Vijesti
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| Vijesti | |
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
| Format | Berliner |
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| Owner | (100%) Miodrag Perović, Ljubiša Mitrović, Slavoljub Šćekić, and Željko Ivanović |
| Editor | Ljubiša Mitrović |
| Founded | September 1, 1997 |
| Political allegiance | opposition |
| Language | Serbian |
| Headquarters | Bulevar Revolucije 9, Poštanski fah 351, |
| ISSN | 1800-6264 |
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| Website: www.vijesti.cg.yu | |
Vijesti (Serbian Cyrillic: Вијести, English translation: The News) is a Montenegrin daily newspaper.
[edit] History
The paper was started on September 1, 1997 as only the second daily newspaper in Montenegro at that point.
At the precise time of the paper's launch, the political situation in Montenegro was fairly tense as former longtime DPS party alies Milo Đukanović and Momir Bulatović were in the middle of a campaign for 1997 presidential elections. Montenegro, at the time a part of FR Yugoslavia (a federal country that also consisted of Serbia) was choosing between a pro-Milošević leader in Bulatović, and Đukanović who at that time started to cautiosly distance himself from his former ally Milošević although he still favoured the idea of a unified country with Serbia. Vijesti openly favoured Đukanović[1] who eventually won the highly controversial elections and thus became the president of Montenegro.
Although occasionally critical of Đukanović in the years to come, Vijesti generally supported his government's policies on major issues such as the relations with Serbia. In its first years of existence, it has been accused of being an aggressive proponent of Montenegrin independence and Montenegro's government.
During May 2002, Vijesti announced a strategic partnership with German media concern WAZ. On March 15, 2003 at a ceremony attended by WAZ director Bodo Hombach it was announced that WAZ bought a 50% stake in Vijesti.[2] The amount was not disclosed.
After the acquisition, the paper has slightly shifted its focus towards citizens' everyday problems.
In the dawn of 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, "Vijesti" was a moderate supporter of independence, but eventually fully joined the campaign by shipping traditional Montenegrin flags, bracelets and caps with Montenegrin insignia used by pro-independence bloc, along with copies of the newspaper. Still, OSCE/ODIHR gave it the best marks among the all Montenegrin media for observing professional journalistic standards during the referendum.
Since the referendum, Vijesti has switched in a more opposing view and is greatly criticizing the regime of Milo Đukanović and his Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).
The portier of the newspaper, Luka Đukić, was threatened to quit under allegations that something bad will happen to his family, two suspects were arrested on Monday 3 September 2007.
On September 1, 2007, Vijesti director Željko Ivanović was approached on the street and severely beatean by three men, two of whom were masked. As he was being attended to in the hospital, Ivanović publicly accused DPS president Milo Đukanović's "biological or criminal family" for orchestrating the attack in an attempt to "..destroy the very last fringes of journalist freedom". Ivanović also referred to them as the people who want to control every aspect of life in Montenegro.
Milo Đukanović in turn sued Ivanović for libel and the trial began in Podgorica on November 26, 2007 under the presiding judge Nenad Otašević. Đukanović is represented at the trial by a legal team consisting of his sister Ana Kolarević and Dragoljub Đukanović, while Ivanović is represented by Branislav Lutovac and Milan Đukić.[3]
Vijesti was the first newspaper in Montenegro to publish books like a collection of 20th century authors (on the string of other European newspapers), an anthology of Montenegrin authors (in 2006) and Pečat umjetnosti (2007), an interesting (but not original) edition of the greatest painters.
In early October 2007, after 4-and-a-half years of co-ownership, German media concern WAZ sold its stake in Vijesti to the other ownership party (four individuals).[4] In a vague public statement following the sudden decision, WAZ's representative Andreas Rudas said: "The weight of the past was too strong, and this had to be done".
Vijesti established its television division in October, 2007 and was launched throughout Montenegro on 11 May 2008.
[edit] Television Division
Launched on 11 May 2008, Televizija Vijesti (TV Vijesti) aims to become the leader in informative programming in Montenegro. It also plans on finally contribution to the democratization of Montenegrin media. TV Vijesti employs around one hundred workers, including expert journalists and technical experts using the network's latest technology. Over 50 percent of the network's programming will be informative, with an addition of external programming, including films and television series and diverse sports and educational programming.
TV Vijesti plans on covering its signal throughout the Littoral, Nikšić, Plevlja, Danilovgrad, Rožaje and Plav by the end of May, while in the other cities, the network will be available through cable distributors.
