Euronews Serbia reveals what Brent Sadler wrote in reports on N1’s operations

Eleven years ago, Sadler was among the key figures responsible for launching N1 television in Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. As Chairman of the N1 Editorial Board, he drafted editorial guidelines, submitted operational reports, appointed key editors, and maintained CNN standards. However, after several years he stepped down , ue to internal turbulence and conflicts with Dragan Solak, one of the co-owners of United Media.

The newsroom of Euronews Serbia had access to Sadler’s reports, which state that Dragan Solak actively participated in editorial board meetings, that N1 was used to conduct campaigns serving Solak’s economic interests - for example, in the case of the Belgrade Golf Club, and that the “Harding Report” mysteriously disappeared.

“Under the Luxembourg licensing structure, the N1 Editorial Board must be the responsible body for all broadcasting and editorial policy matters at N1. In reality, however, this was not the case. Instead, the Luxembourg Editorial Board largely served as a pro forma entity, lacking clearly defined and transparent rules and functions for professional editorial governance,” Sadler wrote in his January 2018 report.

"Interests of the group or its shareholders frequently permeated N1’s reporting"

“Shortly after N1 was launched, United Group Chairman Dragan Solak began regularly attending and actively participating in editorial board meetings. The CEO of United Media and N1, Aleksandra Subotic, was also present. Although Sadler chaired the N1 board meetings, it became obvious to all participants that DS (Dragan Solak) held the real power over the editorial board.”

The report further states that, “in other instances”, Solak “called news directors to account for what he described as their editorial shortcomings, particularly if the reporting could harm United Group’s interests.”

“According to the report, he behaved arrogantly, offensively, and in a threatening manner toward two news directors on at least two occasions. In one particularly severe reprimand, lasting more than 20 minutes, the N1 Belgrade director was accused of damaging UG’s interests.”

It is further stated that “N1 and United Media CEO Aleksandra Subotic frequently sent warnings to news directors to ‘pay attention’ to the group’s statements. Although no one was formally obliged to publish them on N1, such instructions were always followed.”

The report adds that the interests of the group or its shareholders frequently permeated N1’s reporting.

“For example, on September 27, 2018, Aleksandra Subotic instructed N1 Belgrade news director Jugoslav Cosic to arrange contact between an N1 journalist and United Group’s General Counsel, Steve Leroy. She instructed that the journalist ask Leroy two specific questions. Cosic subsequently ensured that the story was aired on N1, including Leroy’s statement addressing the requested questions.”

“Sadler found that resolving such issues was not always possible, and certainly not without difficulty. In attempting to explain why standards exist and why they must be upheld, N1 CEO Aleksandra Subotic, who is not a journalist, consistently failed to understand that N1 must avoid crossing the line between commercial interests and journalism,” the report states.

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It also notes that “Subotic frequently complained about the ‘laziness’ of the Belgrade news director,” yet “no measures were taken to improve the situation, despite Sadler’s repeated appeals.”

The report further states that James Harding of the BBC held numerous meetings in the region, accompanied by Keith Blackmore (former BBC editor-in-chief) and Brent Sadler of N1. The Chairman of United Group had previously instructed Sadler to ensure full transparency on N1’s part.

“Before his report was presented, United Group Vice President for Corporate Affairs Dragica Pilipovic Chaffey told Harding during a dinner in Belgrade that she had previously conducted a campaign through N1 to pressure local authorities to withdraw from a dispute concerning the future of the Belgrade Golf Club, in which DS (Dragan Solak) had an interest. Harding later said he was surprised she mentioned this, as it was a clear example of interference in N1’s editorial policy. Later, after Harding had left the region, Chaffey contacted Sadler and asked whether she could access a draft of Harding’s report to ensure it would not be unfavorable to DS,” the report states.

According to the report, Solak organized a meeting with N1’s top executives without Sadler’s knowledge.

“DS invited N1 Belgrade News Director Jugoslav Cosic and his executive producer Igor Bozic to travel to Slovenia for a meeting with him and N1 CEO Aleksandra Subotic. Sadler was not informed of the meeting in advance. When he learned about it, he requested to attend. Solak described the meeting as ‘mentoring’ and ‘parental,’ but in reality it was editorial in nature and entirely under DS’s control, as N1’s owner.” From that moment on, Sadler began to accept that internal reform at N1 was impossible without a change in the governance system.

“The Harding Report”

In July 2018, a benchmarking report on N1 commissioned by KKR was conducted, with Sadler fully participating alongside James Harding, former Head of BBC News. Prior to the formal presentation, Harding gave Sadler an exclusively oral overview of the main findings and recommendations of his benchmarking report during an in-person meeting in London, which he said had been previously approved by Ludo Bammens of KKR.

According to the oral briefing provided to Sadler, the key recommendations were as follows:

The creation of a new position of Editorial Director, with executive responsibility for all three centers (Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina), based in Luxembourg. The Director would have to be a journalist with a proven career in top-tier news journalism. Harding proposed that Sadler assume the role.

Sadler said he would consider it, provided the report was taken seriously, but only on a short-term basis, perhaps six to twelve months, to leave N1 with an editorial structure capable of withstanding independent scrutiny.

The Editorial Director would have a team of two analysts, with political or media experience in the region, to monitor N1’s content. Candidates could include individuals already working in embassies or international institutions.

A newly established independent Editorial Board composed of respected professionals - former editors from the BBC, Reuters, Sky News, and similar media organizations.

The new Editorial Director would also serve as Chairman of the N1 Editorial Board and report directly and personally to United Group.

The new structure would enable transparent distancing of news directors from direct shareholder influence, thereby protecting editorial independence within United Group.

The N1 CEO (Aleksandra Subotic), who is also a United Group board member, would no longer chair daily editorial meetings and should withdraw from direct involvement in news operations. However, she would remain a member of the N1 Editorial Board.

Harding stated that he wished to maintain a reasonable balance at N1 through a new division of responsibilities that would enhance the channel’s performance. Sadler agreed.

“One of the most difficult issues presented to Harding came from Sarajevo, where the News Director (Amir Zukic) stated that he had been under pressure to follow instructions from Dragan Solak (DS) regarding reporting practices and that he had allegedly been subjected to unfair mistreatment and harassment by Chairman Solak and CEO Subotic.

He also stated that his livelihood had been threatened when, during a dinner following an editorial board meeting, Solak told all news directors that they should be careful in their work, as their families might suffer, if they were dismissed and lost their income.

Later, Harding and his colleague Keith Blackmore told Sadler they were shocked by what they had heard and that, if the director were ever to speak publicly, it could have a very negative impact on the sale of United Group.

Harding assured shareholders that his findings would be transparent and publicly released.

However, six months passed after the report was first presented - Sadler never saw it, and despite written assurances, Harding’s report was suppressed,” the report states.

The full report is available at this link.

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