Mediacentar Sarajevo marks 150 years of modern press in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Mediacentar Sarajevo, a SEENPM member, is running a series of articles in March and April 2016 dedicated to 150 years since the start of the modern press in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The articles are available in Bosnian on the Mediacentar’s website www.media.ba .

The content published on the occasion of the jubilee comprises segments from books, texts describing the content of the first newspaper,archive material in possession of Mediacentar Sarajevo, and commentary by senior journalists.

150 years since the first newspaper in Bosnia and Herzegovina

First newspaper in Bosnia and Herzegovina was pressed 150 years ago. On April 7, 1866, the first issue of Bosanski Vjestnik appeared, marking the beginning of modern press in B&H. Only the first 25 issues of Bosanski Vjestnik were saved (all were digitalized in the archives of Mediacentar Sarajevo).

At the end of the Ottoman rule in Bosnia, in the period of the reforms of vilayet administration in 1866, the first modern press in this area was allowed to be opened.

The first press in Bosnia, owned by Božidar Ljubović – Goraždanin, was in 1529 in the church of Saint George near town of Goražde. It was shut down in 1531 and in the following 335 years there were no presses in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

After years of preparation, there was newspaper Bosanski Prijatelj in 1850 (printed on 140 pages) and it is considered to be the first Bosnian newspaper because, although pressed in Zagreb, its editor and authors were from the order od Bosnian Franciscans and all of the topics were almost exclusively about Bosnia, its people and events. There were total of four issues of Bosanski Prijatelj. The second issue was published in 1851 on 202 pages, the third in 1861 and the fourth in 1870.