NIN appeared on Thursday without a cover photo, and according to the publisher, the cover that was previously announced is inappropriate in the country where the prime minister was killed, broadcast by N1.
"Although the front page has been changed, the content of the article 'Weapons Affair: Who Destroys Krusik' remains, of course, unchanged," said publisher Ringier Axel Springer Serbia.
The new issue of NIN was announced on social media on Wednesday with a cover featuring President Aleksandar Vučić visiting the stands at the arms fair.
The photo was taken from such an angle that the barrel of the rifle was pointed straight at him.
UNS: Pulling the cover of NIN is an act of censorship
The Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) assessed that the withdrawal of today's weekly NIN due to the photo on the front page and its replacement is an act of censorship by which the publisher suspended the right of the editors to the independence of the editorial policy, although the publisher has the right to protect the reputation of his company.
UNS stated in a statement that the publication of a cropped photo on the front page of NIN, on which a rifle is pointed at the President of Serbia, is a bad editorial decision that can hurt the feelings of readers and the public.
The association believes that the autonomy of the editor-in-chief and his right to lead an independent editorial policy are values that need greater protection in Serbia than before, even though it is clear that editors-in-chief, as well as politicians, are not without sin.
Ćulibrk: Are Krušik ruined by us who write, or by those who manage it
Milan Ćulibrk, editor-in-chief of NIN, stated in a guest appearance in Dan live that the government's desire, to divert attention from the "Krušik" affair by talking about the disputed front page of this respected weekly, and that the decision to change the front page was made in agreement with colleagues, but with the condition that any other photo be placed. He points out that there was no pressure from the publisher, but that he was clearly told by them that such a front page was not acceptable, reports N1.
Commenting on the statement of Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, who told the publishers of the Belgrade weekly to "see what the team will do", Ćulibrk assessed that she has much bigger problems than NIN.
"I also hope that the publisher will see what they will do with me as editor-in-chief, but I expect the prime minister to see what she will do with the ministers who have been proven to have plagiarized their doctorates, to see what they will do with the minister whose father is an arms dealer and that on preferential terms, and I think that the Prime Minister has bigger problems than NIN. I heard that she said that she would take a copy of NIN with the front page that was not published, in order to brag to Europe about the freedom of the press in Serbia. If there is freedom of the press, what does this NIN number carry, why doesn't he buy all the daily newspapers at the kiosk at the airport and take them with him to show how much media freedom exists in Serbia," Ćulibrk asked.
When asked if he is flattered that he is an example of "media freedom in Serbia", he replies that freedom should be fought for.
"I never complained that there is no freedom of the media in Serbia. Let them find one of my statements where I said that there is no freedom of the media. You have to fight for freedom, and we fought. In NIN, there are no untouchable topics, no untouchable people and there is no censorship. I saw that colleagues from UNS protested against censorship, and yesterday the president of UNS said that he did not agree with the proposed front page. I don't know, let people decide whether it is censorship or irresponsible politics , or maybe it's both," states Ćulibrk.
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