The project of Practices of state advertising on premises under the scrutiny of public interest, which was implemented by PU „Local Press“ in the period from the beginning of September 2025 to the end of April 2026, in partnership with the Belgrade Open School and with the financial support of Sweden, is an in-depth monitoring of practices that are applied when it comes to state advertising.
The focus of the activity is on researching the way media advertising funds are allocated at the local level, as well as identifying potential abuses and lack of transparency.
The goal of the project is to contribute to the strengthening of the role of local independent media and civil society organizations in the protection of public interest, through the improvement of democratic supervision over the spending of budget funds. Special emphasis was placed on the harmonization of practices with European standards, primarily through the application of the recommendations of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), to Article 25.
As part of the project, research into the financial flows of state advertising was carried out, a comprehensive analysis and a set of recommendations for improving the legal and by-law framework were made. Also, an educational workshop was held for 5 female journalists in order to ensure wider support for the proposed reforms.
The implementation of the project is expected to strengthen the capacity of local media to monitor and report on public finances, improve the dialogue between the media, civil society and decision-makers, as well as create the basis for long-term reforms that will contribute to greater media pluralism and protection of the public interest.
The research included 8 local communities Bečej, Kruševac, Leskovac, Vlasotince, Kraljevo, Šabac, Obrenovac and Čajetina – with the aim of determining how funds are allocated for project co-financing and other forms of state advertising, but also to identify possible abuses, non-transparent practices and political influences on the distribution of budget funds.
Link to research in PDF document: State_Advertising_at_the_local_level
