Goran Milić

Goran Milić (born 24 January 1946) is a Croatian and Bosnian journalist and television personality. With a high-profile career spanning forty years, he's one of the most recognizable media personalities in the countries of former Yugoslavia.

From 2011 to 2016, Milić was the Al Jazeera Balkans news and program director.

Early life and education Born in Zagreb, PR Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia to Marko Milić from Slano and Marija Smodlaka from Dubrovnik), young Goran spent a couple of months in Prague at the age of six, joining his father who was part of the Yugoslav diplomatic staff in Czechoslovakia. In 1954, his father got reassigned to an observer post in the Council of Europe so the family moved to Strasbourg where young Goran attended primary school, grades two through six. Milić's father was an active participant and supporter of Croatian Spring. After a stint in England, Milić tried to apply for job in Belgrade once again, though he rather wished to pursue a career in maritime law.

Journalism career Radiotelevizija Beograd (RTB) In 1970, twenty-four-year-old Milić began his journalism career at the state-run Radio-Television Belgrade (RTB). Initially, the youngster learned the ropes under seasoned journalists Ranko Lozo, Nebojša Popović, and Velimir Popović. Milić also cites Momčilo Popović as an influence, specifically his style of summarizing news items in a catchy headline before expanding upon the topic. His first job consisted of travelling around Serbia and collecting feedback about the television programme. However, the project was shortly abandoned.

Milić returned from New York in 1985. During his time in the United States, Milić became a member of National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and was a part of the committee for News & Documentary Emmy Award for three years.

At Dnevnik 2, in addition to delivering the news, his Saturday newscasts also bore somewhat of a personal imprint with several thematic segments including one where he got to interview general interest guests. One of the most enduring moments of his time hosting Dnevnik was a live link into a 1987 Bijelo Dugme concert at Belgrade's Sajam, allowing the band to perform their "Pljuni i zapjevaj moja Jugoslavijo" song live for the large television audience.

In 1989, he covered the Kosovo miners' strike.

Side PR jobs Throughout Milić's time anchoring RTB's Dnevnik 2, his popularity and prominence got him various one-off high profile side jobs in public relations.

In fall 1985, upon returning from America, he got appointed to the executive committee of the city of Belgrade's bid to host the 1992 Summer Olympics. His work at the committee from late 1985 and throughout 1986 mostly entailed dealing with the bid's media presentation and publicity in foreign press and electronic media.

Milić was thus relegated to a series of lower profile jobs such as local TV productions in Umag as well as an 18-month columnist stint in Slovenian newsmagazine Mladina followed by writing for Marinko Božić's controversial right-wing weekly newspaper Slobodni tjednik. Within months, Milić got hired at Croatian Radio Television (HRT), the state-run broadcaster.

Back in big time: Hrvatska radiotelevizija (HRT) In 1997 Milić started at the state-run Croatian Radio Television (HRT) as a contractor.

In 2002 he got his own show on HRT called Brisani prostor.

From 2004 he worked as host and editor of the Sunday edition of Dnevnik, HRT's daily newscast. He has attracted attention for his travelogues from Europe, Russia, North America, Asia, Australia and South America. He is a speaker of multiple languages including English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Russian. He was named Best Journalist in Croatia in 2007.

He retired from HRT in early 2011, signing off his last Dnevnik on 23 January 2011.

2011–present Between 2020 and 2021, Milić was diagnosed with COVID-19, for which he was successfully treated in Dubrovnik.

Controversy Alleged extortion attempt In September 2003, Milić was accused by Formula One Management CEO Bernie Ecclestone of an extortion attempt: "That man, Goran Milić, rang me up several times over the last few months. He told me he wants to help me because things can go very badly for me, badly for me in Croatia, bad for my image. He didn't mention specific amounts, but it was obvious he's talking about money and absolutely obvious that it's extortion". In support of his claims Ecclestone showed two letters he received from Milić, dated March and June 2003, respectively. Reportedly, the financial compensation Milić was asking from Eccelstone had to do with HRT journalist Srebrenka Herold-Mijatović who on 20 July 2000 fell down a flight of stairs on Eccelstone's yacht named "Petara", being severely injured with a skull fracture. The yacht was docked in Bol on the island of Brač and Herold-Mijatović had reportedly been invited on board due to her husband Vlado Mijatović being friends with Ecclestone's then-wife Slavica Radić. In 1984 their daughter Lana Marija Milić was born. Katanić, already diagnosed with cancer since 1978, died in 1988. The two soon began dating, initially long distance as Milić lived in Belgrade where he anchored RTB's Dnevnik.