- Blic (newspaper)
Infobox Newspaper
name =
type = Dailynewspaper
format =Tabloid
foundation =September 16 ,1996
owners =Ringier AG
political =Centre-left
Populist
headquarters = 27. marta 1/IX,
11000Belgrade ,Serbia
editor =Veselin Simonović
website = [http://www.blic.rs/ www.blic.rs]"Blic" is one of the highest circulation dailies in
Serbia . It is atabloid owned byRingier AG group fromSwitzerland . In recent years, it has gone through a slight format change to include more in-depth coverage but it's still, as its name aptly suggest, a paper devoted to quick, concise, attention-grabbing news form. "Blic" has at times had circulations of 250,000, but now it is closer to 190,000. [http://www.ringier.ch/index.cfm?rub=184]Ringier controls "Blic" through an entity named Blic Press d.o.o. that's registered as a
limited liability company . [http://regpr.komora.net/Detaljioprivrednomsubjektu/tabid/63/id/17134990/privredniSubjektID/17134990/Default.aspx] The company's CEO is Attila Mihók.The newspaper was founded in
1996 by a group ofAustria -based businessmen led byAleksandar Lupšić , who simultaneously boughtBratislava 's "Nový čas ". The first issue appeared onSeptember 16 ,1996 .Prior to that, the same group took over a
Prague newspaper where they gained valuable publishing experience which encouraged them to go on further. After making a profit and consolidating the operation, they sold "Blic" to a Swiss multimedia communications groupRingier AG in early2004 (takeover finalized in October 2004) for twice the amount of their original investment. [http://www.reporter.co.yu/rep/341.pdf page 22]"Blic" has at times been criticized for its actions. A prime example is how during protest in late 1996 and early 1997 in Serbia when state media made no reporting and the reporting of the independent media was insufficient on the subject, "Blic" started reporting on the protests. Since this decision offended certain influential individuals within the state apparatus, "Blic" made guarantees to decrease reporting on the subject and to decrease circulation for the time being. This move was criticized by many of its journalists and editors along with the Serbian opposition, in response the journalists and editors formed their own newspaper "
Glas javnosti " (the first five issues were called "Novi Blic"). Glas Javnosti exists to this day and is closely associated with theDemocratic Party of Serbia while "Blic" is close to the Democratic Party."Blic" has since its founding expanded to publish several newspapers. These are "Blic-Europa" (till 31.05.2006), "Blic Zena", "Blic Puls", "Euro Blic" (the issue for
Republika Srpska ) and supplements to Blic newspapers.Dejan Simić affair
In early
2006 , "Blic" created a storm of controversy by claiming in its February 4, 2006 issue that January 11 arrest ofDejan Simić ,National Bank of Serbia vice-governor (who was taken in red-handed at his apartment while accepting a €100,000 bribe fromVladimir Zagrađanin of SPS), actually had a completely different background from what the police and Serbian government authorities told the public. The newspaper alleged thatDušan Lalić , a NBS employee and deputy PMMiroljub Labus ' son-in-law, was actually the one behind the bribing. The story further alleged that deputy PM Labus spent an entire night convincing Prime MinisterVojislav Koštunica not to prosecute his son-in-law.And finally, the story also accused Serbian Interior Minister
Dragan Jočić of stopping the police investigation from climbing up the chain of command and thus preventing the arrests of NBS governorRadovan Jelašić and the above mentionedDušan Lalić , as well as SPS'Ivica Dačić who was present in the mentioned apartment minutes before the police stormed in. The paper voiced its fear that the minority coalition government, which held a shaky 5-seat parliamentary support at the time, would fall as Jočić's motivation for disrupting the thorough police action. [http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2006&mm=02&dd=05&nav_id=187567]All of the parties concerned (Labus, Lalić, Jočić, Jelašić, and Dačić) vehemently rubbished the story, with Labus announcing immediate legal action against "Blic" for libel.
ee also
*
List of Serbian newspapers
*Glas Javnosti External links
* [http://www.blic.co.rs Blic Online]
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