Ljiljana Smajlović

Ljiljana Smajlović (née: Ugrica) (born 1956 in Sarajevo, Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia) is a Serbian journalist and current editor-in-chief of "Politika" daily newspaper.

Early life

Ljiljana Ugrica was born into a middle class Serbian family from Sarajevo to mother Danica (nurse, and a ranked member of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA)) and father Mirko (member of JNA's civil service). After finishing high school in her hometown followed by a degree at University of Sarajevo's Faculty of Political Sciences, she received a scholarship for additional studies in Cleveland, Ohio, and then in a French lycee in Algeria.

Career in journalism

Smajlovic's first job was at Sarajevo's "Oslobođenje" daily where she gradually advanced to the post of political section editor and later Brussels correspondent. In 1992, after the breakout of war in Bosnia, she moved to Belgrade where she got a job at "Vreme" weekly magazine. In 1994, she received a fellowship from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and moved to United States for a year, continuing to write for "Vreme" as a foreign correspondent.

She specialized in international relations topics, developing an esteemed reputation, which led to Slavko Ćuruvija offering her a job as foreign editor at his upstart bi-weekly magazine "Evropljanin" in 1998.

Following the tragic end to Ćuruvija's life, "Evropljanin" ceased publication forcing Smajlovic and other journalist to look for work. She got a job at "NIN" initially as the Hague Tribunal commentator and later as weekly columnist.

In October 2005 Smajlović became editor-in-chief at "Politika" daily, replacing Milan Mišić. She is the first woman in the esteemed newspaper's century-long history to hold that job.

On January 21, 2006, she wrote an opinion piece for "LA Times" criticizing both the NATO and the Serbian government for failing to arrest Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, respectively. [http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-smajlovic21jan21,1,6442443.story?ctrack=1&cset=true]

Since September 2007, Smajlovic is a panelist on the weekly current-events discussion programme called "U mnoštvu dokaza" on TV Avala.

Other endeavours

Smajlovic consulted for International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) Serbia media project. This American NGO focuses on independent media, initiatives for women, support for US scholars, and local alumni programming.

Personal

She was married to a man of Bosniak ethnicity with whom she has a son.

External links

* [http://www.irex.org/europe/serbia.asp IREX in Serbia]