{"id":4945,"date":"2015-09-24T20:46:00","date_gmt":"2015-09-24T20:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milic.rs\/eng\/novisajt\/?p=4945"},"modified":"2026-10-22T10:26:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T10:26:16","slug":"the-term-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.milic.rs\/eng\/blog\/the-term-media\/","title":{"rendered":"The Term \u201cMEDIA\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"4945\" class=\"elementor elementor-4945\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-29a047b elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"29a047b\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-7725572\" data-id=\"7725572\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a03bd68 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a03bd68\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><em>This text has been updated in line with the Law on Public Information and Media (\u201cOfficial Gazette of RS\u201d, Nos. 92\/2023 and 51\/2025).<\/em><\/p><p>Since the Law on Public Information and Media of 2014, the Serbian legislator has abandoned the term \u201cpublic outlet\u201d (javno glasilo) and introduced the term \u201cmedia\u201d as the central category of the public information system. This change in terminology reflected the modernisation of the legal framework and its adaptation to the digital environment, the development of the internet and new forms of content distribution.<\/p><p>The importance of the term \u201cmedia\u201d and its definition is manifold. Above all, a whole range of rights and obligations depends on it: editorial responsibility, the right of correction and reply, obligations of ownership transparency, limits on media concentration, protection of sources of information, advertising rules and the competences of regulatory bodies.<\/p><h2>Statutory definition of media<\/h2><p>Under the Law on Public Information and Media, public information is exercised through the media.<\/p><p>A medium is defined as a means of public information that, through words, images or sound, conveys editorially shaped information, ideas, opinions and other content intended for public distribution and an indefinite number of users.<\/p><p>Four key cumulative elements of the concept of media follow from this definition:<\/p><ul><li><strong>A means of public information<\/strong>: a technical or organisational channel for the distribution of content;<\/li><li><strong>Editorial shaping of content<\/strong>: editorial control, selection and structuring of information (which distinguishes media from platforms that merely enable the exchange of user content);<\/li><li><strong>Content in the form of information, ideas or opinions<\/strong>: a medium is not a mere advertising or commercial channel;<\/li><li><strong>Intended for public distribution and an indefinite number of persons<\/strong>: the content is not internal, closed or limited to a predetermined group.<\/li><\/ul><h2>What is considered media under the law<\/h2><p>The law expressly provides that media include, in particular:<\/p><ul><li>daily and periodical newspapers;<\/li><li>news agency services;<\/li><li>radio programmes;<\/li><li>television programmes;<\/li><li>electronic editions of these media;<\/li><li>independent electronic editions, i.e. editorially shaped websites or internet portals.<\/li><\/ul><p>The Media Register is kept by the Serbian Business Registers Agency. A medium may exist in fact if it meets the statutory criteria, but an unregistered medium cannot enjoy all the rights and benefits that the law attaches to registered media, such as co-financing of projects from public funds.<\/p><p>The main rules on the identity of a medium are the following:<\/p><ul><li>Each newspaper with a separate title is a separate medium.<\/li><li>All editions of one newspaper published under the same title are considered one medium.<\/li><li>A television programme, a radio programme and an independent electronic edition are separate media, even when they are published by the same publisher.<\/li><\/ul><p>This is of practical importance, among other things, for media concentration, ownership transparency and liability for content.<\/p><h2>What is NOT considered media (negative definition)<\/h2><p>The Law on Public Information and Media lists forms of publication that are not media, in particular:<\/p><ul><li>books;<\/li><li>films;<\/li><li>audio and audiovisual carriers;<\/li><li>scientific and professional journals intended primarily for informing or educating a particular professional group;<\/li><li>other printed publications that are not periodical newspapers;<\/li><li>catalogues containing exclusively notices, advertisements or information intended for the market;<\/li><li>bulletins and similar publications intended for internal information;<\/li><li>electronic publications of state authorities, public enterprises, institutions, companies, entrepreneurs and their associations;<\/li><li>official gazettes;<\/li><li>leaflets, posters and other promotional printed materials;<\/li><li>other publications within the meaning of the regulations on publishing;<\/li><li>internet search engines and aggregators.<\/li><\/ul><p>This delimitation is crucial, because it prevents every form of public content from being automatically brought under the regime of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.milic.rs\/eng\/media-and-entertainment-law\/\">media law<\/a>.<\/p><h2>Platforms, social networks, blogs and portals: why they are not media (as a rule)<\/h2><p>It is particularly significant that, as a rule, the following are not media:<\/p><ul><li>internet forums;<\/li><li>social networks;<\/li><li>other platforms that enable the free exchange of information, ideas and opinions among their users;<\/li><li>blogs, websites and similar electronic publications.<\/li><\/ul><p>The reason is simple: these platforms do not have editorially shaped content within the meaning of the law, but primarily serve as infrastructure for publishing user content.<\/p><p>However, this exclusion is not absolute.<\/p><p>If such a platform, blog or website is registered in the Media Register, it acquires the status of a medium, with all the rights and obligations that follow from it. The law therefore leaves room for choice: it does not prohibit media status, but makes it optional.<\/p><p>On the other hand, an editorially shaped internet portal may fall within the statutory definition of an independent electronic edition, and thus of a medium. Registration removes legal uncertainty and allows the full regime of the law to apply.<\/p><h2>Who can be a media publisher?<\/h2><p>A media publisher may be an entrepreneur or a legal entity, registered with the Serbian Business Registers Agency.<\/p><p>A legal entity that publishes media may be founded by any domestic or foreign natural or legal person, in accordance with the law, subject to the statutory restrictions on founding by public authorities and entities financed from public revenues.<\/p><p>This means that publisher status is not reserved for \u201ctraditional\u201d media houses, but is also open to startups, non-governmental organisations and even individuals who wish to institutionalise their media project as entrepreneurs.<\/p><h2>Practical legal consequences: why it matters whether you are a medium or not<\/h2><p>The choice between publishing content as a medium or outside the media regime has significant legal implications, in particular regarding:<\/p><ul><li><strong>Liability for content<\/strong>: media are subject to special rules (e.g. correction, reply, prohibition of hate speech, protection of minors);<\/li><li><strong>Protection of journalistic sources<\/strong>: a right typically linked to the media;<\/li><li><strong>Transparency of ownership and financing;<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Application of the rules on media concentration;<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Supervision and sanctions by the competent authorities;<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Position in court proceedings<\/strong> (e.g. for defamation or violation of honour and reputation).<\/li><\/ul><p>The question \u201cmedium or not\u201d is therefore far from theoretical: it essentially determines the legal regime under which one operates.<\/p><h2>The approach of the law<\/h2><p>The Law on Public Information and Media strikes a balance between freedom of expression and the need to regulate the media field through clear rules of liability. The definition of media is broad enough to cover contemporary forms of information, yet precise enough to exclude platforms that are not editorially shaped information channels.<\/p><p>For legal entities and individuals publishing content in the public space, the key question is not only what they publish, but also under which legal regime they do so. This raises, for example, the question of whether an internet portal should be registered as a medium or not.<\/p><p><em><strong>This text does not constitute legal advice and is for information purposes only, in accordance with the terms of use of this website.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This text has been updated in line with the Law on Public Information and Media (\u201cOfficial Gazette of RS\u201d, Nos. 92\/2023 and 51\/2025). Since the Law on Public Information and Media of 2014, the Serbian legislator has abandoned the term \u201cpublic outlet\u201d (javno glasilo) and introduced the term \u201cmedia\u201d as&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.milic.rs\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.milic.rs\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.milic.rs\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.milic.rs\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.milic.rs\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4945"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.milic.rs\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6137,"href":"https:\/\/www.milic.rs\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4945\/revisions\/6137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.milic.rs\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.milic.rs\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.milic.rs\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}