Serbia Seen by State Media

Red-and-Black Pluralism

A part of the public in Serbia which forms its understanding of life on the basis of the image of the world presented to it by central public media (and this is the majority of the population of the Republic) is almost convinced that the opposition does not exist in Serbia any more. In the new strategy of the state media in presenting activities of political parties, the opposition parties appear in state media only when they express support to the moves of the regime, while everything else is ignored.

AIM Podgorica, 23 February, 1999 (By AIM correspondent from Belgrade)

"The only political pluralism presented by state media is red-and-black pluralism", says Jovanka Matic, commenting on results of a recently completed investigation titled "Post-Election Picture of Political Life of Serbia in State Media" published as part of the publication called "The Absent Parties". In the analysed period, reporters of state radio and television (RTS) have not once reported about any activity, action or stand of any non-parliamentary party, but not even of the four parliamentary parties, except for the ruling coalition and the "constructive opposition" - Serb Revival Movement (SPO).

The mentioned investigation made for the Centre of Free Elections and Democracy (CESID) by Snjezana Milivojevic (analysis of RTS), Jovanka Matic (analysis of Radio Beograd) and Mirjana Todorovic (analysis of Politika and Borba), was aimed at establishing how the most prominent political protagonists are presented in central news programs, columns of state media, in other words what is the media picture like of the life in Serbia formed by state media in a normal period of time, not influenced by proximity of elections.

The investigation took place in the period from establishment of the new government of Serbia on 24 March, 1998, until Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic reached the agreement with American envoy Richard Holbrooke on Kosovo, on 13 October last year.

Black-and-White World

The television picture of the political scene is less and less constructed on challenging and opposing, and more and more on exclusion, Snjezana Milivojevic concludes in the analysis of the central news program of RTS and adds that everything that is different is neither mentioned nor tolerated, and a joint standpoint which is presented as the only one is also promoted into a "general" one. According to her opinion, this strategy is comparatively new on state television and it corresponds to political reality established by formation of the "government of national unity". The government is presented as the institution formed by all the parties which had won significant support in the elections.

Those who could not overcome their "selfish" narrow party interests did not take part in the coalition government: "Every interest different from the interest of the ruling coalition is pictured not only as contrary to the interest of the ruling coalition, but also contrary to general national and state interest. For the sake of that sublime interest, parties of the coalition have managed to overcome their mutual so often stressed ideological differences", says Snjezana Milivojevic.

For RTS, the authorities are always successful and all their activities are described in the affirmative. Not a single act of state administration is ever criticised, questioned, nor are there any problems, Milivojevic concludes and adds that "at the same time, the authorities are notably 'depoliticised' by insisting on presenting their routine operation". In TV contributions, the economy is always successful, plans are encouraging.

The analysis shows that the crisis of Kosovo is the centre of political life and the paradigm od its presentation. Although it is a crisis, an excess, an exception, the problem of Kosovo is at the same time a "normal", current, everyday event for RTS. State television demystifies the conflict by introducing at the same time the speech of crisis and the logic of the normal and everyday. "All dimensions of treatment of the issue of Kosovo indicate that this is not a political issue ("an issue that concerns the state, not political parties"), and the openly non-political treatment points out to a nationalistic code in formation of the Kosovo crisis", Milivojevic estimates illustrating it by the fact that in the observed period, not a single Kosovo Albanian political protagonist has ever been presented, interpreted or quoted in contributions on Kosovo.

An interesting finding of the investigation is that the Yugoslav Left (JUL) enjoys the most preferential treatment of RTS. Almost one quarter of the total time devoted to the coalition in power belongs to it, much more than to the Serb Radical Party (SRS) although this does not correspond to the election results. JUL is the only party whose internal party topics and activities are considered to be a significal social event - its first party convention, visit of its president (wife of Slobodan Milosevic) to China. These are always affirmative declarations about great accomplishments and significant political engagement through which this party constructs a positive image of itself.

Nobody Like the Radio

"The picture of political life in Serbia produced by Radio Belgrade (the investigated sample was the program called "Novosti dana" - News of the Day) in the postelection period is the image of a community without conflicts", assesses Jovanka Matic and adds that in interpretation of Radio Beograd, the new relation of political forces after 1997 elections has brought Serbia "final denouement of internal political conflicts which have shaken it from the very beginning of its pluralist era. The main characteristic of political life after formation of the coalition government (SPS-JUL-SRS), according to this interpretation "is unity of political will of the citizens of Serbia in defence of state and national interests. All political protagonists have the same view of the causes and solutions of the crisis of Kosovo, the priority problem which the community is faced with. An expression of collective homogeneity is mass support to the authorities which are competently ruling the country in complex international circumstances. It is incessantly insisted on the fact that the fact that the nation is threatened demands national unity, and priority of state interest over every individual and party interest".

And while the ruling state elite was ensured full access to the public via Radio Beograd, it was completely blocked for its opponents, and their ideas and arguments were additionally negatively qualified.

The predominant political party in programs of Radio Beograd is the Socialist Party of Serbia with 57 per cent of the total time devoted to political parties. This party was also given preference in reports - 85 per cent of the total live addresses of party leaders to the public belongs to the heads of the SPS. In comparison with SPS, activities of JUL were devoted twice less attention - 29 per cent of the time devoted to parties, it is stated in the investigation results.

President of the main board of JUL Mira Markovic is the only political leader except Milosevic who is always spoken of in the expressedly affirmative tones. While SPS is markedly presented as the state party, the stress in the image of JUL is on its ideological orientation. The youngest coalition partner - the Radicals are almost equally treated as the Serb Revival Movement (SPO), both in the sense of the time given to reports on them and in the sense that they are used only as instruments to express support to activities of the authorities.

The investigation shows that in the eight-month sample of radio programs, among 225 contributions there has not been a single one in which there was an alternative or critical opinion of the official formulation of social developments. Almost 80 per cent of politically relevant information contain presentation of events which directly assert state policy.

"In 'Novosti dana' program of Radio Beograd, the conflict in Kosovo is the most predominant and and everyday topic. More than one third of the entire part of the program devoted to social issues (39 per cent) is linked to Kosovo. Journalists' interpretations of the Kosovo crisis, its causes and solutions, which prevailed in this radio station's program asserted the official and the populist perspectives of the conflict", says Jovanka Matic. According to her evaluation, in both terrorism of Albanian separatists is observed as a form of crime of "classical violence", outside the context of social and political circumstances that produced it. Removed from its social background and defined as a general world phenomenon ("international evil") terrorism is completely depoliticised in these views. Both interpretations had basically the same platform for solving the crisis: first break of the resistance of the terrorists, then negotiations without foreign interference. On the other hand, alternative views of Kosovo terrorism advocated by some opposition parties and nongovernmental organizations have never been presented because they questioned the whole state strategy insisting on political changes and institutional solving of problems of terrorism.

According to findings of the investigation, the other party in the conflict, exactly as on television, was not given the possibility to state its arguments. The whole Kosovo Albanian ethnic movement was identified with terrorism.

SPS or JUL - That is the Question

Investigation of writing of Politila and Borba ("Two dailies which are openly and without reservation devoted and loyal to the regime", as investigator Mirjana Todorovic assesses), shows that both media distinguish themselves by extreme bias in informing, both by the number of contributions about political parties and by the manner of presenting information on their activities. Data on representation of individual political parties in both media show an expressed advantage given to parties of the left, SPS and JUL. In Politika, SPS ranks first with 45 articles, or 48 per cent of the total area devoted to party activities. JUL ranks second with 33 contributions, or 38 per cent. Remaining 14 per cent are reserved for other political parties, including the coalition SRS.

Borba, contrary to Politika gives absolute priority to JUL which out of the total of 82 contributions on activities of political parties had 40 per cent. Other parliamentary and nonparliamentary parties are also almost completely ignored by this daily. The only difference between the two journals was in the choice of their favourites between the two parties of the left: Politika gave priority to SPS and Borba to JUL. Mirjana Todorovic warns that if political indoctrination of this type ("state interest is the interest of all citizens, above every individual or party interest") continues, citizens in Serbia will remain subjects who will have nothing and nobody to choose from.

Vesna Bjekic

(AIM)