Politika

Not to be confused with the Polish news magazine Polityka.

For other uses, see Politika (disambiguation).

Politika (Serbian Cyrillic: Политика, lit. 'Politics') is a Serbian daily newspaper, published in Belgrade. Founded in 1904^[1] by Vladislav F. Ribnikar, it is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in the Balkans.

Politika

Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Berliner
Owner(s)	Politika a.d. (50%) East Media Group (50%)
Founder(s)	Vladislav F. Ribnikar
Publisher	Politika novine i magazini d.o.o.
Editor	Marko Albunović
Founded	25 January [O.S. 12 January] 1904
Language	Serbian
Headquarters	Politika Square 1, Belgrade
Country	Serbia
Circulation	~45,000 (as of 2016)
ISSN	0350-4395
OCLC number	231040838
Website	www.politika.rs
Media of Serbia List of newspapers

Publishing and ownership

Politika is published by Politika novine i magazini (PNM), a joint venture between Politika a.d. and East Media Group.^[2][3] The current director of PNM is Mira Glišić Simić.^[4]

PNM also publishes:

• Sportski žurnal
• Politikin Zabavnik
• Svet kompjutera
• Ilustrovana Politika
• Bazar

History

Politika editor meeting President of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito in 1957

Since its launch in January 1904, Politika was published daily, except for several periods:

• Due to World War I, there were no issues from 14 November 1914 to 21 December 1914, and again from 23 September 1915 to 1 December 1919.
• Due to World War II, there were no issues from 6 April 1941 to 28 October 1944.
• In protest against the government's intentions to turn Politika into a state-owned enterprise, a single issue was not published in the summer of 1992.

The launch issue had only four pages and a circulation of 2,450 copies, and its record high circulation was the 25 December 1973 issue (634,000 copies).

Reporting during the Yugoslav Wars

Further information: Propaganda during the Yugoslav Wars

In the run-up to and during the breakup of Yugoslavia and the Yugoslav Wars, Politika was under the control of Slobodan Milošević and the League of Communists of Serbia and was used for political purposes. It was used to publish controversial things such as the "Vojko i Savle" article, as well as an information guide to show what was allegedly happening to the Serbs in other republics, together with the Radio Television of Serbia. It blamed the local Kosovo Albanians for sodomizing Đorđe Martinović, and published fabricated reader letters claiming that the Albanians were "raping hundreds of Serbian women". Before and during the Croatian War of Independence, it published opinions on how "blood may shed again" in Croatia because of World War II, published claims on how the Vatican funded Croatia to break up Yugoslavia. At the end of the Battle of Vukovar, it ran the fabricated story of the Vukovar children massacre.^[5][6][7][8] The article was however retracted with a statement published the following day.^[5]

After the Yugoslav Wars

According to the investigative journalist organisation KRIK, Politika published over 96 biased and unfounded articles in its newspaper in 2024.^[9]

Notable persons

Plaque dedicated to Ivo Andrić on the wall of Politika's headquarters in Belgrade

Editors

• Vladislav F. Ribnikar (1904–1915)
• Miomir Milenović and Jovan Tanović (1915–1941)
• Živorad Minović (1985–1991)
• Aleksandar Prlja (1991–1994)
• Boško Jakšić (1994)
• Dragan Hadži Antić (1994–2000)
• Vojin Partonić (2000–2001)
• Milan Mišić (2001–2005)
• Ljiljana Smajlović (2005–2008)
• Radmilo Kljajić (2008)
• Dragan Bujošević (2008–2013)
• Ljiljana Smajlović (2013–2016)
• Žarko Rakić (2016–2021)
• Marko Albunović (since 2021)

Associates

• Verica Rupar, journalist
• Hamza Humo, writer
• Ivo Andrić, writer
• Zija Dizdarević, journalist