When it was announced that according to the new systematization of RTS programs, the Children's Program Editorial Board is no longer independent, that it has been merged with the School Program Editorial Board, a letter from Vladimir Manojlović, the former editor of the Children's Program Editorial Board, appeared on social networks. He addressed the letter to writers and authors of children's content. The title of the letter is "For our children": "It was with astonishment and sadness that I received the news that after almost seventy years, the RTS children's program editorial office no longer exists. I felt as if someone dear to me had died. Nor did the interpretation of the president of the RTS Board of Directors, Mr. Klanšček, that the editorial office was only attached to the School Program and that it would function better that way, did not comfort me. No, the dear person is not dead - she is only paralyzed and tied to a wheelchair. A member of the same was much more open Mr. Azdejković of the Board of Directors, who announced that there is no more Editorial Board for children's programs. There is no Editorial Board - there is no problem", he writes at the beginning of his letter in which he calls on "all those who worked for this editorial board, all those who watched its shows to advocate that children get their own program again, a program that makes it easier and more beautiful to grow".
INDEPENDENCE
For "Vreme", Vladimir Manojlović explains that he wanted to show how important RTS's children's program is, that it is often, especially for children in small communities, the only source of wider, extracurricular knowledge and culture. The abolition of the independence of the Editorial Board for children's programs is "the shutdown of one of the most significant and successful editorial offices of RTS", claims Vladimir Manojlović from experience. Namely, he says: "Even as a boy of about twelve years old, I took part in a show in which, together with other children, I questioned the world traveler Albert Abinun about the wonders of the distant countries he visited. It was filmed, of course, in the then only television studio, at the Fair. And I immediately fell in love with cameras, microphones, reflectors... Maybe that's why I decided to study television directing at the then Academy for Theater, Film, Radio and Television". While still a student, the Children's Editorial Board bought his dramatic text, the editor was Dragan Babić. After completing his studies, he worked part-time in various newsrooms, in order to stay in the children's office. "I stayed in the editorial office of children's programs for several decades, following all its ups and downs and working on hundreds of shows and series as an editor, screenwriter, director, sometimes even a videographer, even underwater. After two thousand years, at the most inopportune moment, I was elected editor-in-chief of the editorial office. Television is an expensive toy, and without money you can't make a program. And the money is nowhere to be found. We had to start dead content and find missing authors, so, with various goodbye, the editorial office started to wake up". The salvation was the renewal of cooperation with Eurovision, he says. "The editorial staff of the children's program was the first, from the entire RTS, to break the ice and after years of isolation reconnected with Eurovision. After three years of my leadership, I got quite tired, and the pressures and interference in the program were getting bigger and bigger, so I decided to retire. And the pension was knocking on the door."
All of the above, which is part of Vladimir Manojlović's career, is the reason why, he says, he can be trusted as far as he knows the children's program and why he believes "that it is necessary for that program to be independent, and not some kind of sub-list of the School Program. Regardless of the fact that it is claimed that in this way, by losing individuality, the children's program will become richer and better quality, the arguments provided do not speak in favor of this statement". When asked if there are indications on the basis of which it should be expected that the aforementioned announcement will come true, Vladimir Manojlović reminds of the previous days of the Children's Program.
"The editorial office for children's programs existed as an independent editorial office from the very beginning of Belgrade television and marked many childhoods. That small television produced all kinds of programs: feature series, dramas, music, documentaries, entertainment, informative and puppet shows. Today it may seem incredible, but in those first years two puppeteers worked in the editorial office - Kora Eicher and Lepojka Jovanović. This is just a small illustration of how much attention was paid to children and the programs intended for them. And The basic idea of the Editorial Office was that children are the same as adults, only a little smaller, so she addressed them that way, with love and respect. 'Dear children' was the motto of everyone who worked in or for the Editorial Office." Then he continues: "Could any childhood pass without series and shows such as: Theater at six and five, To the letter, to the letter, A thousand whys, Binoculars, Stories about dogs, Red-hot heads, Stories from Untold, Uros silly, White Mulberry Constellation, Give me wings one round, Vanya from the ocean, Deco, sing with us, Calendula, Poletarac, Children's diary, Myths and legends, Siamese, Grandma's grandson, Forest tangles, Uncle-Branin Orpheum, Adventurer, Sivi Sun, Forgotten and many, many more minutes and hours dedicated to children? What other RTS newsroom could boast of this kind of production? For such a diverse and high-quality program, many domestic and international awards came, even one 'Prix jeunesse', the world's greatest recognition for TV programs for children".
ASSOCIATES
Manojlović continues: "Is it necessary to list all those who created and fought for the Children's editorial office? From the responsible editors Duško Radović, then Lola Vlatković and Donka Špiček and editors in the editorial office and authors Ljubivoj Ršumović, Ace Antic, Milan Brujić, Mile Stanojević-Byford, Vlade Andrić, Dragan Babić, Dragana Abramović, Dragan Aleksić, Ljilja Stojković, Jasenka Bajić... Aleksandar Popović, Bora Ćosić, Gordan Mihić, Ljubiša Kozomara, Slobodan Stojanović, Vlada Stojiljković, Zoran Stanojević wrote for this editorial office... composed by Beli Ilić and Dragan Ilić (father and son), Vojkan Borisavljević, Vartkes Baronijan... directed by Vera Bjelogrlić, Zdravko Šotra, Timothy John Byford, Dragan Marinković, Darko Bajić, Radivoje Andrić... illustrated and animated by Dušan Petričić, puppets was created by Gordana Popović, and countless other authors and collaborators left their mark".
And further: "We must not forget the producer Srba Čuturilo, who managed to organizationally and financially cover such a program, as well as the editorial secretary Lola Ognjanović, without whom the 'unruly artists' would have been executed in the administration and documentation. And she kept all the necessary information in her head and in her notebooks and binders."
Vladimir Manojlović notes that information is now coming "from certain television services that in the future, within that new 'Školdečje' newsroom, reruns of series and shows whose relevance is eternal and animated films of Korean and Japanese production of dubious quality will be broadcast in the future, with perhaps one or two shows of domestic production. This really leads to the disappearance of authentic programs for children, and I am inclined to believe the member of the RTS Board of Directors, Dr. Azdejković, that the children's program editors more there is none".
School and children's programs were never the same, he says, although they appealed to a similar audience. "The children's program did not deal with school subjects, exact data and the curriculum, although it indirectly included all of that. Its overriding goal was to treat children as equal citizens, not to impose tasks on them, but to awaken imagination and curiosity, to teach them honesty, friendship, love and life, as well as to think for themselves. Schooling is only one, smaller part of childhood, and the larger one is dedicated to growing up, free time and play, without tasks and evaluations. Why shouldn't there be a television for children that would deal with an independent reaction as it has been for all these decades? Mixing school and children's programs does neither of them any favors."
In the past, he says, the Editorial Board of children's programs could engage in free creativity, charming and witty, and its programs attracted the attention of adults as well. "It was already known in the middle of the year what will be broadcast next year - what kind of shows, for what money and at what times."
Now, however, "despite the fact that RTS is a public and not a commercial service, and that's why it charges a subscription, less and less funds are directed to programs dedicated to children and creators who would address children are not encouraged". Manojlović states that these days Ljubivoje Ršumović received the "Dositej Obradović" award for his life's work, which was once shown on television as a gift to children, and he wonders where the new Ršumović will present their ideas and verses if not again in a children's program. "Only if that program would still exist. But new news is arriving that assures me otherwise. One media expert and advisor to all authorities (Nebojša Krstić) called the editorial staff of the children's program 'political-pedophile'. I think that is the end. In every way."
