Press Council: Politika, Alo, Informer, and Novosti Violated the Code in Articles About Skrozza

(Source: FoNet/N1)

The online platforms Politika, Alo, Informer, and Večernje novosti violated multiple provisions of the Serbian Journalists’ Code of Ethics in their articles about journalist and deputy editor-in-chief of FoNet, Tamara Skrozza. This conclusion was reached today by the Press Council’s Complaints Commission.

The decision states that the articles published by all four media outlets were practically identical. However, Politika did not include in its headline the alleged claim that President Vučić “should have been killed on the night between October 5th and 6th.” Thus, Politika did not violate the guideline in Section 2, Article 1, which mandates that headlines must reflect the essence of the text. Nevertheless, all other provisions were breached in Politika‘s reporting, just as they were in the other three portals.

“It is entirely clear that Tamara Skrozza never said what these headlines claim, nor did she mention Aleksandar Vučić or any kind of murder,” the decision stated. It noted that the reports were based on a malicious and inaccurate interpretation of Skrozza’s statements, presenting speculation as fact to readers.

This violated Articles 1, 2, 4, and 5 of Section I of the Code, as the reporting was inaccurate, biased, failed to distinguish between facts, assumptions, and commentary, and made serious, baseless accusations against Skrozza. Additionally, none of the journalists from these outlets contacted Skrozza to clarify her statements, had that been necessary, the Press Council pointed out.

Furthermore, the Code’s provision stipulating that economic and political interests of publishers must not influence editorial policy—thereby ensuring objective reporting—was also violated (Article 2, Section II).

Other violations highlighted by the complainant, Zlatko Čobović, included Articles 1 and 6 of Section IV, as well as Articles 1, 3, and 4 of Section V.

Regarding the violation of provisions related to copyright, the Council concluded it could not definitively determine the authors of the disputed texts, so any decision on this matter would be speculative. While the Law on Public Information and Media requires texts to be signed, this requirement is not present in the Code.

The decision was unanimous.

During the discussion, it was noted that Minister of Information Dejan Ristić exacerbated the situation by supporting the smear campaign against Tamara Skrozza carried out by tabloids.

It was emphasized that this case constitutes a direct threat to the safety of Skrozza and her family, representing “the most vulgar and dangerous form of targeting.”