The principal Yugoslav-level media companies wereBorba andTanjug.Borba published two daily newspapers,Borba andVečernje novosti.Borba was a daily broad-sheet, was well known as the official voice of the government, and in the early 1950s, it was the best-selling newspaper in Yugoslavia.[7] The second daily newspaper published by Borba was Večernje novosti, a well-edited evening paper. It was a modern tabloid with short news, human interest stories, big photos, well-written headlines, and many sports, city and regional reports. For a long period of time Večernje novosti had the largest circulation in Yugoslavia. OnlyVečernji list fromZagreb occasionally beat them.[7]
Večernje novosti was introduced on the stands on 16 October 1953, edited by Slobodan Glumac, who set the newspaper's tone for years to come. Housing an extensive network of journalists and contributors, the paper reported and commented on various issues and events according to its mantra:fast, brief and clear.
In the mid-1980s,Novosti got a big scoop by publishing the old files of the State Commission for War Crimes, which shed new light on Austrian presidentKurt Waldheim's involvement in war crimes duringWorld War II.[8] The file F-25572 dated 17 November 1947, whichNovosti published for the first time gave new details of Waldheim's whereabouts in Yugoslavia during the war.[9]
During theBosnian War,Večernje novosti published a war report supposedly from Bosnia illustrated withUroš Predić's 1888 painting (below) presented as an actual photograph (above) of a "Serbian boy whose whole family was killed byBosniaks". The original title of Predić's painting is "Siroče na majčinom grobu" (Orphan at mother's grave).[10]
According to the investigative journalist organisation KRIK,Večernje novosti published over 263 biased and unfounded articles in its newspaper in 2024.[12]
On 4 February 2006, retired basketball aceVlade Divac expressed his desire to invest inNovosti, perhaps even buy the majority stake, but decided to lie low until the paper's complex ownership structure disputes were resolved.[15][16] There was also an initial interest from two media conglomerates,WAZ-Mediengruppe andNorthcliffe Media, a division ofDaily Mail and General Trust in buying a stake in Večernje novosti.[17]
^Kurt Waldheim's Hidden Past: An Interim Report to the President, World Jewish Congress (Report). World Jewish Congress. 1986. p. 47....the Belgrade newspaper Vecernje Novosti (Evening News) was allowed to examine them and reported on them extensively in articles dated March 26 and 31, 1986 . Highlights of these accounts include... file F - 25572 of the Yugoslav archive...
