Politika – State Media Monitor

Politika is a Serbian daily newspaper, the oldest daily newspaper still in operation in the Balkans.

Media assets

Publishing: Politika

State Media Matrix Typology

Ownership and governance

Politika is published by Politika Novine i Magazini (PNM), a company tied to Politika a.d., the wider joint-stock media group that owns the Politika brand and other associated publications.

Politika’s ownership structure has remained highly complex and politically sensitive. The publishing company PNM has long been a joint venture between Politika a.d., controlled by state entities, and private business interests. Since 2012, the Serbian businessman Miroslav Bogicević had held half of PNM, a stake he had acquired from the German publisher WAZ. Bogicević sold his share in late 2021 to Boban Rajić, a businessman and the owner of Novosti, a pro-government tabloid.

Through his company Media 026, Rajić has since controlled 50 percent of PNM, while Politika a.d. holds the other half. Politika a.d. itself is majority owned by state institutions and funds: the Pension Fund holds close to 30 percent of shares, the Serbian government directly owns almost 19 percent, and additional state-linked institutions such as the Health Insurance Fund and the Shareholders’ Fund together control over 20 percent.

In late 2024, the Politika building in central Belgrade, a landmark property, was sold to Rajić’s company M29, consolidating his influence over the brand. The following month, Politika a.d. announced plans to sell its 50 percent stake in PNM as part of a restructuring plan adopted earlier in 2024, setting a minimum price of approximately €4.7 million. This move confirmed the intention of the state-run joint-stock company to step back from direct involvement in the publishing arm of the newspaper, though the state still retains significant influence through its shareholding in Politika a.d.

Source of funding and budget

The newspaper is funded through subscriptions, advertising and state support, the latter channelled via state advertising contracts and other forms of aid. According to publicly available data, Politika a.d. generated revenues of €5.39 million in 2024, with assets worth more than €21 million recorded in April 2025. The company employed 186 people in 2024, a figure that confirms its medium-sized position in the Serbian media landscape. Yet the publishing branch, PNM, has been showing signs of financial decline. Its 2023 accounts registered falling net sales revenues, shrinking operating income and worsening profit margins, raising questions about the sustainability of the operation without further injections of public or politically directed advertising revenue.

Editorial independence

Editorially, Politika has long been seen as a pro-government outlet. Local experts and journalists interviewed for this report in May 2024 and March 2025 underlined that while there are no explicit legal provisions mandating propaganda, the government’s influence through ownership and appointments exerts significant pressure on editorial decisions.

The editor in chief since 2021 has been Marko Albunović, who oversees a newsroom frequently criticized for biased coverage. In 2024, the investigative network KRIK identified more than 90 Politika articles that they considered biased and manipulative, pointing to a pattern of editorial capture. In May 2025, the paper dismissed journalist Sandra Gucijan, a move condemned by the Association of Journalists of Serbia as politically motivated, reinforcing concerns about the lack of editorial independence.

The management of Politika a.d. rests with a ten-member Managing Board and a four-member Executive Board. The current General Director is Zoran Mošorinski, who oversees both the financial and editorial strategy of the group. His tenure has coincided with the latest restructuring moves and the deepening influence of Rajić’s business empire. No independent oversight mechanism exists to monitor or validate Politika’s editorial independence, leaving the paper under strong political and business control.

Despite its historical prestige as one of the oldest newspapers in the region, Politika has thus become a symbol of the shrinking space for independent journalism in Serbia.

September 2025