Adam

Adam Santovac

Television Journalist

Biography

Adam Santovac is a television journalist and documentary filmmaker from Serbia.

Since 2011, he has been working for several media outlets.

Santovac established himself as a journalist working as a news reporter for the 24-hour news cable channel N1 (CNN affiliate), and as a producer at the commercial cable television station Nova S.

Santovac covers daily politics, social issues, and human-interest stories, but the focus of his reporting is in-depth investigation of educational, healthcare, and environmental problems.

Since 2015, Santovac has produced nine documentaries and won nine awards. These awards include The Investigative Journalism Award on behalf of The Independent Journalists Association of Serbia for environmental documentary “The Tailing of Irresponsibility” and the European Union Investigative Journalism Award for documentary “The Super Graduate”. The latter is about the suspicious activity surrounding the Serbian Minister’s receipt of bachelor’s degree from the largest private university in Serbia.

Santovac expressed his interest in journalism at a very early age. When he was 11, he published his own children magazine “The Little Crocodile”.

Santovac graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s degree in cultural studies from the University of Belgrade. Santovac holds master’s degree in journalism from New York University.

Education

Political Science college, University of Belgrade

2022 – present

PhD student, Media and Communications program


New York University, New York

Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute

2020 – 2021

Fulbright Student, MA in Journalism, News and Documentary program


University of Arizona, Tucson

2020

Fulbright Student, Academic English program


International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP)

The U.S. Department of State’s professional exchange program

2014

“Insights on America: An Overview of U.S. Politics, Society, Culture and History”


Political Science college, University of Belgrade

2011 – 2013

MA in Cultural Studies


Political Science college, University of Belgrade

2007 – 2011

BA in Journalism


Primary music school “Slobodan Malbashki”, Kikinda

1996 – 2002

Piano department

Professional experience

News TV channel N1

2023 to present

Executive Producer


News TV channel N1

2022 to 2023

Documentary Filmmaker and Producer


Univeristy of Belgrade

2022 to present

Teaching assistent (Introduction to Journalism course)


Motto Pictures

September 2021 to November 2021

Intern


TV channel Nova S

2019 – 2022

Producer and correspondent


News TV channel N1

2014 – 2019

News Reporter


Radio S

2013 – 2014

News Presenter


TV Production group Network

2011 – 2013

Journalist

Documentaries

“Thorn in the Side” (2023)

N1’s documentary The Thorn in the Side asks if the Serbian authorities are using the Telekom Serbia company to deal with rival media outlets and how high the stakes are in the state-controlled company’s battle for market share with United Group’s SBB cable provider. Authors Adam Santovac and Maja Djuric also asked what kind of information is reaching the public.

 

“Frenemy” (2022)

What is hidden behind Serbian love for Russia? Heart or mind, myths or facts? Is Russia friend and brother to Serbia or are the two countries just a partners? The two part documentary answers those questions.

 

“Ana is here” (2022)

The documentary about Serbia, a conservative Balkan country with no LGBT rights is led by openly gay Prime Minister.

“The Super Graduate” (2019)

The documentary is about a potential corruption in the higher education system of Serbia as well as the suspicious activity surrounding the Serbian Minister’s receipt of bachelor’s degree from the largest private university in Serbia. The documentary won three awards.

“The Burden of a Gunpowder – a year later” (2018)

This documentary is a second part of a testimony of the family who lost a 25-year-old member during the explosion in a Serbian chemical manufacturing company, specialized for the defense industry. This personal tragedy opened a lot of questions about safety protocols in the government company.

“The Decade of  (Un)normalization” (2018)

The documentary is about everyday life of Kosovo Serbs 10 years after Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia.

“The Burden of a Gunpowder” (2017)

This is the first testimony of the family who lost a 25-year-old member during the explosion in a Serbian chemical manufacturing company specialized for the defense industry. This personal tragedy opened a lot of questions about safety protocols in the government company.

“Doctors” (2017)

The focus of this documentaryis plagiarism among PhD candidates who are established politicians. The documentary compares cases from Germany and Serbia in order to show the differences between two European countries in dealing with politicians accused of plagiarism affairs. Why is plagiarism widely accepted in Serbia?

“The Life in the Storm” (2016)

This awarded reportage from Belgrade tells a story about the Serbian family of refugees 20 years after they left their house in Croatia as a consequence of the military operation Storm during the Bosnian war.

“Waste for Energy” (2015)

This awarded environmental reportage reveals how waste can be used for production of electrical energy. How this process works in Vienna and how far from this environmental standard is Serbia?

“Sutorina – Whose Block is This?” (2015)

This reportage explains the Bosnian initiative to affiliate Sutorina, the area in Montenegro, which was a part of B&H until 1946.

“The Tailing of Irresponsibility” (2015)

This award-winning environmental documentary reveals the weakness and unconcern of the government to deal with a huge ecological catastrophe in the Western Serbia.

Awards

2022 – New York University Edwin Diamond Award for the documentary “Ana is Here

2020 – The European Union Investigative Journalism Award for the documentary “Mega diplomac/The Super Graduate

2020 – The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS) Investigative Jorunalism Award for the documentary “Mega diplomac/The Super Graduate”

2019 – The Serbia’s Association of Journalists (UNS) Special Recognition for the investigative journalism documentary “Mega diplomac/The Super Graduate”

2017 – The Award for TV Reportage “The Life in the Storm” at the 22nd International Festival of Reportage and Media INTERFER

2016 – The Media Award for Tolerance on behalf of the Commissioner for Protection of Equality in Serbia and OSCE

2015 – The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS) Investigative Jorunalism Award for the documentary “The Tailing of Irresponsibility

2015 – The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) Award for professional environmental journalism for the documentary “The Tailing of Irresponsibility

Affiliations and memberships

Independent Journalist Association of Serbia

2022 – present

Executive Board Member


Fulbright and Friends

2022 – present Member

Contact