Veran Matić
| Veran Matić | |
|---|---|
Matić in November 2011.
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| Born | 1962 Šabac, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia |
| Residence | Belgrade, Serbia |
| Nationality | Serbian |
| Alma mater | University of Belgrade |
| Occupation | CEO of B92 |
| Organization | B92 |
| Awards |
CPJ International Press Freedom Award (1993) World Press Freedom Hero (2000) Legion of Honour (2009) |
Veran Matić (Serbian Cyrillic Веран Матић; born in 1962 in Šabac, Yugoslavia) is the Chief Executive Officer of B92. He is Chairman of the Commission for investigating killings of journalists established in February 2013 on his initiative and supported by the Serbian Government.
In 1993, he was awarded a CPJ International Press Freedom Award by the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists, and in 2000, the Austria-based International Press Institute named him one of its fifty World Press Freedom Heroes of the last fifty years.
Matić graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in world literature. He first became involved in independent youth media in 1984, and in May 1989, co-founded the independent radio station B92 with Sasa Mirkovic. The station broadcast a mix of music and current affairs coverage, particularly criticism of President Slobodan Milosevic. The Yugoslav government took various actions to hinder or ban the station from broadcasting, described by BBC News as "ranging from jamming, technical problems or the allocation of frequencies". In November 1996, B92 was briefly banned from broadcasting, but responded by making its audio available through the Internet.
Though an opponent of the Slobodan Milošević government, Matić also opposed the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. In late March, he published a statement on B92's website titled "Bombing the Baby with the Bath Water", in which he stated that "Nato is fulfilling its own prophecy of doom: each missile that hits the ground exacerbates the humanitarian disaster that Nato is supposed to be preventing." The Milosevic government banned the station from broadcasting for a few hours later in the same week, stating that its transmission strength had exceeded the permitted level. Matić was taken in for questioning, while B92 staff were ordered not to use their phones or computers. B92 staff responded that "The real reason they had to shut us down is because we were informing people about what is going on", and the station continued to broadcast live via satellite and internet, defying written government orders.
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