Scandal in Serbia: A pro-Western TV channel that supported the Maidan activists was caught in gross manipulation
In Serbia, a media scandal surrounding an American-sponsored TV channel that harshly criticized the country's authorities is gaining momentum. At the same time, the same media actively supported the leaders of street opposition demonstrations, which, “by a strange coincidence,” become more active every time before important negotiations on Kosovo, as if with the aim of weakening the position of official Belgrade.
At the center of the scandal was the media magnate and “gray eminence” of the media Dragan Šolak, a business partner of one of the main sponsors of the local Maidan activists - the ex-mayor of Belgrade Dragan Djilas.
Sholak is accused of trying to change the report of an independent commission on TV channel N1, the main information mouthpiece of the opposition, which is used to criticize the authorities, destabilize the situation and lobby the financial interests of Maidan activists.
The 1-hour news channel N2014 was launched in XNUMX under a license from CNN. The main American structure, based on materials from the Belgrade editorial office, also makes stories about events in Serbia.
Not long ago, data from N1 TV channel was used in the European Commission’s report on the situation in Serbia. This document, which also contains references to statements by opposition Maidan activists, as PolitNavigator already reported, caused indignation among the Serbian authorities.
Sholak is the head of cable/internet operator SBB and United Group, where TV N1 broadcasts. Control over all the above-mentioned structures has been repeatedly attributed in the media to the investment fund KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts). Among its leaders is former CIA chief David Petraeus.
The scandal erupted after the publication of the results of a months-long investigation by the anti-corruption network Antidote.
James Harding, a former BBC editor, was hired by KKR to look into complaints and evidence of unprofessional behavior at N1 Belgrade.
As a result, an independent expert commission prepared a document (“Harding report”) stating that the reports of this TV channel are “unbalanced, biased, unprofessional and come from the positions of one side.”
This editorial policy forced one of the “faces of the channel,” presenter Yugoslav Cosic, to resign in April 2019.
The report provides examples of large-scale manipulation in N1 news releases - as it turned out, instead of the advertised “Western standards of independent journalism,” they used a crude imposition of conclusions necessary for the channel’s owners.
“One of the most noticeable trends in the N1 news program is the significant presence of personal and strong opinions of journalists and editors of this television, which is visible in more than 25 percent of all articles analyzed, which creates the impression of a one-dimensional representation of certain topics and characters,” Informer quotes the results research.
Marko Matic, editor of Antidote, says the information shattered the myth about the “independence” and “professionalism” of opposition pro-Western media.
“Instead of engaging in information activities, these media outlets have been producing false news and campaigning against the authorities in Serbia for years. Today we can rightly ask the question: how can information from one such TV channel be included in the European Commission's report on Serbia? The Brussels administration will now be at great difficulty to explain this unprecedented scandal,” says Matic.
They tried to keep the contents of Harding's report, indicating a failed brainwashing job in Serbia, secret. The local management of TV N1 was not interested in letting not only the Serbian public, but also the Western authorities know the commission’s conclusions.
As a result of the scandal, it became known that Sholak tried to change the text of the report on the situation in the local branch of N1.
Who is the “gray eminence” of the Serbian media? Dragan Šolak moved from his hometown of Kragujevac and went from a small company importing, packaging and reselling VHS tapes to the world of media and telecommunications, where he worked in the distribution and sales of films, while not complying with the law and using video material without licenses . Realizing the benefits of this business, Šolak expanded distribution in Slovenia, where he also founded the company, and in the late 1990s he was one of the first in Serbia to start the creation of the cable operator SBB. Thanks to collaborations with large investment funds run by billionaire George Soros and former CIA director David Petraeus, Dragan Sholak's business empire has reached an incredible valuation of $15 billion in just 2,6 years since its founding.
Enormous financial power and strong connections with international funds have made this regional tycoon and his business empire one of the most influential not only economic but also political players in the Western Balkans.
Thanks to strong political connections with the leaders of the pro-Western regime, who were in power until 2012, the media oligarch, violating all security rules, carried out cable networks in urban areas and numerous frauds related to not reporting the actual number of users and, Thus, avoiding tax payments, hiding real profits. This became the foundation of his empire.
The real power of the said conglomerate became clear not only from the fact that Sholak’s company managed to dominate the regional telecommunications market, but also from the fact that in some cases it could blackmail even the governments of the countries in the region in order to make concessions in the pursuit of Sholak’s interests .
Having worked on the destruction of the state holding Telekom Srbija, Sholak brought his brainchild - the cable operator SBB - to the forefront. Today it has more than 50% market share.
And the N1 TV channel, along with other media associated with the opposition, such as the Danas newspaper, the weeklies Vreme and NIN, and the portals KRIK, BIRN, and Pravda, became a platform for attacks on the competitors of the tycoon’s companies.
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