Tenders called to reward pro-government media in Serbia

Georgiev, a journalist with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) said that the other goal of the tenders at local level is to silence critics because it looks like the money is being shared by all media who apply for co-financing funds although most of the money goes to media controlled by the authorities.  

“That means that no one says anything because it’s like everyone got something while, on the other hand, “fake news” media are being rewarded or some money is being laundered by the awarded media handing some back for party needs,” he said.  

Georgiev said the media should not agree to “scraps from the authorities’ table” but should dispute the tenders and show that the authorities are financing content which is not in the public interest.