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Reading an official statement live on air, news anchor Goran Eror stated: “The right questions were not asked, or no questions were asked at all. We owe viewers an apology….”
The anchor, students’ movement. (X/Reuters)
The Serbian public broadcaster Radio Television of Vojvodina (RTV) issued an extraordinary live on-air apology to its viewers for delivering years of one-sided, biased, and pro-government news coverage.
The apology was broadcast during the opening of its 5:00 PM bulletin on Monday, 26 October 2026, immediately following a historic election defeat for the ruling alliance of authoritarian leader Aleksandar Vučić.
THE ON-AIR APOLOGY
The bulletin began by showing footage of public celebrations following the election victory of the “Student List” opposition movement—scenes that RTV admitted it had deliberately failed to broadcast the night before.
Reading an official statement live on air, news anchor Goran Eror stated: “For many years, the public service broadcaster failed to fulfil its role. Things were kept quiet, one-sided information was provided and reporting was uncritical. The right questions were not asked, or no questions were asked at all. We owe viewers an apology for that.”
Eror added that while several journalists and editors within the organization had fought internally to uphold ethical journalism practices and work freely, they “did not win the battle in time,” but vowed that the fight for media independence would continue.
POLITICAL CONTEXT
At A Glance
Radio Television of Vojvodina issued an on-air apology on 26 October 2026 for years of biased, pro-government news coverage.
The apology followed the defeat of Aleksandar Vučić’s ruling alliance in the early parliamentary elections held on 25 October 2026.
The opposition Student List movement captured over 52% of the vote in the election.
RTV acting editor-in-chief Nenad Ćaćić resigned following the broadcast and was replaced by Blažo Popović.
The public apology directly followed the 25 October 2026 early parliamentary elections. Former President Vučić’s ruling alliance was decisively defeated by the Student Lista popular anti-corruption movement that captured over 52% of the vote.
Following the broadcast, Nenad Ćaćić, the acting editor-in-chief of RTV’s main channel (RTV 1), resigned from his post. He was replaced by journalist Blažo Popović, alongside Predrag Novković as the new programme director. The systemic shift met long-standing demands from the independent Nezavisnost (“Independence”) trade union regarding state capture of the media.
The shifting political landscape caused immediate turmoil across other pro-regime media outlets in Serbia. Protesters reportedly entered the newsrooms of other government-aligned networks, such as Informer TV, demanding similar apologies for propaganda and biased reporting.
This unprecedented event mirrors a similar media shift that occurred in Hungary earlier in 2026, where the state broadcaster MTVA similarly issued an on-air apology for years of institutional lying following a change in government.
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Ask News18RTV issued an extraordinary live on-air apology to viewers for delivering years of one-sided, biased, and uncritical pro-government news coverage.
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At the news desk for 20 years, the story of her life has revolved around finding pun, facts while reporting, on radio, heading a daily newspaper desk, teaching mass media students to now editing speci…Read More
October 28, 2026, 7:39 PM IST
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