Serbia’s public broadcaster RTV apologised for years of biased reporting.
Student List won 140 parliamentary seats, ending Vucic’s alliance dominance.
Media bias and corruption allegations fuelled protests across Serbia.
For years, critics accused Serbia’s public broadcasters of being a megaphone for the government. Then, within a day of Aleksandar Vučić’s election defeat, one of them said so itself. On air, RTV anchor Goran Eror told viewers the broadcaster had turned a blind eye, reported one-sidedly and failed to ask the right questions, and that it owed them an apology.
The apology came after the ruling party lost the parliamentary election. An acting editor-in-chief resigned soon after. So what led a state-funded newsroom to publicly break with the leader it had long covered?
Earlier, Protesters entered the newsroom of Informer TV, a Serbian channel supportive of former President Vucic, on Monday evening and demanded the arrest of its editor.
The incident interrupted broadcasting as tens of thousands of people took to the streets for a second night to celebrate the election defeat of Vucic’s allies.
Live footage from the channel showed around 30 protesters surrounding its owner and editor-in-chief, Dragan Vucicević, inside the newsroom. Some chanted, “This is how it is in free Serbia!” and “Where is Vucic now?” while others called for Vucicević’s arrest.
What Led To The Apology?
RTV’s statement followed years of criticism that Serbian media gave favourable coverage to Vucic and his political allies while portraying opposition groups negatively.
Serbia ranked 104th out of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders. This was the country’s lowest-ever ranking and one of the worst in the European Union-Balkans region.
Election monitor Centre for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA) said last week that TV stations with national coverage gave government representatives about 75% of the political airtime they monitored. It also found that the Student List was shown negatively in more than 80% of the coverage in which it was mentioned.
How Did Vucic Lose The Election?
Serbia’s Student List, which emerged from student-led anti-corruption protests, defeated Vucic’s alliance in Sunday’s snap election, ending his party’s 14-year hold on power.
Vucic became prime minister in 2014 and president in 2017. Before that, he served as information minister under Slobodan Milošević and was known for maintaining tight control over the media during his rule.
Preliminary results showed the Student List securing 52.71% of the vote and 140 seats in the 250-member parliament. The ruling alliance received 39.17% and 104 seats.
