N1 won’t blindly obey any master

Kovacevic’s post said that he was called to defend Nova and N1. “From who, Why. They have been sold. Not taken by force, no one kicked down the door. As for editorial policy, dear freedom-creating journalists, defenders of the profession, truth lovers, you will do as your master says. As you have to date,” he wrote.

N1 said in its editorial comment that neither N1 nor Nova TV have been sold nor has United Group and United Media.

“The majority owner of all those has not changed over the past 7 years: it is the BC Partners investment fund. Nor has the minority owner changed: that is Dragan Solak. The entire ownership structure has not changed.

“What has changed is the management, including the dismissal of Dragan Solak. The arrival of a new CEO to head United Group RS Beograd DOO (United Group’s Serbia branch) has no effect on the media outlets. N1 did not get a new CEO.

“Facts available to everyone is the important thing in spreading misinformation as director Sinisa Kovacevic did in an X post reported by pro-regime media.

“The one thing that drew a strong public reaction was the fact that the new CEO of UG RS Beograd DOO, who has nothing to do with the media outlets, is represented by the same law firm that represents the state-controlled Telekom Serbia – a company that set up dozens of media outlets to spread Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s propaganda.

“N1 journalists never just simply obeyed their masters. N1 journalists will never blindly obey Aleksandar Vucic. Try to understand that Mr Kovacevic,” the editorial comment said.

The CEO of United Group RS Beograd (a United Group subordinate company) Bojana Mijailovic was replaced without forewarning on Wednesday by Vladica Tintor, a former head of the government’s RATEL agency which administers telecommunications and postal services. The move is being seen by some as a step towards shutting down N1 and Nova TV. Economic analysts have explained that United Media (owner of N1 and Nova) is not directly connected to UG RS Beograd even though they have the same parent company. The SBB cable services provider is part of UG RS Beograd. The cable provider was sold several months ago to e& PPT Telecom.