Sovljanski: N1 Editorial Team Will Not Change Policy

Branislav Sovljanski, head of the editorial team at the broadcaster N1, stated that the newsroom will not allow any change to its editorial policy and that it will continue working as before. The statement was made on May 29, the same day it was announced that an agreement had been reached on the sale of the Adria News Network (ANN), the media group that includes N1, to the investment fund Alpac Capital.

Sovljanski took over the editorial leadership on a temporary basis in late April, after the departure of the previous news director, Igor Bozic, from Adria News Network. According to reactions from part of the staff and several media associations, that change raised questions about the future direction of the outlet, which is part of a regional network of news media.

What does “continue as before” actually mean?

In his address, Sovljanski said the editorial team would hold to the working standards it had built since the broadcaster was founded, noting that N1 continues to ask, in his words, difficult but necessary questions, and that it works in the public interest. The message was framed as a response to concerns that a change of ownership could also bring a change in the editorial profile of the reporting.

The context for the statement is the announced sale of the ANN media group, a network that the company United Group consolidated under a single brand in February of this year, and which, besides N1, includes the broadcaster Nova S, the newspaper Danas, and other regional outlets. According to available reports, the buyer is the investment fund Alpac Capital, which is linked to ownership of the Euronews network, while the deal itself is subject to standard regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed in the second half of the year.

N1’s editorial team will not allow any change to the editorial policy, we continue as before, Branislav Sovljanski said.

Why does the message matter now?

The statement on preserving the editorial policy comes at a moment when a legal dispute is also unfolding over the transaction itself. The former chairman of United Group’s board, Dragan Solak, and the former director, Viktorija Boklag, have challenged the decision to sell the media assets, calling it unlawful and legally void, and arguing that it breaches the shareholders’ agreement. As a result, two parallel processes, one over ownership and one legal, now surround the fate of the regional newsrooms, and the outcome is not yet certain.

In recent days, some pro-government outlets have circulated the claim that N1 and Nova S have already been sold and that their editorial policy is being changed, which the N1 newsroom denied as an attempt to mislead the public. Sovljanski’s message follows directly on that type of claim, as the editorial leadership tries to separate the question of ownership from the question of day-to-day reporting.

Journalists’ associations in Serbia have repeatedly pointed out that ownership changes in the media sector must not jeopardize the independence of newsrooms or the working conditions of reporters. In the case of ANN, professional attention is focused on whether the new owner will take on commitments regarding editorial autonomy, given that these are outlets with a pronounced critical stance toward the current authorities.

For now, the message coming from N1’s leadership is one of continuity: regardless of the outcome of the ownership transaction and the accompanying dispute, the newsroom claims it will not change the way it reports. Whether that pledge proves sustainable will depend on how the future owner treats editorial autonomy, as well as on the final resolution of the legal dispute over the sale.

Can a declared continuity of editorial policy survive when the ownership structure of a media outlet changes?