The key facts

  • RTV apologized on air for not showing footage of the Student List's election victory celebrations on October 25
  • RTV first channel editor-in-chief Nenad Čačić resigned; Blažo Popović became the new editor-in-chief
  • The Nezavisnost trade union had demanded the resignation since last year, claiming RTV covered events in the government's interests

A live on-air apology

The Radio Television of Vojvodina (RTV) apologized to viewers live on air for failing to show footage of the Student List movement's victory in the parliamentary elections during the previous evening's broadcast. This was reported by kun.uz, citing the publication Vreme.

The anchor's admission

At the start of the Dnevnik news program broadcast on the evening of October 26, anchor Goran Jeror admitted that the channel had failed to fulfill its functions for many years. «Problems were kept silent about, many things were overlooked, events were covered one-sidedly, critical reports were not published. Necessary questions were not asked, or not asked at all. For this we must apologize to viewers,» he said. According to him, some members of the channel's staff fought for the freedom of journalists and editors to work and for adherence to ethical principles, but, as the anchor noted, «unfortunately, this was not achieved in time»; nevertheless, in his view, this struggle must continue.

The editor-in-chief's resignation

The Dnevnik broadcast opened with footage of celebrations in Novi Sad and other cities across Serbia. According to Vreme, the day before, despite protests from staff, RTV's management had decided not to show footage of the festive atmosphere on the streets. That same day, it became known that Nenad Čačić, editor-in-chief of RTV's first channel, had resigned. After negotiations between journalists and representatives of the Nezavisnost trade union with RTV's general director Goran Karadžić, Blažo Popović was appointed to the post. The resignation of the previous editor-in-chief had been one of the union's demands: a year earlier it had already stated that RTV had lost its professional independence and covered events in the government's interests.

Election context

On October 25, early parliamentary elections were held in Serbia. They were contested by the country's former president Aleksandar Vučić, who left the post of president in early September, hoping to win the election and return to power as prime minister. However, according to the results of the vote, the Serbian Progressive Party he led lost to the Student List movement, which emerged during the protests that had continued since 2024.