Student Movement Bars Candidates From Eight Media Outlets

The Student Movement sent a message on October 27 to parliamentary candidates on the “Students Win” list, asking that nobody give statements to eight named media outlets. The list names Alo, Kurir, Srbija danas, Politika, Vecernje novosti, Blic, Prva and B92. According to the text of the message published by N1, the ban covers written and spoken statements, on any subject and in any place, including on the street.

The message arrives two days after the October 25 election, which the Student List won. The Republic Electoral Commission proclaims the final results, so no figures are given here.

What does the message to candidates say?

The Student Movement put the following request to its candidates:

“We ask that nobody give any statements, either written or spoken, on the street or anywhere else, on any subject, to the tabloids and pro-regime television stations: Alo, Kurir, Srbija danas, Politika, Vecernje novosti, Blic, Prva, B92”

The message went to all parliamentary candidates on the electoral list. The sources reviewed by the newsroom do not say through which channel it arrived or who signed it. The outlets on the list are described in it as tabloids and pro-regime television stations, which is the wording of the message’s author.

How do the students explain the ban?

The reason appears in the same message, in a sentence N1 reproduces in full:

“Those people were writing until yesterday that we are Ustasha and terrorists, and now they are switching sides”

That is how the Student Movement explains why the eight outlets are excluded. None of the texts reviewed by the newsroom contains a response from any of them, so their position is not yet known.

What did MFRR say the same day?

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a European mechanism for monitoring threats to media freedom, issued a joint statement the same day, published by the European Federation of Journalists. It called the Student List’s victory an opportunity for thorough reform of the media system, but warned that the change of government “must not lead to political retaliation against the media and journalists.”

The statement says that 157 attacks and other incidents affecting 261 journalists and media outlets were documented in 2026 before the election, compared with 209 incidents recorded in all of 2025. Among the election-day incidents are the attack on journalists Mihailo Stojkovic and Jelena Stojkovic at a polling station in Pavlovac and the attack on three Blokade Info journalists in Bezanijska kosa. MFRR also criticized the Serbian Progressive Party’s decision to deny accreditation for election night at party headquarters to journalists of N1, Nova, Danas and Radar.

The network also condemned the post-election intrusion of demonstrators into the premises of Informer television, where a verbal clash with staff and an interruption of the broadcast took place. According to the statement, intimidating journalists is unacceptable regardless of a media outlet’s editorial policy, and the student movement’s calls for calm were welcomed.

What does MFRR ask of the future government?

MFRR partners want Serbia to set up mechanisms that prevent any government from using regulatory powers, public money, state-owned companies and media ownership structures to reward compliant newsrooms and punish critical ones. They demand independence for the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media and for public broadcasters, RTS in particular, a reform of state advertising and independent investigations of all attacks on journalists, including those from previous years. They also ask the European Union to put media freedom among its priorities in relations with Serbia.

The statement was signed by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, the European Federation of Journalists, Free Press Unlimited, ARTICLE 19 Europe, the International Press Institute and Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa. They conclude with a warning:

“Reforms must not become an instrument of political retaliation, nor allow existing structures of control over the media simply to pass into other hands”

MFRR also said that these problems “cannot be solved by simply replacing the political actors who have influence over the media.”