Lies About VREME

In the six years since VREME weekly was first published, it went through a number of hostile offensives which always motivated us to do better and be more conscientious. In the past four months, we have been under an offensive by people who should be protecting our interests or at least speaking objectively and responsibly about our problems and success. Even when we were being drawn and quartered as traitors, foreign mercenaries and when any junior staff member in the state media advanced by slandering VREME, we tried to stay calm and respond professionally. Still, we didn't expect people who are now holding posts in various independent media associations to falsify information about VREME which they can do because of VREME's persistent struggle to survive and expand in the unfavorable political and economic environment.

The lie about VREME's circulation by Ofelija Backovic, secretary general of the Independent Journalist's Association of Serbia (NUNS) at the latest session of the Belgrade circle is just the tip of the iceberg, but also reflects the true image of the behavior by people who are members of bodies that are supposed to represent independent journalism in this country. Even more fiercely: if they're doing nothing they should be saying nothing.

The VREME circulation figures Backovic disclosed are a complete fabrication and can do us damage. If she had bothered to check she would have been told that the previous issue of the weekly was printed in a circulation of 26,754 and about 19,000 copies were sold. And another thing: VREME is a political weekly with an impressive distribution: it is sold from Seattle on the US west coast to Hamerfest in Sweden and from Macedonia to Slovenia. In Belgrade alone we sell about 6,000 copies every week.

Late last year, Branislav Canak, chairman of the Nezavisnost Union (UGS), sent a letter to at least one address in Europe saying VREME is not a democratic newspaper and he arrived at that conclusion based on the fact that VREME didn't publish a single article about his union. He disputed the media role of radio B 92 and that leads to an important conclusion: the semi-institutions that are multiplying are only troubled by the media that are not rocked by scandals and rifts since they can't say anything about them or issue statements.

And when they try to deal with something important, they admit to only what their protective law allows. VREME underwent a kind of trial recently because we dared to plan to buy our own printing machines and allegedly undermined the coordinated activities by the "anti-war printing works". The fact that their approach has now been assessed as "an unclear pamphlet" doesn't prevent them from judging other projects. The important thing is that the mill is turning, that they travel the world, and the fact that the authorities are taking over the media one by one do not bothered them at all.

Because of all that VREME accepted cooperation proposals during the past few months from other independent media with no go-betweens. We helped Kragujevac-based weekly "Nezavisna Svetlost" by giving them paper to print their first two issues and did everything to import new supplies.

We offered the Association of Independent Local Media cooperation on 20 specific projects at the meeting that discussed their receiving FoNet and Beta news agencies' wires. We exchange information regularly with Nasa Borba daily and we bought newsprint together several times. Our project to buy printing machines was tied to the needs of VREME and B 92 publishing production and other independent media and projects. We formed the ABV media group with B 92 and it offered cooperation to the people who broke away from Nasa Borba and launched an initiative to start a new daily, the initiative joined by Beta news agency.

We are forced to speak up about other projects and figures that would be business secrets in normal countries. Since this isn't part of the normal world, the only remaining secret is their right to casually toss around figures. Because of all that VREME feels no obligation to cooperate with the independent media bodies here. We won't prevent individuals from being involved in those bodies.