Union Reacts to Dismissal of Nova.rs Editor-in-Chief Mihailo Jovićević: “Deeply Disturbing, at the Peak of Success”

The union of the Nova portal and newspaper and the Radar weekly, part of the KUM Nezavisnost union, expressed dissatisfaction and concern over the decision of the Adria News Network management to dismiss Mihailo Jovićević from his position as editor-in-chief of the Nova.rs portal. According to the union’s statement, just a month earlier Jovićević was also removed from his role as director of United Media Digital, the group that includes the Nova.rs portal, the Nova newspaper and the Radar weekly.

The union stresses that the dismissal comes right at the start of the election campaign for the early parliamentary elections of October 25 — a campaign about which “there is no doubt it will be challenging and difficult for all those who want to report professionally.” “In such circumstances, the editor who successfully led the Nova.rs portal and was always our support and protection for working professionally in a society that every day targets all those who think critically is being replaced,” the statement said.

According to the union, the dismissal comes at a time when the site is recording its best results since its founding: during Jovićević’s tenure as editor-in-chief, Nova.rs entered the five most-visited sites in Serbia, and in recent months it was among the three most-visited portals according to official Gemius Audience measurements — with nearly three million real users in the best months, over 600,000 visitors a day and over 60 percent reach of Serbia’s total internet audience. A Reuters study ranked Nova among the three media brands citizens trust most.

Although Jovićević’s departure from the company was by agreement, the union notes that “given everything else, it can be concluded that the motive for his dismissal is political.” “It is deeply disturbing that this dismissal is only one in a series of dismissals within ANN media in Serbia, which is evidently not the last,” the statement said. Union members pledged to continue working professionally, solely in the public interest and in accordance with the Law on Public Information and the Serbian journalists’ code of ethics.

Source: Danas