More than 20 "Pobjeda" journalists addressed the newly formed Board of Directors of "Nova Pobjeda" this morning, demanding, among other things, along with the strike announcement, a written explanation of the reasons for the dismissal of the editor-in-chief Draško Đuranović, as well as the plan and work program of the new executive director and editor-in-chief Nenad Zečević.
In the press release, they state that it is half of the editorial office of "Pobjeda".
"The members of Pobjeda's editorial staff, twenty-four of them, in their letter to the Board point to Article 42 of the new Media Act, which was recently adopted as part of a set of so-called IBAR laws, in which it is specified that the issues of the participation of journalists in the process of appointing and dismissing the editor-in-chief are regulated by the statute of the founder of the media, and that those changes to the statute are made with the mandatory prior consultation of journalists of that media," the announcement states.
The signatories of the letter, journalists from the daily "Pobjeda" and Portal Pobjeda, point out that they were not informed whether the Statute was changed, "nor were they consulted, if so, even though this is a legal obligation".
"Consequently, we believe that the dismissal of Mr. Đuranović and the appointment of Zečević was carried out in an illegal procedure, without any consultation with Pobjeda journalists," they state in the letter.
In the letter, they point out that they are not aware of who makes up the Board of Directors of "Nova Pobjeda", the formation of which was announced to the public on July 4 by the company "Media Nea", which is the XNUMX% owner of Nova Pobjeda, and which was signed by its director Boris Darmanović.
"The authorized representatives of that company informed the newsroom about the Board's decisions last Thursday afternoon, but until today, they have not informed us of the reasons for the sudden and hurried dismissal of Mr. Đuranović," the signatories of the letter state.
Among other things, they emphasize that such a dismissal of the executive director and editor-in-chief "came at a time when Pobjeda is one of the most influential media in the country, highly cited in the region, and when it properly settles all tax and employee obligations."
"Unrest", they say, "is also caused by the assertion of the new executive director and editor-in-chief, which he communicated to the editorial board, that Nova Pobjeda is allegedly in huge debts, which according to the information they have is not true".
"It is unacceptable to us that, not only were we not consulted, but that no one finds it necessary to give us answers all these days, and we are worried about our own future and that of this house," the letter states.
As they state, their concern is also justified in light of the fact that the long-time editor of the Crna Chronicle column and award-winning journalist Marija Žižić already resigned from the editorial board on Friday, because she does not want to be part of the new editor-in-chief's team at that level, and the fact that the editor of the supplement for culture, Tanja Pavićević, also announced her resignation, and some of her colleagues that they will leave Pobjeda, because they do not want to be in Nenad Zečević's team.
"Due to all of the above, the signatories of the letter demanded from the Board of Directors of Nova Pobjeda to provide them within three days in writing a precise explanation of why Draško Đuranović was dismissed, an answer as to whether the Statute of Nova Pobjeda is harmonized with the new Media Act and, if so, , to submit it to journalists for inspection, a statement on Pobjeda's current editorial policy, as well as the work plan and program of the new executive director and editor-in-chief," the announcement reads.
Otherwise, as stated in the letter, the signatories announce a strike until the demands are fulfilled, which they will start from Thursday.
The letter was signed by: Kaćuša Krsmanović, Stevo Vasiljević, Duško Mihailović, Marija Žižić, Ana Raičković, Tanja Pavićević, Jasmina Beharović-Milošević, Tamara Klikovac, Anja Ivanović, Igor Perić, Marija Ivanović-Nikičević, Jelena Martinović, Ivana Terzić, Jovana Đurišić, Bojan Đurišić, Jovana Raičević, Milena Radonjić, Bojana Vučinić, Đurđica Ćorić, Andrija Radović, Bojana Robović, Violeta Mrdović, Ivana Božović and Kristina Zdravkov.
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