The invisible hand of self-censorship in Serbia

A round-table on media freedom in Serbia discussed at the European Parliament the dramatically worsening media crisis in Serbia. Maja Vasic Nikolic representing EFJ affiliate NUNS outlined the atmosphere of impunity towards attacks on journalists in Serbia. Only for 2015 14 threats against journalists are recorded so far. “As long as the Serbian government sees media as a tool for achieving short term political goals, and not as a fourth power, not much will change”, said Nicolic and pleaded for transparency in ownership, freedom of expression and journalism in the public interest. Sletlana Mesarovic from the online news portal Pescanik referred to…