UNS: Journalists in Serbia work in an atmosphere resembling a war zone

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) has sounded an alarm regarding the perilous working conditions faced by media professionals in the country. UNS President Živojin Rakočević revealed that the association recorded 261 instances of journalists being endangered over the past year, painting a grim picture of the environment in which Serbian journalists operate.

Rakočević characterized the current social context as akin to a "war zone," where simply identifying oneself as a journalist or wearing a press vest has become a dangerous act. He highlighted the paradox of living in an era of "pluralism of propaganda," where individuals are either trapped within a single narrative or must consciously navigate multiple, often conflicting, propaganda streams to discern fragments of truth.

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Živimo u vremenu pluralizma propagandi. To je paradoks ovog vremena – ili ste žrtva određene propagande i živite u toj propagandi, ne možete da izađete iz nje, ili se svesno izlažete pluralizmu propagandi i različitim propagandama da biste pohvatali mrvice istine i složili ih u nešto što se zove mozaik profesionalnog života, normalnosti.

Compounding these challenges, Rakočević pointed to a disturbing lack of progress in resolving cases of murdered and missing media workers in Kosovo and Metohija. He stated that there has been no minimal advancement in the investigations concerning 17 media workers—seven Serbs, seven Albanians, and three foreigners. Rakočević further asserted that this region is the only one in Europe where the press is effectively banned, underscoring the severe restrictions on media freedom.

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Ovo je jedina teritorija u Evropi na kojoj nema štampe i na kojoj je zabranjena štampa.