For thirteen years, one satirical show mocked those in power in Serbia. Now it is gone, and the explanation is an accounting one.

Thousands took to the streets of Belgrade over the cancellation of "24 minuta", Zoran Kesic's programme. The protest was organised by journalists' associations, among them NUNS and UNS, with support from outlets including N1 and Nova.rs. The march passed the parliament building and the Presidency - two addresses chosen so the message would need no further explanation.

The official reason: 500,000 euros

The new owner of Nova S television, the Portuguese investment fund Alpac Capital, cited financial reasons. According to them, the programme cost over 500,000 euros a year for fewer than 30 hours of content. The figure is as accurate as it is indisputable - but on its own it does not explain why, after thirteen years, somebody suddenly reaches for a calculator over this particular show and not another.

Kesic believes the decision is political, with an argument that is hard to dismiss: humour reaches an audience the news does not. The show is announced to continue on YouTube from 19 September.

What was said in the square

"We have suffered too many defeats as a profession and as a society. We cannot accept it any more," said NUNS president Zeljko Bodrozic. Olivera Kovacevic of the UNS executive board was blunter: "A society that raises obedient propagandists instead of journalists has no future."

Actress Ceca Bojkovic asked whether the authorities really believe that shutting down one show will silence public discontent, adding that the country has changed fundamentally over the past 14 years.

An owner in Lisbon, the effect in Belgrade

There is a detail here worth noticing. The decision was not made by a ministry, a regulator or a court - it was made by a fund headquartered outside the country, on the basis of a cost spreadsheet. That is the purest version of modern censorship: nobody banned anything, the line item simply stopped paying for itself.

The question this sends back towards the region is uncomfortable precisely because it applies everywhere. When media pass into the hands of funds that look only at cost per hour of programming, who will finance the content that bothers those in power? For now the answer is YouTube - and that is not a solution, it is a temporary shelter.