Tadić told not to interfere in "editorial policy"

Daily Politika’s Editor-in-Chief Ljiljana Smajlovic has accused Boris Tadic of interfering in editorial policy. It comes after the president asked the paper to submit all its knowledge of the property of the late Belgrade Mayor Nenad Bogdanovic to the authorities. Tadic told not to interfere in "editorial policy" “We publish reader’s comments in the paper on a daily basis, and we happily correct errors that inevitably occur in the production process. However, we are publishing your letter on the front page, not just because of the importance of your position, but because, in our opinion, it represents an attempt at interfering in editorial policy,” Smajlovic states in her reply to Tadic. Stressing that all the information that Politika’s journalists gathered are published every day, the editor stresses that the paper’s journalists “do not collect information for the benefit of state institutions, but rather, purely in the interests of the public’s right to know.” “Moreover, state institutions can find out about our journalists’ sources within the paper,” she points out, reminding the president that the controversial information concerning the late mayor’s estate appeared in the media before Politika published the story in question. Smajlovic also stresses that the daily did not create the awkward situation that the Bogdanovic family, as well as his personal and political friends find themselves in, but rather that it “merely informed readers, which is what they rightfully expect.“ “Let the authorities do their job, and Politika’s journalists do theirs, in line with legal and ethical standards. I hope that your intervention from the summit of state and political power will not intimidate them. I sincerely believe that this was not your intention,“ says the Politika editor-in-chief in her reply. Tadic yesterday asked Smajlovic and Politika CEO Srdjan Janicevic to urgently put at the authorities' disposal all their knowledge, facts and possible evidence that they used to write the article entitled “Inheritance in three parts“ about the estate of the late Belgrade mayor, which was published on March 25. Boris Tadic (FoNet, archive)

Tadić told not to interfere in "editorial policy"

“We publish reader’s comments in the paper on a daily basis, and we happily correct errors that inevitably occur in the production process. However, we are publishing your letter on the front page, not just because of the importance of your position, but because, in our opinion, it represents an attempt at interfering in editorial policy,” Smajlović states in her reply to Tadić.

Stressing that all the information that Politika’s journalists gathered are published every day, the editor stresses that the paper’s journalists “do not collect information for the benefit of state institutions, but rather, purely in the interests of the public’s right to know.”

“Moreover, state institutions can find out about our journalists’ sources within the paper,” she points out, reminding the president that the controversial information concerning the late mayor’s estate appeared in the media before Politika published the story in question.

Smajlović also stresses that the daily did not create the awkward situation that the Bogdanović family, as well as his personal and political friends find themselves in, but rather that it “merely informed readers, which is what they rightfully expect.“

“Let the authorities do their job, and Politika’s journalists do theirs, in line with legal and ethical standards. I hope that your intervention from the summit of state and political power will not intimidate them. I sincerely believe that this was not your intention,“ says the Politika editor-in-chief in her reply.

Tadić yesterday asked Smajlović and Politika CEO Srđan Janićević to urgently put at the authorities' disposal all their knowledge, facts and possible evidence that they used to write the article entitled “Inheritance in three parts“ about the estate of the late Belgrade mayor, which was published on March 25.