According to Andrija Klikovac, the leader of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) councilors in Podgorica, the Capital City’s budget allocates 2.8 million euros to Gradska TV, which only devotes 10% of its programming to local issues.

“Public funds are being wasted on faux analysts, privileges for family members of local officials, and journalists lacking even a college degree,” he stated on X.

He referred to findings from the Analysis of Local Topic Representation in Local Public Broadcaster Programs, conducted by the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services.

According to the agency, “the lowest percentage of content focused on local issues was recorded by TV Pljevlja (13%) and Gradska TV (10%).”

Radević: City TV was a political tool during Vuković’s era

Boban Radević, a councilor from Free Montenegro, responded to Klikovac’s claims, asserting that during Ivan Vuković’s (DPS) leadership, Gradska TV was not a service for all citizens but a mechanism for “raw propaganda, political conflicts, and anti-Serbian rhetoric.”

“The station’s editorial stance was solely aimed at undermining the Serbian Orthodox Church, its bishops, and its believers, frequently hosting notable Serbo-phobes such as Nenad Čanak and Albin Kurti,” Radević stated.

He added that the station acted as a PR tool for Milo Đukanović and Ivan Vuković, using public resources to further their political agenda while silencing differing opinions through systematic neglect, attacks, or mockery.

“Their arrogance is highlighted by the fact that the official vehicle of Gradska TV made weekly trips to Sarajevo to fetch journalist Senad Pećanin, who hosted a show in Podgorica primarily focused on nationalist content, essentially attacking the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Serbian populace,” he remarked.

Radević emphasized that Podgorica’s citizens have not forgotten how Gradska TV “sought to sow division among the populace, target religion, identity, and tradition, all masked as purportedly ‘modern’ and ‘pro-European’ politics.”

“Today, we are tasked with liberating the media landscape from political influences and reshaping it into a platform for objective information, respect for diversity, and freedom of expression—values that were suppressed during Ivan Vuković’s governance,” Radević concluded.

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