Serbia RTS Director Manja Grcic Resigns Amid Calls for Media Change

October 29, 2026

Bold Voices

29 October 2026
Curated by the team of Boldvoices

Manja Grčić has resigned as director-general of Serbia’s public broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), following mounting pressure for changes at the broadcaster after a student-led opposition list’s strong showing in the parliamentary election. RTS reported that she submitted her resignation to the broadcaster’s Managing Board on Wednesday, 28 October.

Why she stepped down

In her resignation statement, Grčić said she did not want her continued presence in the role—even temporarily—to be perceived by parts of the public as an obstacle to change or to cause further mistrust and division. She asked the Managing Board to take the necessary steps for continuity of leadership and a lawful handover.

Her departure followed calls from RTS staff, media unions and representatives of the Student List for changes in the broadcaster’s management and news leadership. Critics have accused Serbia’s public media of providing unbalanced coverage, particularly of the student-led movement and its political opponents.

Election result and media scrutiny

Reuters reported on 29 October that Serbia’s electoral commission’s latest update gave the Student List 140 seats in the 250-seat parliament, compared with 104 for the Serbian Progressive Party associated with longtime leader Aleksandar Vučić. The result had not yet been finalised, and the process of forming a new government was still ahead.

Serbia’s media environment has been under scrutiny. Reporters Without Borders ranked the country 104th out of 180 in its 2026 World Press Freedom Index, while election-monitoring group Crta reported that national television coverage strongly favoured government representatives. These assessments provide context for the pressure on public broadcasting, but they do not by themselves establish the reasons for any individual editorial decision.

What happens next at RTS

The RTS Managing Board is responsible for the next steps in leadership continuity and the handover. Grčić said she was prepared to cooperate to ensure the transition was orderly and complied with the law. No permanent successor was identified in the reports cited here.

The resignation is a significant development for Serbia’s public broadcaster at a moment of political change. Whether it leads to broader changes in editorial independence and public trust will depend on the decisions of RTS’s governing bodies and the conduct of its news service in the coming weeks.