To mark World Whistleblower Day 2022 WIN has released a new installment of our podcast
Whistleblowing Now and Then.
Joining this week’s episode are the founders of the Serbian whistleblowing platform
Pištaljka: Vladimir Radomirović and Dragana Matović.
In 2009, whilst working at Politika, Serbia's most respected daily newspaper, Dragana and Vladimir became whistleblowers. They reported censorship and conflicts of interest at the paper related to politicians at the highest level. They (and others) were fired, and it was this experience that inspired them to establish Pištaljka as a safe haven for whistleblowers in 2010.
WIN’s Executive Director, Anna Myers, sat down with Vladimir and Dragana to discuss how they went from whistleblowers to establishing their own whistleblowing platform. They talk openly about the challenges they faced, the journey to implementing whistleblower legislation in Serbia, the work they do to train judges and prosecutors on the law, and the relationship between whistleblowers and journalists.
Dragana describes how Pištaljka investigates disclosures brought by whistleblowers:
"... We use journalism and the law together to investigate the tips of whistleblowers - we never publish a story without [a] good investigation. So we often sacrifice exclusives, you know, as we are not chasing for the same sensations, we are doing our investigation very similar to the prosecutor’s investigation."
Listen to Whistleblowing Now and Then wherever you get your podcasts or on the Learn tab on our website.
Follow online using #WBnowandthen. WIN welcomes suggestions for future topics or guests – please write to info@whistleblowingnetwork.org.