Unrest at RTS
I see the leadership at Serbia’s national public broadcaster RTS shifting after director-general Manja Grcic resigned on Wednesday evening. She had ruled out stepping down only one day earlier. This resignation follows the Sunday parliamentary elections where the Student List won an absolute majority against the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which held power for 14 years. The Student List issued an open letter to RTS on Tuesday identifying the removal of political influence from the broadcaster as a priority and demanding the immediate resignation of the management and news editors due to political bias. Nemanja Karovic, a Student List parliamentary candidate, accused RTS coverage of the student movement of spreading "blatant falsehoods" and maintaining "a servile attitude towards the SNS regime, which was not one of cooperation, but complicity". Grcic, who became the first woman to lead the broadcaster after her February 2026 appointment, said she made the decision to ensure the "continuation of its work". She also stated, "I am aware that some members of the public see my remaining in office, even temporarily, as an obstacle to change".
Management changes and provincial apologies
The vacancy at RTS creates uncertainty because Branislav Klanscek, the president of the RTS governing board, told FoNet on Wednesday that the board meets this Friday to consider appointing an acting director-general. He denied reports that deputy director-general Dejan Jovanovic already took the position. Before she left, Grcic dismissed editor-in-chief of news Bojana Mladjenovic and proposed Borivoje Uskokovic as a replacement. A group of 70 RTS employees proposed popular journalist Jovan Memedovic as acting director-general and Milica Janjic as marketing director. This political turmoil follows changes at the provincial broadcaster RTV, where the acting editor-in-chief of RTV’s Channel 1, Nenad Cacic, resigned on Monday. On that same day, presenter Goran Eror acknowledged during a 5 pm news bulletin that RTV failed to fulfil its public service role by withholding information and failing to ask critical questions. The RTV apology addressed years of one-sided and uncritical reporting by the provincial broadcaster. Students protested against the SNS government for nearly two years and even blockaded RTS buildings in Belgrade for two weeks in April 2025.
