Sovljanski says N1 filed REM request without his knowledge
N1's editors say management filed a broadcast licence request with REM on Friday without the newsroom's knowledge. News director Branislav Sovljanski says he never agreed to the use of his ID card.
Branislav Sovljanski, news director of the television channel N1, says he did not know he had been listed as editor-in-chief in a broadcast licence request submitted to the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) on Friday, October 2. N1’s editorial staff announced on Monday, October 5, that the request was filed by the channel’s management, without the newsroom’s knowledge and without consulting it.
How did the newsroom find out about the request?
According to the editorial staff, they learned of management’s move by chance. Sovljanski received a phone call from a person who introduced herself as a REM staff member and asked him to supplement the documentation that had been submitted. Sovljanski described the call this way:
“Today I received a call from the REM service, from one of the employees of that regulatory body, who asked me who the contact person was that she could speak with, since the documentation that was submitted is incomplete. I asked what documentation she meant, and got another question: well, you haven’t submitted the study, and we have data from your ID card. When I asked what my ID card was used for, I was told that I am named in the application as editor-in-chief and responsible editor”
In short, the application is missing a study, and it came with data from the news director’s ID card. Sovljanski told N1 that he objects to this:
“I stress that nobody informed me that my ID card would be used, nor did I give my consent for anything like that”
What does the newsroom want from management?
N1’s editorial staff demands an explanation of why management chose to act now, and why editors and journalists were not told about a change that matters for how the channel operates, least of all the news director whose personal data was used in the application. The staff also asks whether management’s move means that the REM Council has now become functional in its eyes.
The sources do not carry a response from N1 management or from REM to these claims.
What came before the request?
The question of whether the REM Council works was raised earlier. The editorial staff recalls that on October 1, the day before the request was filed, four independent members of the REM Council stated in a letter to the international community that the body is formally constituted but that its work is essentially blocked, which directly affects the integrity of the current election process.
A second letter arrived at the end of August. Pedro Vargas David, chief executive of Alpac Capital, the new owner of Adria News Network, which includes N1 Belgrade and Nova, replied to Boris Bratina, then minister of information and telecommunications and now a minister in the caretaker government. Bratina had used an open letter to call on him to register the television channels with REM once the takeover was completed. Vargas David said in his reply that he understands the argument that national channels should be regulated where editorial decisions are made or where they are based, but also that a national regulator should be independent and functional. He added:
“I understand that the European Commission has recognized significant progress regarding REM, but certain issues remain open. We strongly encourage the Serbian authorities to bring that process to a close and guarantee an independent and functional regulator. This moment is also a great opportunity to close one of the most important chapters on your European path, and we are ready to contribute in every possible way to Serbia aligning with European Union standards and to settling this issue once and for all”
According to Sovljanski, the request to supplement the documentation came from the REM service, and in the sources we reviewed, N1 management has not yet answered the newsroom’s questions.
