Press Council Monitoring and BIRN Research: Tabloids with the Most Violations Charge Hundreds of Pages of Advertisements

(Source: NUNS)

Nine national print media outlets committed 7,346 violations of the Serbian Journalists’ Code of Ethics in 4,506 articles between early July and the end of December 2025. The highest number of violations in published articles was recorded by Alo, Informer, and Kurir, according to the eleventh monitoring of compliance with the Code conducted by the Press Council. At the same time, the latest BIRN research titled “Analysis of Advertising Practices in the Media: Money Flows, Lack of Criteria and (Non)Compliance with Ethical Norms” shows that the largest share of advertising funds from the state and private companies goes precisely to media outlets that systematically violate the Code.

The Press Council today presented the results of its latest monitoring of compliance with the Serbian Journalists’ Code of Ethics at the UNS Press Center, covering the period from July 1 to December 31, 2025. The analysis included content from nine national print media outlets – Alo, Blic, Danas, Večernje novosti, Informer, Kurir, Politika, Nova, and Srpski telegraf.

The top three places in terms of violations of ethical and professional standards were taken by Alo with 2,004 violations in 1,205 articles, Informer with 1,456 in 837 articles, and Kurir with 1,318 in 811 articles. The fewest departures from the Code were once again recorded by Danas with 40 such articles, and Nova with 117 pieces containing Code violations.

The author of the report, journalist Bojan Cvejić, said that almost all newspapers recorded an increase in violations compared to the previous monitoring.

“The exceptions are Srpski telegraf, which remained at last year’s level, while Blic is the only one that significantly reduced the number of content pieces not in line with ethical and professional standards, and I think that is important to point out,” Cvejić said.

Although Danas had the fewest violations, it recorded almost twice as many this time compared to earlier.

Journalist Vera Didanović, who also worked on the monitoring, said that a large number of articles with completely identical content were published across different media outlets.

“This indicates the existence of an external center from which such content originates, and since the content is identical, the violations are identical as well. These are most often texts in the form of ‘pamphlets’ that violate multiple provisions, primarily those concerning truthfulness of reporting, independence from influence, and journalists’ responsibility,” Didanović explained.

She added that these are usually texts aimed at discrediting “opponents of the regime.”

The Secretary General of the Press Council, Gordana Novaković, spoke about the work of the Complaints Commission during the past year. She said that the complaints received largely corresponded to the monitoring results.

“We received 185 complaints last year, which is the highest number since the Press Council began its work. The average used to be between 100 and 120, but last year it was significantly higher. Most of these complaints directly or indirectly related to protests,” Novaković said.

She noted that 105 decisions found violations of the Code, in only 22 cases no violation was established, while the remaining complaints were resolved through mediation or withdrawn by complainants.

The highest number of violations following complaints was recorded by Alo and Informer with 18 each, Novosti with 14, while other media outlets had up to five or six violations.

Novaković also pointed out that most complaints concern online media.

Media Outlets that Violate the Code Most Frequently Are Favored by State and Private Advertisers

In addition to the Press Council’s monitoring, BIRN presented research on mechanisms through which public and commercial funds flow into the media sector.

The author of the research, Tanja Maksić, stated that domestic media have been in financial crisis for years and depend on state funding.

“Seventy-six percent of the audience relies on the internet as their main source of information. Television follows. The print audience is the only one dramatically declining, yet despite this, the state continues to favor print media,” Maksić said.

She added that the state distributes more than 22 million euros each year through public tenders and procurement procedures.

The BIRN research covered 148 public procurement contracts for media and related services worth more than 760 million dinars.

“The largest spender is the State Lottery of Serbia, which spent 205 million dinars… Next is the Office for Public and Cultural Diplomacy, headed by Arno Gujon, which spent 151 million dinars during 2025 on two contracts, one for ‘Promotion of Serbian Culture Abroad’ and the other for ‘Digital Promotion of Culture in the Country and Abroad,’” Maksić said. She added that most of the money went to marketing agencies, which makes tracking the funds more difficult.

“If we look at contracts concluded with media publishers, the company Tačno, that is, Tanjug, is the most successful. They received over 37 million dinars from nine ministries,” Maksić said.

According to the research findings, tabloids with a large number of violations of the Serbian Journalists’ Code also had the highest number of advertising pages. Alo, with 2,004 recorded Code violations, charged for more than 416 pages of advertisements, while Informer, with 1,456 violations, had more than 308 pages of ads.

An analysis of internal procedures of 27 state institutions showed that when selecting media outlets, there are no criteria related to professional or ethical standards. Instead, the sole criterion most often used is the “lowest offered price,” which, as assessed at the panel discussion, opens the door to financing media that violate citizens’ right to objective information.

Author: I.K.