Veran Matic
Encyclopedia
Veran Matić born on 1962 in Sabac, Serbia, is the Chief Executive Officer and Editor-in-Chief of Belgrade’s leading independent Radio and Television station B92
(RTV B92), Serbia’s commercially funded public service broadcaster, managing the company’s radio, TV, online, publishing and cultural services. He is president of ANEM (Association of Independent Electronic Media) for ten years. He is also President of the Board of Directors of B92 Fund, Vice President of Serbian Association of Managers, Member of the Board of Telenor Foundation, Member of the Board of the Centre for Youth Integration and SEEMO Coordinator for Serbia.
since 1984 with alternative and youth media in Belgrade
, Zagreb
and Ljubljana
. He began his career with NTV Studio B
, Belgrade's formerly independent television station. In May 1989 he founded Radio B92, the first independent radio station in Serbia.
The station was banned several times, but managed to continue broadcasting until it was taken over by a group close to the government in April 1999. On 24 March 1999, just hours before the NATO air strikes against FR Yugoslavia began, the station was banned and Matic was briefly detained by police. Despite the ban, the station continued to broadcast via the Internet until the take-over.
Under his guidance, Radio B92 had set up and developed its numerous sectors:
Radio B92 became a focus of new, young intellectual and urban circles from all over Serbia and Montenegro, and collaborated with independent journalists in Kosovo, as well as organising a number of anti-war activities, social and cultural events and projects in the independent sector.
After the illegal take-over, the employees of the radio refused to co-operate with the new management and were soon thereafter all laid off. They took to the Internet, creating the FreeB92 website (www.freeb92.net) and subsequently to the ether -- as Radio B2-92 -- broadcasting in Belgrade on the 99.1 MHz frequency and also on the Internet.
Radio B92’s news programmes remain the core of the joint ANEM Radio Network programming, which provides independent news to audiences on some sixty per cent of Yugoslav territory. ANEM is an umbrella organisation providing technical, programming, legal and training assistance to its members and seeking to promote democracy through the dissemination of independent information and closer links with other non-governmental organisations in the country and the region. ANEM consists of the ANEM Radio Network of 28 independent local radio stations, the ANEM Television Network of some twenty local television stations, ANEM Internet Media and the ANEM Legal Service, which provides defence for the media and journalists and has tackled a number of local and international actions to support media and journalists under repression.
During 2000, he launches and leads one of surely the biggest projects within regional networking – in order to overcome the banning of B92 in Belgrade, and with the assistance of its partners from Romania and Bosnia & Herzegovina, he founded a network covering largest part of Serbia, which has done its best to help in informing the citizens regarding the big Belgrade march, which brought about silent change of power. In this way, Television B92 has been born, broadcast first via satellite and through regional networks, starting its daily broadcasting in Belgrade as well, on 5 October 2000.
After the democratic changes have taken place, Radio & Television B92 continues to develop its independent professional journalism.
In December 2000, RTV B92 organized the conference about electronic media, in cooperation with the Council of Europe, entitled the "Media for a Democratic Europe".
In May 2001, RTV B92 organizes conference dealing with the issue of ‘’Truth, Responsibility and Reconciliation’’, entitled “In Search of Truth & Responsibility – Towards A Democratic Future”.
In February 2002, RTV B92 organized international conference in cooperation with the Centre for Anti-War Action, on the Opening of Secret Police Files, held in Belgrade.
A book was published about the ways in which Mr. Matic had established and developed B92, entitled "This is Serbia Calling" by Matthew Collin (British edition) or "Guerrilla Radio – Serbia’s Underground Resistance" (USA edition, translated in Malesia, Brasil (Radio Gueririlha ) and in Serbia, while the film script has been under way.
The book "Making Waves in Serbia" has been published in Serbia, by Dusan Masic.
B92
B92 is a radio and television broadcaster with national coverage headquartered in Belgrade, Serbia. The network's key demographic is chiefly urban and young audience. Its programs, including the news cover topics with fairly liberal political painted attitudes...
(RTV B92), Serbia’s commercially funded public service broadcaster, managing the company’s radio, TV, online, publishing and cultural services. He is president of ANEM (Association of Independent Electronic Media) for ten years. He is also President of the Board of Directors of B92 Fund, Vice President of Serbian Association of Managers, Member of the Board of Telenor Foundation, Member of the Board of the Centre for Youth Integration and SEEMO Coordinator for Serbia.
Career
Matić has been engaged in journalismJournalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
since 1984 with alternative and youth media in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
and Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
. He began his career with NTV Studio B
RTV Studio B
RTV Studio B, more often called Studio B , is a radio and television broadcaster in Belgrade, Serbia, which was the first broadcast station outside the national electronic media system.-Background:...
, Belgrade's formerly independent television station. In May 1989 he founded Radio B92, the first independent radio station in Serbia.
The station was banned several times, but managed to continue broadcasting until it was taken over by a group close to the government in April 1999. On 24 March 1999, just hours before the NATO air strikes against FR Yugoslavia began, the station was banned and Matic was briefly detained by police. Despite the ban, the station continued to broadcast via the Internet until the take-over.
Under his guidance, Radio B92 had set up and developed its numerous sectors:
- InternetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
centre - OpenNetOpenNetOpenNet may refer to the following:*OpenNet Initiative, a joint project with a goal of monitoring and reporting internet filtering and surveillance practices by nations*OpenNet , a Russian news site about free and open source software...
. - a publishing division which produced more than 30 titles, including books of research and commentary on the wars in the former Yugoslavia and minority rights, and three magazines
- the Cinema REX cultural centre, a venue for the alternative and progressive culture scene
- a film and video division, the winner of a number of national and international awards
- a CD label which featured young and progressive artists in FR Yugoslavia.
Radio B92 became a focus of new, young intellectual and urban circles from all over Serbia and Montenegro, and collaborated with independent journalists in Kosovo, as well as organising a number of anti-war activities, social and cultural events and projects in the independent sector.
After the illegal take-over, the employees of the radio refused to co-operate with the new management and were soon thereafter all laid off. They took to the Internet, creating the FreeB92 website (www.freeb92.net) and subsequently to the ether -- as Radio B2-92 -- broadcasting in Belgrade on the 99.1 MHz frequency and also on the Internet.
Radio B92’s news programmes remain the core of the joint ANEM Radio Network programming, which provides independent news to audiences on some sixty per cent of Yugoslav territory. ANEM is an umbrella organisation providing technical, programming, legal and training assistance to its members and seeking to promote democracy through the dissemination of independent information and closer links with other non-governmental organisations in the country and the region. ANEM consists of the ANEM Radio Network of 28 independent local radio stations, the ANEM Television Network of some twenty local television stations, ANEM Internet Media and the ANEM Legal Service, which provides defence for the media and journalists and has tackled a number of local and international actions to support media and journalists under repression.
During 2000, he launches and leads one of surely the biggest projects within regional networking – in order to overcome the banning of B92 in Belgrade, and with the assistance of its partners from Romania and Bosnia & Herzegovina, he founded a network covering largest part of Serbia, which has done its best to help in informing the citizens regarding the big Belgrade march, which brought about silent change of power. In this way, Television B92 has been born, broadcast first via satellite and through regional networks, starting its daily broadcasting in Belgrade as well, on 5 October 2000.
After the democratic changes have taken place, Radio & Television B92 continues to develop its independent professional journalism.
In December 2000, RTV B92 organized the conference about electronic media, in cooperation with the Council of Europe, entitled the "Media for a Democratic Europe".
In May 2001, RTV B92 organizes conference dealing with the issue of ‘’Truth, Responsibility and Reconciliation’’, entitled “In Search of Truth & Responsibility – Towards A Democratic Future”.
In February 2002, RTV B92 organized international conference in cooperation with the Centre for Anti-War Action, on the Opening of Secret Police Files, held in Belgrade.
A book was published about the ways in which Mr. Matic had established and developed B92, entitled "This is Serbia Calling" by Matthew Collin (British edition) or "Guerrilla Radio – Serbia’s Underground Resistance" (USA edition, translated in Malesia, Brasil (Radio Gueririlha ) and in Serbia, while the film script has been under way.
The book "Making Waves in Serbia" has been published in Serbia, by Dusan Masic.
Social responsibility
Social responsibility was always the backbone of B92’s policy. Namely, Veran Matic has developed B92 as a socially responsible media company by initiating a series of big humanitarian and socially relevant campaigns such as:- Voluntary blood donations
- Posthumous human organs bequeathal
- Increasing the number of potential marrow donors
- Breast cancer prevention campaign which resulted in gathering funds for providing the first mobile mammography unit to be used for regular medical check-ups of the women more than 45 year old
- Safe houses construction for the victims of family violence; three safe houses are built so far, while another two are under construction
- "Doctors Clowns" is also the project of B92 Fund
- At the end of 2009, B92 Fund had initiated another big humanitarian campaign "Food for all" with the aim of helping the work of national kitchens, thus helping those without any means to survive (food worth more than one million EUR has been gathered in this campaign).
- Media as tool of social change: Beyond CSR - This presentation was delivered during the Building a European Network of CSR and Philanthropy with Special Participation of the Clinton Global Initiative conference, held on May 17 in Bled, Slovenia
- „Battle for the Babies“ humanitarian campaign for purchasing 100 incubators for the health institutions all over Serbia
Awards
- 1993 - the CPJ International Press Freedom Award of the New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
-based Committee to Protect JournalistsCommittee to Protect JournalistsThe Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...
(CPJ). - 1998 - As chairman of ANEMAnemAnem - two fountains, a Levitical city in the tribe of Issachar . It is also called En-gannim in Josh. 19:21; the modern Jenin.It "seems" to "Ein Ganim"/Jenin only because it appears in approximately the same position in the parallel list of Issachar areas in Joshua 19:21, 21:29...
and Radio B92's editor-in-chief, he shared the Olof Palme Memorial Fund's prizeOlof Palme PrizeThe Olof Palme Prize is an annual prize awarded for an outstanding achievement in the spirit of Olof Palme. The Prize consists of a diploma and 75,000 US dollars.-Receivers of the Olof Palme Prize :*1987 Cyril Ramaphosa...
for professional journalism and promotion of international understanding with Viktor IvančićViktor IvancicViktor Ivančić is a Croatian journalist, best known as the founding member and long-time editor-in-chief of satirical weekly Feral Tribune....
, the chief editor of CroatiaCroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n weekly Feral TribuneFeral TribuneFeral Tribune was a Croatian political weekly magazine. Based in Split, it first started as a political satire supplement in Nedjeljna Dalmacija before evolving into an independent satirical weekly paper in 1993...
and Senad Pećanin, the editor-in-chief of SarajevoSarajevoSarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
's weekly DaniBH DaniBH Dani stands for Bosanskohercegovački Dani is a Bosnian language weekly magazine published in Bosnia and Herzegovina.-Editorial:...
. - 1999 - At the World Economic ForumWorld Economic ForumThe World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
's Annual Meeting, he was proclaimed one of the year's top 100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow, along with Veton SurroiVeton SurroiVeton Surroi is a popular Kosovo Albanian publicist and politician. Surroi is the founder and former leader of the ORA reformist political party, and was a member of Kosovo assembly from 2004 to 2008...
, the publisher of Koha DitoreKoha DitoreKoha Ditore is the leading daily newspaper from Kosovo. It is published by Koha Group and was founded and owned by politician Veton Surroi. His sister Flaka Surroi is now the publisher, following Veton Surroi's launch of his political career within the ORA reformist party...
a daily newspaper in KosovoKosovoKosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
, and Sasa Vucinic, director of the PraguePraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
-based Media Development Loan FundMedia Development Loan FundMedia Development Loan Fund is a New York-registered 501 non-profit corporation and investment fund that provides low-cost financing to independent news media in countries with a history of media oppression...
, as representatives from the Yugoslav Region. - 1999 - USC Annenberg School for CommunicationUSC Annenberg School for CommunicationThe USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism comprises a School ofCommunication and a School of Journalism at the University of Southern California . It is led by Dean Ernest J. Wilson III, Ph.D....
Dean's Award for Courage in Journalism - 1999 - the Social Justice Award from the US-based Children Uniting Nations
- 1999 - The Ilaria Alpi Award, dedicated to the memory of Ilaria AlpiIlaria AlpiIlaria Alpi was an Italian journalist killed in Mogadishu, Somalia together with her camera operator Miran Hrovatin...
, a reporter of TG3 Rai killed in Mogadiscio under obscure circumstances. - 2000 - The International Press InstituteInternational Press InstituteInternational Press Institute is a global organisation dedicated to the promotion and protection of press freedom and the improvement of journalism practices. Founded in October 1950, the IPI has members in over 120 countries....
selected him as one of fifty World Press Freedom Heroes. - 2004 - The City of BelgradeBelgradeBelgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
Award for Journalism in 2003. In the explanation, it is said that Veran Matic has been given the award because, as leader of a large team, he has fundamentally contributed to the preservation of the independent editorial concept of RTV B92. - 2009 - The highest French accolade, the Knight of the French Legion of Honor medal, in recognition for his persistent and ongoing fight for media freedom.
Publishing activities
- Co-editor of the book with Dejan Ilic - Truths, Responsibilities, Reonciliations: The Example of Serbia (Dejan Ilic and Veran Matic, ed., Beograd: Samizdat B92, 2000)
- Veran Matic’s articles have appeared in The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, The New York Book Review, The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
, Index on CensorshipIndex on CensorshipIndex on Censorship is a campaigning publishing organisation for freedom of expression, which produces an award-winning quarterly magazine of the same name from London. The present chief executive of Index on Censorship, since 2008, is the author, broadcaster and commentator John Kampfner, former...
, Frankfurter Allgemeine ZeitungFrankfurter Allgemeine ZeitungThe Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , short F.A.Z., also known as the FAZ, is a national German newspaper, founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt am Main. The Sunday edition is the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung .F.A.Z...
, Le MondeLe MondeLe Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
, The NationThe NationThe Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
, and elsewhere. - Co-author: Shaping the Network Society, edited by Douglas Schuler and Peter DayPeter DayProfessor Peter Day is a British inorganic chemist.A scholar and subsequently graduate student at Wadham College, Oxford , Peter Day's graduate work initiated the study of mixed-valence compounds and led to the Robin-Day classification of such species...
- chapter 8, Civil Networking in a Hostile Environment: Experiences in the Former Yugoslavia - Author: KUNSTRADIO - Schaffung des lnformationsraums: "Commando Solo"
Source
- Veran Matić's CV on B92B92B92 is a radio and television broadcaster with national coverage headquartered in Belgrade, Serbia. The network's key demographic is chiefly urban and young audience. Its programs, including the news cover topics with fairly liberal political painted attitudes...
.net with author's permission.