Male novine

“Male novine” is a daily newspaper which was published in Belgrade from April 4th 1888 to October 1903. There were breaks in 1900 and 1901. The printing house Medicijan i Kimpanovic was the first owner of the newspaper and Djordje Kimpanovic was the editor-in-chief. Since February 6th 1889 Pera Todorovic was the owner of the newspaper. He defined the profile of this newspaper, directed its development and made it into the first modern Serbian daily. When he bought “Male novine” he wanted to make a newspaper “which will at least be similar to the European newspapers”. He immediately declared that this newspaper would be for people with different opinions, i.e. it would be a non-party newspaper. He lowered the price to 5 coins and spread street selling which was the first time it appeared in Serbia. There are many reasons why “Male novine” was considered the first Serbian tabloid. One of them is the fact that Todorovic published various social scandals and the ordered attacks on certain people in the newspaper. “Male novine” had a daily circulation of 30 000 copies. This newspaper didn’t have political introductions but fresh news on the cover. It also contained the weather forecast, lottery reports, news from the local market, crime columns and a fun corner. This newspaper was the first in Serbia to publish classical feuilletons. In additon to that, the front cover had ads which enabled the owner to cover the blank page and to earn some extra money. “Male novine” (later published as “Stare Male novine” in 1901) was published by the end of Aleksandar Obrenovic’s rule even though they had many judicial prohibitions. For a short period of time it had two editions - a morning and evening edition. At that time its motto was: We serve to those who embrace freedom, seek truth, do justice, search for agreements, do as they say and serve to their fatherland and the Serbian thought. Pera Todorovic was considered the Obrenovic dynasty supporter. Due to his political views during the Obrenovic dynasty the newspaper was much benevolently perceived. The newspaper contained a lot of fun facts and special supplements such as “Hajdučija” which contained reports from the brigand inquest in Cacak, “Brsljan” which had literary and entertainment supplements, a special edition “Vracarac” dedicated to Aleksandar Obrenovic and the celebration of his 18th birthday. This newspaper is the first-class historical document, testimony to a certain period of time, customs and events but also to the beginning of the modern Serbian journalism.

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