Started on October 19, 1990 by journalist Milka Tadić Mijović, media publisher Miodrag Perović and businessman Stanislav Koprivica, the magazine appeared at a time when the single-party political system in SFR Yugoslavia had been abolished and its constituent republics were preparing for parliamentary elections with multiple parties.
The Socialist Republic of Montenegro was ruled by the Yugoslav Communist League's (SKJ) Montenegrin branch (SKCG); more specifically the triumvirate of Momir Bulatović, Milo Đukanović, and Svetozar Marović[1] who were swept into power the previous year during the anti-bureaucratic revolution, an administrative putsch within Montenegrin Communist League initiated by Slobodan Milošević and carried out with the great deal of help from the state security apparatus that he had gained control of by this time.
Since Koprivica also generously financed the Liberal Alliance of Montenegro (LSCG) and Social Democratic Party (SDP), Monitor was in essence another arm of the same political front.
Somewhat similar in tone and political stance to other newly-launched liberal publications throughout Yugoslavia such as Belgrade's Vreme or Split's Feral Tribune, Monitor was also critical of the rising nationalism across the country, especially of the Slobodan Milošević-led authorities in SR Serbia.
Although George Soros already had a prominent part in Monitor's financing through the local branch of his newly founded Open Society Institute network, this affiliation became even more pronounced after Koprivica left.