Who Is Jelena Obućina

Jelena Obućina is a Serbian journalist, editor and television host. She was born on 30 August 1982 in Bajina Bašta and grew up and went to school in Valjevo. She has been involved in journalism since her school days, and she built her professional career at B92 and RTS, where she edited “Dnevnik 3”.

She gained wider fame as the editor and host of the show “Pregled dana”, produced by Newsmax Adria. She is known for her signature editorials: ironic, sharp and easy to remember commentaries on the events of the day. They have earned her several awards, but also made her a target of tabloids and threats.

This biography follows her path from a children’s radio show in Bajina Bašta to one of the best-known journalistic faces in Serbia. It also explains why Jelena Obućina is so often mentioned in debates about media freedom.

Early Life and Childhood

Jelena Obućina was born on 30 August 1982 in Bajina Bašta.

According to one biographical profile, the family soon moved from the Tara area to Valjevo, where Jelena completed primary and secondary school.

She showed an interest in public affairs very early. In one interview she said that at the age of nine she was already “preparing the news” as a game. Listening to her parents talk about political developments, she began to take an interest in social issues.

Education

She finished secondary school at the Gymnasium in Valjevo. She then enrolled at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade. That choice fit her early interest in politics and the media.

She began her studies as a young journalist who already had radio and newspaper experience, and she started working professionally in the media while still studying.

Early Career

She started working as a journalist unusually early. At twelve she hosted a children’s show on the local Radio Patak. At fifteen she began writing for the Valjevo newspaper “Napred”.

As a student she got a chance to work at B92 television, one of the leading newsrooms in Belgrade at the time. According to one biographical profile, about thirty candidates applied for two positions, and she was one of the two selected.

She then moved to Radio Television of Serbia. There she first produced reports for “Dnevnik 2”, and later became the editor of “Dnevnik 3”.

During those years she also became the first participant in “Kolubarin upitnik”, a local column in which well-known people from Valjevo are profiled.

Career at RTS: “Dnevnik 3” and the Show “Oko”

She spent about fifteen years at the public broadcaster. She was part of the news team, the editor and host of “Dnevnik 3”, and she also worked on the news show “Oko”.

As editor of “Dnevnik 3” she tried to keep the program from becoming formulaic. The jury of the Journalists’ Association of Serbia later said she made her mark through a serious approach, unconventionality and unpredictability. By her own account, the jury essentially noticed that “Treći dnevnik” differed from the others because it did not bow to protocol and used irony.

In a 2016 interview she said that working in a state-influenced medium is far harder than working in a private one. She described journalism as a profession that concerns everyone, and spoke critically of older colleagues who agreed to be “pawns”. According to one source, after maternity leave she also worked in RTS’s documentary program. She left the public broadcaster in 2020.

Tabloid Attacks After the Savamala Report

In 2016 Jelena Obućina became a target of the tabloids for the first time. The trigger was a “Dnevnik 3” report on a protest held in Belgrade on 11 May over the demolition of buildings in Savamala.

The editor of the tabloid “Informer”, Dragan J. Vučićević, insulted her in his newspaper, on Twitter and on Pink television. In response, the daily Danas published a piece in support of the journalist, and the portal Cenzolovka covered the case as well.

Not long afterward the Journalists’ Association of Serbia gave her the “Dimitrije Davidović” award for editing. The rationale highlighted how she edited “Dnevnik 3” during 2016.

Move to Newsmax Adria and the Show “Pregled dana”

After leaving RTS she joined a new news program from United Media. The first show produced by Newsmax Adria, “Pregled dana”, began airing on 22 June on the Nova S channel. It was hosted by Jelena Obućina and Goran Dimitrijević, and the program’s director was the journalist and editor Slobodan Georgiev.

The idea of the show was to offer viewers, alongside other news programs, a selection of important events placed in their social and political context. In a conversation with N1, Obućina said that people need language they understand and a clear stance. That is why, she noted, the editorials of “Pregled dana” were well received.

Today she edits and hosts the news show “Dnevnik” on Nova S television. Her introductions and commentaries regularly circulate on social networks and are picked up by other media.

Signature Editorials and the Book “O njima zbog nas”

The editorials she writes and delivers have become her trademark. The jury of the daily Danas described them as subtle analyses of events and phenomena, a kind of satirical essay that spreads across social networks like a good virus.

One of them is remembered for its unusual staging. After saying “good evening”, she stayed silent for about fifteen seconds, and then reminded viewers of events that society stays quiet about. In a conversation with N1 she explained that the idea came logically: how do you convey silence on television, if not with silence.

She collected selected editorials in the book “O njima zbog nas”, published by Dan Graf. The book went on sale in 2022, during the pre-election silence period. The author said then that the date was well chosen, because when everyone else is silent, they talk. Because of public interest a second edition was released, and the book was presented in Belgrade and in Valjevo.

Threats and the Media Campaign Against the Journalist

After her introduction to the 29 November 2022 broadcast, the tabloid “Alo” and then “Informer” reported that the journalist had threatened President Aleksandar Vučić. According to a statement from the Journalists’ Association of Serbia and the Coalition for Media Freedom, she had said, in a colloquial sense, that the president would “bury himself” if he did not “come to his senses” on Kosovo and Metohija and on sanctions against Russia.

The journalists’ associations judged that her words had been twisted and that she had been exposed to danger as a result. After those reports she received threats, and the associations demanded an urgent response from the police and the prosecutor’s office. Obućina reported the threats to the competent authorities through the mechanism for the protection of journalists.

In a later conversation with the portal Vreme she spoke about the campaign waged against her by Pink, Nebojša Krstić and Dragan J. Vučićević. She also said that the comparison with Mile Štula, a former RTS presenter, was first put forward by Krstić.

Earlier, in September 2021, tabloids published photographs of her encounter with Dragan Đilas, the leader of the Freedom and Justice Party. She told N1 that it was a chance meeting while she was out walking with her child.

Biggest Achievements

• editing and hosting “Dnevnik 3” on RTS, for which she received the “Dimitrije Davidović” award;
• launching the show “Pregled dana” on Nova S television together with Goran Dimitrijević;
• the “Stanislav Staša Marinković” award from the daily Danas for 2021;
• the “Dobar primer Novog optimizma” (“Good Example of New Optimism”) recognition, named after Dušan Mitrović;
• the book “O njima zbog nas”, which has gone into a second edition.

Personal Life

Jelena Obućina largely keeps her private life away from the public. In interviews she has rarely spoken about her family, and the only thing known is that she is the mother of one child.

She spoke earlier to Gloria magazine about fashion and said she has no style icons in the classic sense. Details about her partner and family are not publicly known, so this biography does not mention them.

Interesting Facts

• At twelve she hosted a children’s show on Radio Patak, and at fifteen she began writing for the newspaper “Napred”.
• She was the first participant in “Kolubarin upitnik”.
• One of her best-known editorials opens with fifteen seconds of silence.
• One of the frequently quoted lines from her editorials is “We are watching sheep being sheared, and we are the sheep”.
• She resigned from the board of the Journalists’ Association of Serbia and left its membership after that association’s public call to journalists at N1, Nova S and Nova.rs.

Awards and Recognition

• Dimitrije Davidović – award of the Journalists’ Association of Serbia for editing, for 2016.
• Stanislav Staša Marinković – award of the daily Danas on the occasion of its anniversary, 9 June 2021, for her authorial approach to hosting and editing “Pregled dana”.
• Dobar primer Novog optimizma (“Good Example of New Optimism”) – recognition from the New Optimism Movement for 2021, named after Dušan Mitrović, one of the founders of Danas.

Legacy and Influence

The jury of the daily Danas judged that Obućina raised commentary and interview, as traditional journalistic genres, to a higher level and gave a new face to Serbian journalism. In their words, she defends the honor and meaning of the profession.

Her influence is also visible in how the television introduction has become a recognizable format that is retold and shared beyond the show itself. At the same time, her case is often cited as an example of the pressure to which journalists in Serbia are exposed.

For that reason Jelena Obućina is today regarded as one of the most recognizable journalistic voices of the critical public.