in the public, we point out that the documentation submitted by Žaklina Tatalović confirms her origin from the Hajdin family, Vrbovsko, Gorski Kotar. During the coverage of the 2025 protests in the N1 program, remarks were made about the family origins of the journalist Tatalović, which were not editorially justified. The controversial content was then removed from the N1 website, but remained available elsewhere. N1 regrets this inconsistency and apologizes. Television N1 also received a private message from a member of the Hajdin family. That correspondence was not published on N1, nor was such a request made to us more than a year later, and the circumstances of its publication are a matter for those media.
N1 points out that the focus of the public has been deliberately shifted from the journalist's professional work to her private circumstances and that this creates an atmosphere of pressure and stigmatization.
"This is not a matter of public interest, but another attempt to target our journalist," said the N1 press release, with the message that the newsroom stands behind its reporter.
How it all started
Television journalist N1 Zaklina Tatalovic in the past few days, she was in the center of media attention after some pro-regime media reported a letter sent to the N1 editorial office by professor Dr. Rade Hajdin, son of the late academician Nikola Hajdin. The letter states that Tatalović is not related to the Hajdin family.
"I am my father's only son and I have three sons who are my father's only grandchildren. I do not know Tatalović and I have never seen her at a family gathering," tabloids reported the content of the letter.
The topic intensified on social networks because there are earlier public appearances and announcements in which Tatalović spoke of Hajdin as her grandfather. A video of her inclusion during the protest in Novi Sad from the Bridge of Freedom, a structure designed by Hajdin, was shared in particular, when she talked about what her "grandfather" would think about student protests. This clip was previously widely shared on social media.
Some portals then published older posts from social networks in which, according to their claims, Tatalović explicitly stated that Nikola Hajdin was her grandfather. After the controversy broke out, part of those announcements and video materials were allegedly removed or became unavailable, which some media additionally interpreted as an attempt to remove traces of earlier statements.
The case then grew from a matter of biographical accuracy into a broader political and media controversy. Pro-government tabloids and portals intensively reported on the case, presenting it as proof of inauthenticity and discrediting of the journalist known for asking government representatives uncomfortable questions. The headlines were extremely harsh, with wording such as "invented grandfather" and "lied to the public for years".
On the other hand, part of the public and commentators pointed out that the media attention devoted to the private issue of family genealogy exceeds its real public importance and that the case acquires a political dimension due to the professional profile of Tatalović and her work.
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