Serbian Press Council says tabloid violated code in N1 stories

The Council’s Complaints Commission said that several stories in the tabloid which claimed that N1’s reporting during the coronavirus pandemic posed a danger to the public were in violation of the code of ethics because the reporting in them was not truthful.  

The Complaints Commission decided unanimously that the stories were based solely on speculation and willful conclusions drawn without proof nor did they name any sources of the accusations against N1 and its News Director Jugoslav Cosic.  

A Commission press release said that Kurir is constantly claiming that N1 is violating the code when reporting on the pandemic and releasing false news but the tabloid never backed up those claims with proof. It also failed to corroborate the claims that N1 is using the pandemic to destabilize the authorities and strengthen the opposition. The press release said that Kurir obviously failed to contact N1 and Cosic to comment the claims that he was lying, not giving him a chance to respond to the claims.  

The Commission said that all parts of the code covering truthfulness in reporting have been violated.  

The complaint was filed by Cosic who said that the series of stories in the print and online editions of Kurir included a number of lies aimed at ruining the reputation of N1 and its journalists and, which he said is even more dangerous, portray the station as a media outlet working against the interests of its state.  

Kurir did not respond to the complaint. The tabloid is under obligation to publish the Complaints Commission ruling within five days.