There are almost no people who have not heard of Manojlo Manja Vukotić, a man who has been around for more than half a century journalistic scene, first of the former joint state, and the last two decades of Serbia. During his career, he was the editor-in-chief of four major daily newspapers that marked the history of the Serbian press - "Borbe", "Blica", "Glas javnosti" and "Evening news” (he even started two) and in that position signed one billion and six million copies of the newspaper. Hardly anyone can be proud of that.
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With such a career and the publishing house that he started after his retirement ("Vukotić media"), Manja Vukotić could have none of this here. He could enjoy his retirement and publishing as much as possible, if it can be enjoyed at all under conditions when the state's interest in the survival of domestic publishers is equal to its interest in the survival of forests and parks. Therefore, Manjo Vukotić could remain silent as many are silent. But it didn't. He was not allowed to do so, as he says, by his love for the profession to which he literally devoted his life. That's why he wrote the book The murder of Serbian journalism. The interesting thing is that the manuscript was not created on a computer, not even on a typewriter, but was written by hand. There is, of course, a lot of symbolism in this, so it underlines the difference between the time before tabloids, artificial intelligence and media usurpation, and today.
The original idea, as he himself admits, was to write an autobiographical book Lead words, and at the persuasion of a friend, he wrote a little more about the challenges of journalistic work, and even a small guide through the "workshop of the golden craft". But then there was the fall of the canopy in Novi Sad and the turbulent 2025, which changed all our lives, including the lives of those who pretend that none of this concerns them. Vukotić precisely dissected the circumstances that will lead to the final collapse of the professionalism, objectivity and truthfulness of the press, that is, to the destruction of everything that should distinguish honorable media. This entailed the analysis of social events, combined with personal experience and selected quotes, monitoring the media's response to the crisis, comparing numerous researches and studying the announcements in newspapers and on portals every day... We know most things, but only when the reader sees them lined up next to each other, does he become aware of the depth of the collapse - of both journalism and the state.
The author does not neglect the changes that have taken place on a global scale and that have greatly influenced the decline in circulation and even the shutdown of print media throughout the world. However, the situation in Serbia is even worse. The tabloidization of not only the media, but also the entire public discourse has taken place. Tabloids have become "sowers of lies and deception", pro-regime media are constantly at the mercy of the state, and the main killer of journalism, Vukotić believes, is the government. And this is the most of all in the last six decades. She divided the media into "patriots" and "traitors", into desirable and undesirable ones, introduced the institution of ordered questions at press conferences, used tabloids for confrontations with opponents... And it is precisely these tabloids, she notes, that get the most money from the budget, whether local or state, they get the most ads from marketing agencies, they are loyal servants of the government, the biggest factories of untruths, bearers of illiteracy, they despise culture, they are fierce opponents of both the opposition and the student movement. They founded "their new strike assistants - television. Together they dig, dig, bury, unearth, spread hatred..."
Giving money from the budget based on sympathy, political favor and fandom is harmful to journalism. The media become addicts, non-objective. Their freedom was stifled. "Financially, they somehow survive - journalistically, they don't," states the author.
Because of this blind loyalty to the ruling elite, the industry's reputation fell, it was "put under house arrest", "its legs were pulled". Journalism, he says, has fallen into a deep pit from which it is difficult to get out. But still it can. Most of the media are pro-regime, drowned in subservience, "screaming chorus of anti-journalists". They don't ask questions, they don't fight for the truth, for them neither the enormously enriched part of the "uneducated Serbian quasi-elite" nor "bare social poverty" versus "praises about economic skyrockets" are the topic. For them, the truth is only "what is told to them by the government, in the name of the government, what is pushed, pushed, pushed". There is no research, no verification. There is not even "a gram of resistance against the dismissal of colleagues for political reasons, the closing of printing houses, the cancellation of printed editions, the conversion of newsrooms into hotels and restaurants." Few dare to ask officials how much a kilometer of road costs in Serbia compared to other countries or what happened to the story of the victory of the "colored revolution". However, there are also free media, not only in the capital, but also in small towns, where "a handful of journalists" dare to "shout and raise their fists" defending the truth and professional ethics. They are denied any help from the administration, but still "survive by writing history".
What is happening in Serbia has gone too far, says the author, and neither Serbia nor its honorable two centuries of journalism deserve it. The whole situation is reflected in a dramatic drop in circulation, so the best-selling daily newspaper in October 2025 ("Informer") had a daily circulation of 22.000 copies, and ten daily newspapers together around 100.000, which is less than the circulation that "Novosti" or "Politika" once had individually. Remittance exceeds fifty percent, and even sixty.
But it's not all about websites and quick information "at the click of a button", Vukotić is convinced. A lot of this has to do with unoriginality, lack of ideas, imagination, truth and exclusivity, not going out on the field, copying always the same, other people's news, which has not been for a long time, humble party obedience, commissioned personnel... There are too few journalists on the journalistic scene, but that is why it is full of columnists: "various experts, experts, managers, PR people, tweeters are fighting. They are developing it into Twitter guillotines". They know everything from the elections in Mionica to the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East. During the day, they move from one TV studio to another. Vukotić believes that never before have so many universal ignoramuses walked the social scene and addressed the nation. He calls them feather gatherers, fog sellers, legal quacks, national bigots, patriotic greengrocers, party shopkeepers and financial eels. They "fly, fly, peck", spreading communication noise and destroying the authority of recognizable valuable commentators.
Although there are certain objections to the media that are not pro-regime, and they mostly refer to the selection of priority information or the sometimes open fan tone (he says sympathy is allowed, while cheering is dangerous and collusion is disastrous), the main criticism of Manojlo Vukotić still refers to those close to the top of the state, who brought journalism "to its deathbed". He does not hesitate to name them publicly, as he cites the most problematic statements of officials whose actions and inflammatory and offensive rhetoric contributed to further polarization and the downfall of society and the media.
In the book, he also referred to dubious privatizations, especially the one in which "grocers brought down Novosti i Politika". He also analyzed cases of attacks on journalists, threats, dismissals of undesirables, dismissals, the behavior of the relevant minister "Brother as a beating", twisting the concepts of patriotism and treason. He reminds us that patriotism is actually fighting for a healthy society, truth, responsibility, and just justice. There is almost no one to defend journalists from dismissal because the unions have been broken, inspections are full of officials and henchmen, ministries are "dealing with other shows".
Despite everything, he believes that "one must not run away from the war for truth in journalism", because it is treason. He believes that new models will be found that will enable professionals to survive, as they survived during the time of rigid communism, then socialism and self-management, state ownership and young democracy, deceptive pluralism. It will survive even in the "breakdown of private sector".
"Just don't tell me - it can't be done. Just don't tell me - it's difficult. Just don't tell me - there's no way out. Into the battle. The fight must be fought all the time," says Vukotić at the end. And he also says: "Journalism is a great profession. Don't kill it! Let it live. At least as long as it lives."
Manjo Vukotić for "Vreme"
Although it was written in a year of great political ferment (2025), this book is not inspired by politics, it does not deal with politics in the true sense of that definition. She is my lament over the wonderful profession in which I spent half a century. My cry is for it to be saved, preserved, returned to its original features - freedom, truth, facts. To defend it from this deluge of lies, fabrications, fraud, illiteracy, criminal privatizations, robbery of state money, ignorant people who run the media, followers of the government...
I do not carry any political hatred, revenge, vanity. With experience and knowledge, with the help of various researches, using the examples of the latest events, I illustrate how Serbian journalism is being killed on a daily basis. I resist being on death watch. It shouldn't be any of us. There are no wreaths of glory - but they must not be funeral wreaths either.
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