Saša Vučinić is a

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and is the co-founder of North Base Media VC, and co-founder and former CEO and Managing Director of the Media Development Loan Fund.

Early life and education

Vučinić graduated with a degree in international law from the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

in 1985 and attended the General Manager Program at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

in 2000. In 2003, he attended the Private Equity Executive Education Course at

Career

Non, B-92, and Soros

Vučinić began his journalistic career in 1979 as a member of the staff of the Belgrade political newsweekly ''Non''. He became editor-in-chief of ''Non'' in 1989. In 1990, he was named editor-in-chief and general manager of B-92, a Serbian radio station. From April 1990 to April 1993, Vučinić was the general manager and editor-in-chief of Radio B92 in Belgrade, one of the few independent news outlets that operated in Yugoslavia during Slobodan Milošević's regime. He established B92 as a legal entity and was its first CEO. From April 1993 to May 1995, Vučinić worked as a media consultant for the Soros Foundation Network in Prague.

MDIF (previously MDLF)

In 1995, with seed money from George Soros's

Open Society Institute Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is an American grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the s ...

, Vučinić and the late Washington Post journalist Stuart Auerbach formed the

Media Development Investment Fund Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF), formerly Media Development Loan Fund, is a New York-registered non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and mission-driven investment fund that provides low-cost financing to independent news and information bus ...

(MDIF), an international non-profit organization based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

with the goal of establishing a fund to provide loans to independent press organizations in new democracies with histories of government oppression of the media. In July 2005, Vučinić recorded a TED talk in Oxford, UK, in which he noted that 83% of the people in the world live in countries without independent press and thus don't know what's really going on in their homelands. The “information” they receive is twisted and colored, and as a result they “are deprived of understanding their reality.” On May 4, 2006, Bruno Giussani of TED reported that Vučinić's idea had become a reality: “for the first time a social cause will be listed on a major stock exchange.” He explained that the MDLF, the Swiss bank Vontobel, and a Zurich firm, responsAbility, were jointly introducing “a security that mobilises private investment to support a free press – basically a bond with a social element.” By 2012, MDLF had made over $100 million in loans to newspapers, magazines, radio stations and websites around the world, funding over 200 projects in 30 countries; by the same year, over 36 million people in the developing world were getting their news from media financed by MDLF. Vučinić served as the CEO and Managing Director of MDLF until 31 March 2011, when he stepped down and was succeeded by Harlan Mandel, his deputy managing director for the previous 13 years. MDLF changed its name to the Media Development Investment Fund in 2013.

IndieVoices

Vučinić founded IndieVoices, a crowdfunding portal that raises funds for independent media, mostly in the developing world.

V Media Ventures

Vučinić is the founder and CEO of V Media Ventures, which was established in April 2011 in Singapore. It is “a boutique idea and project generator and incubator, operating in the field of independent media. It also serves as a boutique media management and media investment advisory firm.”

Publications

His book ''Evropa za nas'', written with Ljiljana Biuković and Miodrag Pepić, was published by Triangle Press in 1989.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vucinic, Sasa Serbian journalists Serbian human rights activists Living people Harvard Business School alumni University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni Serbian male journalists Year of birth missing (living people)