BIRODI: PM Brnabic leading election campaigner

BIRODI added that President Aleksandar Vucic is “the dominant figure in non-analytical and uncritical reporting in the news”. BIRODI monitored the main news shows on the TV stations with national coverage between May 8 and June 18 and published its findings in a report on its web site.  

Reports covering Vucic’s activities violated the law on advertising because they did not specify if he was appearing as the president or leader of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).  

The parties advocating a boycott of the elections were not given air time on the state TV (RTS) to explain the reasons behind their decision because the RTS did not report on the boycott in depth, the report said. The report said that the quality of reporting on the TV stations which are the main source of news for 60 percent of the population is lower than it was in 2012.