Legendary HRT Journalist and Editor Luka Mitrović Dies

Luka Mitrović, a Croatian television journalist and editor who spent almost four decades at Croatian Radiotelevision, has died. During his career, he covered major political events in Croatia and helped produce the country’s first multiparty elections.

Mitrović edited and hosted several political programs, including “In Close-Up,” and was credited with more than 100 political reports and documentary television series. Born in 1937, he graduated from the Faculty of Political Science in 1966 and completed a two-year television journalism school.

He began working in journalism in the late 1950s as editor of the magazine “Suvremena tehnika.” He later worked with “Privredni vjesnik” and other newspapers before joining Radio Zagreb. In 1967, he moved to Television Zagreb, where he edited the domestic politics and economic desks during the first half of the 1970s, reported on major events in the then Socialist Republic of Croatia and hosted the magazine “STOP.”

The wartime year 1991 became an important part of his career. Near the end of that year, he directed HRT’s war studio in Banovina and became known for an interview with Vukovar commander Mile Dedaković Jastreb. His work at Croatian Television was blocked in early 1992, but he returned after winning a court case. He later described the period from 1992 to 1997 as five years spent “in the cold.”

Mitrović was one of the presidents of Forum 21, an association of electronic-media journalists that supported independent journalism and opposed political influence over editorial policy. He also created the documentary series “Yugoslavia, a State for One Century,” which faced prolonged objections and was not broadcast for a long period. He remained active in the Croatian Journalists’ Association, serving as president of its retired journalists’ branch.

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in the cold