Legal Environment: 13; Political Environment: 17; Economic Environment: 9; Total Score: 39

Media organizations and journalists were frequently the victims of harassment, vandalism, violence, and intimidation. In fact, in November the editor in chief of the daily Politika wrote that one of the wealthiest businessmen in Serbia had himself phoned journalists to criticize them for their coverage. In April, Dinko Gruhonjic, a BETA news agency correspondent and chairman of the Independent Journalists Association of Vojvodina, received death threats after reporting on a neo-Nazi group. Separately, in August, the editor in chief of the independent broadcaster TNT, Stefan Cvetkovic, also reported receiving death threats allegedly in response to his station's coverage of a police scandal. The independent broadcaster B92 and its journalists were frequently harassed, and its offices were vandalized throughout the year. On several occasions, nationalist political parties interrupted B92 broadcasts and staged demonstrations outside its offices, protesting its content. In April, a bomb exploded outside the Belgrade apartment of Dejan Anastasijevic, journalist for the weekly Vreme, following his critical report of a former Serbian paramilitary group. Such attacks have not been vigorously prosecuted. Local media operate in a more difficult environment, where local governments typically block journalists' access to public information and cooperate mostly with state-owned media. In October, masked assailants simultaneously entered two television stations in Novi Pazar and at gunpoint halted the rebroadcast of an interview with an Islamic leader in Serbia. The International Press Institute has also recorded a number of other attacks against members of the media throughout the year.

Both broadcast and print media in Serbia are highly active and promote diverse views. However, the media environment remains somewhat politicized. Journalists at times practice self-censorship, and many avoid politically charged topics, including war crimes and the Kosovo status negotiations. Serbia's broadcast and print media are for the most part privately owned. The government owns a stake in the daily Politika but has little direct editorial influence. Most local media, however, have yet to be privatized, and there is little support from local governments for these types of liberalization reforms. The public RTS was the dominant media source, operating two television stations and Radio Belgrade. While there are no government subsidies for private media, the state-owned media enjoy strong financial support from the government, as does the state-owned news agency, Tanjug. Media ownership in general remains somewhat nontransparent, with indications that some formal owners are a front for real interests behind the asset. Media ownership concentration has increased slightly with the growing presence of foreign firms. Internet access is unrestricted, though the government regularly monitors its content and only 14 percent of the population was able to receive information online in 2007.

The media environment in Kosovo is regulated by the UN Mission in Kosovo and the constitutional framework. The system of licensing broadcast media in Kosovo is complicated and inconsistent. The television regulator Temporary Media Commissioner is generally considered nontransparent. There were several reported incidents of violence during the year, including the assault of Vesna Bajicic, a Pristina-based correspondent for Voice of America. A masked assailant attacked Bajicic in her home, accusing her of "bias in favor of Albanians" in her reporting, and threatened to abduct her child and kill her if she continued. Journalists frequently complained of not being able to access public information. Although many media were able to sustain operations through aid donations, most struggled financially. As a result, editorial independence remains a weakness in Kosovo, with media adhering to business interests. Public broadcaster Radio Television Kosovo is particularly at the whim of political and economic interests. Public media have a financial advantage, as they are exempt from the value-added tax.

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