Address: Bulevar Zorana Đinđića 64, Belgrade
Tel: ++ 381 11 301 2000
Fax: ++ 381 11 301 2001
E-mail: veran.matic@b92.net
Web site: www.b92.net
| Chief Executive Officer and Editor-in-Chief of Belgrade’s leading independent Radio and Television station B92 (RTV B92), Serbia’s commercially funded public service broadcaster, managing the company’s radio, TV, online, publishing and cultural services |
| For ten years, president of ANEM (Association of Independent Electronic Media) |
| President of the Board of Directors of B92 Fund |
| Vice President of Serbian Association of Managers |
| Member of the Board of Telenor Foundation |
| Member of the Supervisory Board of the Fund for medical treatment of children abroad |
| Member of the Board of the Centre for Youth Integration |
| Member of the Board of the Economic Advertisers Association of Serbia (UEPS) |
| SEEMO Coordinator for Serbia |
| President of the Serbian Economic Senate |
| Chairman of the Commission for investigating killings of journalists established in February 2013 on his initiative and supported by the Serbian Government |
| Chairman of the Commission for investigating the killings of journalists, founded by the Government of the Republic of Serbia on his initiative in February 2013 |
| Born in 1962, in Sabac, Serbia. Studied world literature at the Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade. |
Mr Matic has been engaged in journalism since 1984 with alternative and youth media in Belgrade, Zagreb and Ljubljana. He began his career with NTV Studio B, Belgrade's formerly independent television station. In May 1989 he founded Radio B92, the first independent radio station in Serbia.
The station was banned several times, but managed to continue broadcasting until it was illegally taken over by a group close to the government in April 1999. On March 24 1999, just hours before the NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia began, the station was banned and Matic was briefly detained by police. Despite the ban, the station continued to broadcast via the Internet until the take-over.
Under his guidance, Radio B92 had set up and developed its numerous sectors:
| Internet centre - OpenNet, the first Internet provider in the country |
| Samizdat B92 - a publishing division which produced more than 30 titles, including books of research and commentary on the wars in the former Yugoslavia and minority rights, and three magazines |
| REX cultural centre, a venue for the alternative and progressive culture scene |
| Film and video division, the winner of a number of national and international awards |
| CD label which featured young and progressive artists in FR Yugoslavia. |
Radio B92 became a focus of new, young intellectual and urban circles from all over Serbia and Montenegro, and collaborated with independent journalists in Kosovo, as well as organising a number of anti-war activities, social and cultural events and projects in the independent sector.
After the illegal take-over, the employees of the radio refused to co-operate with the new management and were soon thereafter all laid off. They took to the Internet, creating the FreeB92 website (http://www.freeb92.net) and subsequently to the ether -- as Radio B2-92 -- broadcasting in Belgrade on the 99.1 MHz frequency and also on the Internet.
Radio B92’s news programmes remain the core of the joint ANEM Radio Network programming, which provides independent news to audiences on some sixty per cent of Yugoslav territory. ANEM is an umbrella organisation providing technical, programming, legal and training assistance to its members and seeking to promote democracy through the dissemination of independent information and closer links with other non-governmental organisations in the country and the region. ANEM consists of the ANEM Radio Network of 28 independent local radio stations, the ANEM Television Network of some twenty local television stations, ANEM Internet Media and the ANEM Legal Service, which provides defence for the media and journalists and has tackled a number of local and international actions to support media and journalists under repression.
During 2000, he launches and leads one of surely the biggest projects within regional networking – in order to overcome the banning of B92 in Belgrade, and with the assistance of its partners from Romania and Bosnia & Herzegovina, he founded a network covering largest part of Serbia, which has done its best to help in informing the citizens regarding the big Belgrade march, which brought about silent change of power. In this way, Television B92 has been born, broadcast first via satellite and through regional networks, starting its daily broadcasting in Belgrade as well, on October 5, 2000.
After the democratic changes have taken place, Radio & Television B92 continues to develop its independent professional journalism.
In December 2000, RTV B92 organized the conference about electronic media, in cooperation with the Council of Europe, entitled the "Media for a Democratic Europe" (http://www.b92.net/events/conference/).
In May 2001, RTV B92 organizes conference dealing with the issue of ‘’Truth, Responsibility and Reconciliation’’, entitled “In Search of Truth & Responsibility – Towards A Democratic Future” (http://www.b92.net/trr/eng/).
In February 2002, RTV B92 organized international conference in cooperation with the Centre for Anti-War Action, on the Opening of Secret Police Files, held in Belgrade (http://www.b92.net/konferencije/dosije/index.php).
Participant and one of the speakers, First OSCE South East Europe Media Conference (http://www.b92.net/eng/insight/pressroom.php?yyyy=2011&mm=10&nav_id=76852).
Social responsibility was always the backbone of B92's policy. Namely, Veran Matic has developed B92 as a socially responsible media company by initiating a series of big humanitarian and socially relevant campaigns such as:
A book was published about the ways in which Mr. Matic had established and developed B92, entitled: „This is Serbia Calling“ by Matthew Collin ( British edition): http://www.amazon.co.uk/This-Serbia-Calling-Underground-Resistance/dp/1852426829 or „Guerrilla Radio – Serbia’s Underground Resistance“
http://www.amazon.com/Guerrilla-Radio-Serbias-Underground-Resistance/dp/1560254041 (USA edition, translated in Malaysia, Brasil (Radio Gueririlha http://www.ebarracuda.com.br/site/acervo_detalhe.php?id_livro=52) and in Serbia, while the film script has been under way.
The book „Making Waves in Serbia“ has been published in Serbia, by Dusan Masic.
| 1993 - the Annual Award of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) |
| 1998 - As chairman of ANEM and Radio B92's editor-in-chief, he shared the Olof Palme Memorial Fund's prize for professional journalism and promotion of international understanding with Viktor Ivancic, the chief editor of Croatian independent weekly Feral Tribune and Senad Pecanin, the editor-in-chief of Sarajevo's independent weekly Dani |
| 1999 - At the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting, he was proclaimed one of this year's hundred Global Leaders for Tomorrow, along with Veton Surroi, the publisher of Koha Dittore a daily newspaper in Kosovo, and Sasa Vucinic, director of the Prague-based Media Development Loan Fund, as representatives from the Yugoslav Region |
| 1999 - USC Annenberg School for Communication Dean's Award for Courage in Journalism |
| 1999 - the Social Justice Award from the US-based Children Uniting Nations |
| 1999 - The Ilaria Alpi Award, dedicated to the memory of Ilaria Alpi, a reporter of TG3 Rai killed in Mogadiscio under obscure circumstances |
| 2000 - the International Press Institute selected him one of the fifty World Press Freedom Heroes. |
| 2002 - Tolerance Award – by the Yugoslav Ministry of National and Ethnic Minorities, presented for contribution to tolerance in Yugoslavia within the past year. |
| 2004 – the City of Belgrade Award for Journalism in 2003. In the explanation, it is said that Veran Matic has been given the award because, as leader of a large team, he has fundamentally contributed to the preservation of the independent editorial concept of RTV B92. |
| 2009 - The Embassy of France in Serbia announces that the President of the Republic of France has decided on July 8, 2009, at the proposal of the Embassy, to award the highest French decoration, the Knight of the French Legion of Honor medal, to Mr. Veran Matic, the director and editor in chief of B92, in recognition for his persistent and ongoing fight for media freedom. |
| 2011 - Participant and one of the speakers, First OSCE South East Europe Media Conference. More here |
| 2011 - Award for Support for the Most Innovative Project of the Year for "Food for Enclaves". More here |
| 2011 - Hello Magazine's "Most Humane Personality in 2011" Award. More here |
| 2011 - Magazine The MEN has proclaimed Mr Matić the man of the year in the category SUPERHUMAN, for his contribution to the humanitarian campaign "The Battle for the Babies", with the rationale that Mr Matic "represents the symbol of the campaign for the salvation of the prematurely born babies and provision of the needed incubators for all the maternity wards in Serbia". |
| 2012 - Brand Leader of Year award. |
| 2012 - B92 Fund had been awarded with Golden Nike for the best commercial reportage within the campaign "Battle for the Babies" on the International Media and Reportage Festival Interfer in Apatin. According to the jury, this campaign had motivated many individuals and companies to take part in providing more than 200 incubators for the prematurely born babies for less than a year. |
| 2012 - Veran Matic won the Press Vitez Lifetime Achievement Award for his great contribution to the development of television and investigative reporting in Serbia. |
| 2013 - Veran Matic was awarded with the Sretenje Medal of honor of the third class, one of the highest national recognitions, "for carrying out social humanitarian campaign 'Battle for the Babies' that contributed to the general welfare of the citizens of the Republic of Serbia". |
| 2013 - Veran Matic was presented with Annual Award "Captain Misa Anastasijevic" in the category for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), for the campaigns Battle for the Babies, Battle for Maternity Wards and Battle for Emergency Center. |
| 2013 - Magazine The MEN has proclaimed Mr. Matic the man of the year in the category CSR activities, for the campaigns "Battle for the Babies" and "Battle for Maternity Wards". |
| 2014 - VIRTUS Special Award for the exquisite contribution to the development of philanthropy in Serbia |
| 2015 - Plaque of the Municipal Assembly of Svilajnac to Veran Matic, President of the Board of Directors of B92 Fund, for the accomplishments, especially for excellence in progressive initiatives, other activities and humanitarian campaigns |
| 2016 - Charter for oustanding contributuon of the State of Israel for exceptional contribution to Jewish community in Serbia and strengthening ties between Israel and Serbia |
| 2016 - Charter „Golden Network“ for the contribution to early detection of breast cancer with the use of mobile mammography unit all over Serbia, awarded by the Association for combating breast cancer Sombor, on the occasion of marking 15 years of the campaign ZDRAVKA |
RTV B92’s management and staff have received a number of prestigious international awards for their work over the last ten years. The list of these awards is available at: http://www.b92.net/about_us/awards.php
Co-editor of the book with Dejan Ilic:
Truths, Responsibilities, Reonciliations: The Example of Serbia (Dejan Ilic and Veran Matic, ed., [Beograd: Samizdat B92, 2000])
Co-author: Shaping the Network Society, prepared by Douglas Schuler and Peter Day – Chapter number 8, Civil networking in a hostile environment: Experiences in former Yugoslavia [17]
Veran Matic’s articles have appeared in The New York Times, The New York Book Review, The Wall Street Journal, Index on Censorship, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Le Monde, The Nation, and elsewhere.
The conferences Veran Matic has addressed include:
| Turbulent Europe: Conflict, Identity and Culture, EFTSC, London, July 1994; |
| Virtual Diplomacy: the Global Communications Revolution and Conflict Management, the US Institute for Peace, Washington, April 1997; |
| Lifeline Media: Protecting Civilians In Conflict, the International Centre for Humanitarian Reporting, Boston, April 1997; |
| News Traditions and Transitions, Freedom Forum European Media Forum, London, May 1997; |
| The Cantigny Conference Series: the Information Revolution and its Impact on the Foundations of National Power, McCormick Tribune Foundation and Center for Strategic & International Studies, September 1997; |
| Broadcasting to People in Conflicts, United States Institute of Peace and Voice of America, Washington, October 1997. |
| Future Architecture of Europe, organized by the Liberal, Democratic and Reformers' Group of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly in Baden Baden, Germany, January 23-24, 1999 |
| 1999 International Studies Association Annual Conference, Washington, D.C., February 1999. |