Stop the Press!

The reports that the federal government appointed federal information secretary Dragutin Brcin as acting director and editor-in-chief of Borba caused a panic among both foreign and local reporters. Dragoslav, Dragisa, Dobroslav, Dragutin, Milutin, Radovan were some of the names Brcin was given by reporters who tried to guess the Borba "commissar's" name. Dragutin Brcin is not an unknown; he's one of the longest serving socialist politicians. Ironically, before he became a Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) member, Brcin was friends with most of the editors and journalists at Borba.

He took this job seriously and after failing to persuade Borba staff to work with him he started publishing his own version of the newspaper. Academician Nikola Milosevic told a session of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS): "Until now, we have known what fake money is, we knew the newspapers were lying, but we never saw fake newspapers. Now, thanks to this regime, we know about them as well."

On Monday, December 26, two different editions of Borba appeared. Everything had started three days earlier when state media reported that the federal government was taking over Borba and appointing Brcin. A commercial court ruling of December 19 was invoked which confirmed last November's ruling by a lower court that the Borba shareholders' society (owner of the newspaper) should be deleted from the court register. That night Brcin and three associates appeared in the staff room. A meeting of the Borba editorial board was convened which Brcin left when journalists insisted on attending the meeting (regular practice in Borba when important decisions are taken). Brcin wanted to inform only editor-in-chief Gordana Logar and her editors about his appointment. Brcin left, but not before he banned the night shift in the print shop from printing the next day's city edition. The print shop is not part of the daily, but rather a separate company. His orders were followed by the shift overseer and the next edition of Borba that appeared was Saturday's country-wide edition which is printed in the morning.

Since the court proceedings were not officially over, the Borba editorial board treated Brcin and his associates as a group of citizens who wanted to take over. They organized a vigil once journalists from other media and party representatives arrived. Unanimously, Borba staff decided to keep publishing at any cost without changes in the editorial staff. They also decided not to cooperate with the "commissar management".

The mood over the weekend was tense: statement after statement was issued and Borba staff and others changed shifts. Telegrams of support poured in from the likes of the US State Department to the Electricity company union.

Brcin came in again on Saturday and left. Just five of the 120 Borba journalists joined him, despite threats to arrest them all. All the part-timers stayed as well, although they haven't been paid in two months.

In the meantime, reports came in that the Brcin, i.e. Milosevic, edition of Borba was being prepared in the federal government building in New Belgrade. Preparations for the authentic Monday issue went ahead normally. It's hard to publish a newspaper without a print shop, some technical services and a sales net (which is also a separate company). Politika stuck to its pro-government orientation and its sales net refused to help. But the newly formed Metro magazine helped, as well as ABC Printers who printed 10,000 copies. Sales were taken care of by amateur street vendors - journalists and prominent friends of the daily. The circulation sold out that day as well as the rest of the week even though 12,000 copies were printed.

Choices were the most complicated thing for Borba staff. They decided to resist the "commissar management", but many of them didn't like taking sides with Dusan Mijic, the extremely unpopular acting director and majority shareholder and his deputy Branislav Milosevic. (The story about problems with the privatization of Borba, Mijic's role in it and legal complications is well known and VREME reported on it on several occasions)

In any case, the state of emergency at Borba persisted. Journalists spent their nights at the desk, their mornings selling the newspaper on the streets, and their days writing articles. On Tuesday there were two statements. In the first, Brcin said all journalists would be given tasks by him and his deputy, but the deputy was not named! In the second, Ivan Markovic said Borba shareholders' society (DD) was ceasing its operation, that everything had legally ended, that Borba Newspaper Publishing (NIP) had the status of a state company. All Borba (DD) staff were called to continue working for NIP Borba and report to personnel services by January 5th. Staff responded by ignoring the statement which was signed by "the nonexistent deputy of the nonexistent director.

At the same time, Borba lawyers sued Brcin for abusing his position and impersonation and commercial court president Radomir Lazarevic said the court's refusal to register NIP Borba did not cast doubts on his appointment as acting director and editor-in-chief. Lazarevic said the decision had not taken effect yet and that NIP Borba had the right to appeal. This statement and another by federal legislature secretary Perisa Jovanovic show what the outcome of the appeal could be.

On Wednesday, a special session of NUNS was convened. Borba got support from journalists at home, the International Federation of Journalists, writers, opposition politicians, independent unions. NUNS decided to remain in permanent session while the state of emergency persisted in the independent media, called all Serbian journalists to support Borba and upheld demands for the dismissal of Brcin and Serbian information minister Ratomir Vico. They also lent support to a proposal by 36 federal deputies for a confidence vote on federal prime minister Radoje Kontic's government for violating the constitution in regard to Borba.

Borba staff returning from the NUNS session met liquidation manager Zivojin Simanovic when they got back to their building. The economic court opened liquidation proceedings against Borba DD. Their accounts were blocked and over 200 staff lost their jobs.

"All of the legal deadlines to appeal our registration expired over the past three years but they set a precedent through procedural trickery," Borba lawyer Branislav Tapuskovic said.

Borba's privatization may not have been completely in accord with the law, but that is even more true of other parts of the former Borba state company: Vecernje Novosti, the print shop, sales net. Their status is not being questioned because they are obedient. Obviously, the background is not property-related, but rather political. The authorities want to stifle (or take over) the only daily in the country that does not follow the rules of obedience. Borba has been a problem to the Serbian authorities since 1986 when Stasa Marinkovic started turning the Socialist Alliance organ into a modern daily newspaper.

In any case, the legal battle for Borba has been lost, but there's no surrendering. There are rumors that the EU is ready to provide money for Borba's survival or for a new daily which the current staff will publish. Unofficial reports said New Democracy leaders offered Milosevic a compromise solution: Brcin would remain director and the old editorial staff would keep their jobs without changes in editorial policy. Allegedly, Milosevic rejected that suggestion, saying the court would solve the problem.

There's no revolutionary euphoria at Borba, no bragging, but there also no loss of spirit. Most journalists are determined to continue in their jobs. "We will try to find a legal way to get the newspaper out," Logar told VREME. We'll know soon if they can. While I'm writing this article (Thursday, December 29) both unions of Borba DD are preparing meetings.

Interestingly, the opposition, which owes so much to Borba, has not provided much help. The nationalists lent support, but that was more for their benefit than Borba's. The charismatic opposition leader who called protest rallies for lesser causes stood aside, he seemed to be busy promoting his book about a dead Chetnik. Only the Democratic Party, after a whole week, remembered to organize a protest for December 29 and a cocktail afterwards.

On the Street

The special issue of Borba is published regularly and sells out on the streets while the Brcin edition swamps kiosks and there's an announcement of a new company and a new Borba.

Just before the new year began, reports came in that Borba shareholder society's (DD) acting director and majority shareholder Dusan Mijic had offered to collectively transfer the staff to his Fininvest company which was recently registered as a publisher in his native Novi Sad. With his offer, the staff would keep the same salaries they now earn and the company would become a shareholders' society later with one third of shares going to staff, a third to Mijic and a third to other investors. The editorial board and staff spent the next few days mulling over the offer and formulating demands and they drew up a draft statute.

All of Borba DD's staff should cross over to Fininvest and its statute should be changed because an additional 200 people change the company's structure, which would become a shareholders' society. Mijic, who now owns 100%, would let the staff take over a third of the management vote.

This is what "Borba Round Two" should look like, if everyone agrees. (Round One is giving in to the regime and accepting Brcin, which they unanimously refused; Round Three comes if they don't reach agreement with Mijic and they go it alone)

The Borba staff is also mulling over an idea to form an association of citizens, completely independently, which would allow them to open bank accounts to make sure possible donations get to who they were intended for.

That idea proves they are no longer naive. The fate of the newspaper depends on a compromise between the journalists who want honest reporting and the businessman who loves freedom of the press only if it can bring a profit, especially now with all of the attention focused upon Borba.

In the meantime, both Borbas are being published; Borba - special issue sells out as soon as it hits the streets, while the Brcin Borba can be found anywhere in Belgrade at any time of day. Some Belgrade newsagents say they sell just two or three copies of the 80 or 90 they get.

A liquidation manager has started working on Borba. At the moment, he's going through debts and bills and later he'll probably start going through the trash cans. The liquidation proceedings can take years, but we assume that in this case the process will be stepped up. Borba DD lawyer Branislav Tapuskovic said the process should take at least two months "unless they resort to more legal trickery".

The staff are still in their offices but they fear the liquidation manager could rent them out. They say they won't leave their offices until the police come in, but they added that they won't go past civilized resistance.

Despite everything, the latest issue of Vreme was sold along with the 10th edition of Borba - Special Issue. Someone said: "The Special Issue is being published regularly."