BIRN Serbia and Global Media Registry (GMR) have presented data on media ownership in Serbia. The database, Media Ownership Monitor Serbia, MOM, offers information on media, their publishers and individual owners in English and Serbian.
Serbia is one of 26 countries included in media ownership monitoring; this was the second time the monitoring was done in the country. This year, MOM databases have been published by BIRN in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.
Nafisa Hasanova, head of research at Global Media Registry, said that the MOM is an excellent diagnostic tool.
“This is an X-ray of a media system. We are not demonising any particular publication but are trying to understand the risks of different media players and their closeness with the state and regulators. This is a good starting point for local actors to introduce or launch changes and see if media have enough resources for media pluralism in a democratic society,” Hasanova said, presenting the database in Belgrade.
The research is based on open-source information and official sources. It shows that, in Serbia, the public broadcaster RTS and the media companies Pink, Kopernikus, United Media and Maksim Media are the source of information for 90 per cent of people, and that many of them have significant roles in different fields – television, radio, print and online.
Presenting the media pluralism indicators, Tanja Maksic, BIRN Serbia’s project manager, said the fact most of them are in red clearly shows that political control over media in Serbia is high.
“The only indicator in green is net neutrality, as we luckily live in a part of the world where there are no internet shut-downs or control,” said Makic.
She added that a new indicator, included into monitoring this year, reveals that less that 30 per cent of managing roles in Serbian media are held by women.
The Media Ownership Monitor, or MOM, has been developed as a mapping tool to create a publicly available, continuously updated database that lists owners of all relevant mass media outlets – press, radio, television sectors and online media.
The MOM sheds light on the risks to media pluralism caused by media ownership concentration.
The MOM was initiated by the German branch of Reporters without Borders with the aim of defending freedom of the media, as well as the right to inform and to be informed everywhere in the world.
In 2019, the project grew into the Global Media Registry, GMR, an independent non-profit organisation registered under German law. In Western Balkan countries, GMR cooperates with BIRN. The project was co-funded by the EU in 2023.