deA Journal of MediaS in Southc Eastr Europei p No.03/04to 2008 ¤ 15,- Media Landscape Serbia in Transition

www.deScripto.info published by the South East Europe Media Organisation - SEEMO EDITORIAL

Letter from the Editor-in-Chief Letter from the Publisher Table of Contents imprint deScripto A Journal of Media in South East Europe Editorials ...... 2 Published quarterly E-mail: descriptoŸseemo.org Dear Readers! Dear Readers! www.deScripto.info Communications in the Age of Hypermodernity ...... 9 Editor in Chief Following the concept of deScripto, to deScripto is becoming better and better. Media Change - The Key of Social Change ...... 11 Thomas A. Bauer, University Professor Department of Communication/Faculty of Social Science, present the media landscape of countries in This is not only my impression as the University of Vienna Address: Schopenhauerstrasse 32, South East Europe, the media landscape in publisher, but also from the many positive A-1180 Vienna, Austria MEDIA LANDSCAPE: SERBIA Tel: +43 1 4277 48336 Serbia has to be observed through a special comments, letters and E-mails we received E-mail: thomas.bauerŸunivie.ac.at focus, which is “change”. Serbia in the last after the publication of the last number. Local Editorial Board, FMK couple of years has undergone a turn that The fact that we have started a cooperation Struggling with Funds and Interests ...... 12 Consortium of Professors at the Faculty of Media and Communications, Singidunum University might be estimated as a significant example, with local universities in South East and Local Executive Editor maybe also a model for an active transition. Central Europe, has not only had an It Takes Faith and Persistence ...... 15 Mirjana Stefanovic, Executive Director E-mail: mstefanovic singidunum.ac.rs The political bent of that turn and for influence on the improved quality of Interview with Brankica Stankovic, the author of the investigative TV series The Insajder Ÿ change was neither easy to do nor accomplish and has been deScripto but also promotes better cooperation between the Managing Editor Selma Koric, South East Europe accompanied by strong conflicts, but now has happened irrevocably. University of Vienna and universities in the region. More Doors Still to be Opened ...... 16 Media Organisation Email: selmaŸseemo.org There are many areas where that move of change can be observed. Interview with Rodoljub Sabic, Commissioner for Information of Public Importance Proofreader One of those areas is media. Since media is not just a system of I would like to thank this time especially Nada Popovic-Perisic, Dean of Sarah Hayes devices or of organisation, but much more a social system of the Faculty of Media and Communications at Singidunum University in Deconstructing Stereotypes ...... 17 Art Director intermediation, it is a cultural, political, educational and economical Belgrade. She is not only a great professional, and as a former Minister Interview with Boban Stojanovic, the activist of the Queeria Zoran Spahic

platform of building a society. If there is something relevant within a in Serbia is also a person with great experience, but also a person that Advertising Contact SEEMO-IPI transition process, then it is the active movement of change of social understands very well the needs of modern media communication. I am Between the Rock and a Hard Place ...... 19 South East Europe Media Organisation relationship. What is changing through transition is not only the happy that I met her and that we started our partnership on different Privatisation of the Local Media in Serbia International Press Institute Address: Spiegelgasse 2/29, 1010 Vienna, Austria macrocosm of basic institutions (market, politics), what is changing projects. Also, many thanks to Mirjana Stefanovic for coordinating the Tel: +431 5133940 E-mail: descriptoŸseemo.org is the microcosm of social relations, increasingly developed and work in Belgrade, Selma Koric from my SEEMO team in Vienna, for Editors to be Held Responsible ...... 22 Photos & Illustrations organised through media and usage of media. coordinating the work in Vienna, thanks to all students from the Interview with Nade`da Ga}e, President of Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia Courtesy of Faculty of Media and Communications, Singidunum University Faculty of Media and Communications at Singidunum University in SEEMO Archive The young and vivid media scene in Serbia represented by open Belgrade and to all students in Vienna for working on this issue. Thanks Serbian Media Going Online ...... 24 Publisher minded and creative students shows that Serbia did not lose its Sarah Hayes for proofreading and our Art Director Zoran Spahic for SEEMO - South East Europe Media Organisation, Oliver Vujovic power of reflection. It has transferred that national talent of pride the layout. And for course, thanks Thomas, for being a great Media in Serbia and the Idea of the Network ...... 27 Address: Spiegelgasse 2, 1010 Vienna, Austria Tel: +431 5133940 and reflection into a new era of mirroring itself through media. The editor-in-chief of deScripto. Between “Internets” and handouts-for-free E-mail:descriptoŸseemo.org; students of the Faculty of Media and Communications at In cooperation with S. Polic, Belgrade, Serbia Singidunum University in Belgrade who mainly worked on this issue For SEEMO the work is continuing “as usual”. Independent of the The Art of Rationalisation in the Age of Crisis ...... 32 SEEMO is an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI)

of deScripto have decided for a spectrum of topics, which represents world financial crises, we are doing our best to support media and Interview with Milos Rancic - a linguist, computer programmer, Wikimedia Serbia Circulation: 4,000

the ambiguous world of media in Serbia. The outcome is a colourful press freedom in South East and Central Europe. Our SEEMO Printed by picture of a vivid landscape, designed by shrill accents and Media Handbook 2008 in two volumes, with about 1,000 pages in Devastating Status of Roma Media ...... 36 S Polic in cooperation with Standard 2, Belgrade continuous ways alike. Thanks to them we get an idea of what is each volume, is proof of this. But also some other publications we Interview with Dragoljub Ackovic, the Vice President of the Roma Parliament Subscription Standard: ¤ 24,-/year, Students: ¤ 12,-/year going on in Serbia’s media landscape. are doing, like the new SEEMO book-edition we started with our Orders by email: descriptoŸseemo.org or fax: +43 1 512 90 15 SEEMO partner in Belgrade Dan Graf, under the name The Greatest Mediating the Past ...... 38 Mission Statement This is why we thank all the students of the Faculty of Media and Investigative Journalists. The first book “Garibi” by Esad Hecimovic Don’t Look Back in Anger deScripto is committed to the enhancement of a climate of Communication and especially Mirjana Stefanovic, who did the from Bosnia and Herzegovina is only the beginning, with an edition critical reflection on media culture and communication, in and among the SEE countries. Published quarterly as a joint editorial coaching and who stood responsible for this part of the in Serbian-Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin, but our plans are to Between Urban and Rural, Global and National ...... 44 project of the University of Vienna and the University of Applied Sciences Vienna, under the auspices of The South issue. We hope you will enjoy it and you will gain a greater insight continue with co-publishing the books in this SEEMO edition also How Mainstream Media Construct National Identity in Serbia East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), deScripto is an independent journal of analysis and opinion dedicated to and understanding of Serbia. in other languages. From May 2009, SEEMO will have also a new the democratisation of the media and the development web page, we will open a Facebook community for SEEMO and of Seeking not Facts but Power ...... 48 of civic society in the SEE Region. Thomas A. Bauer, Editor-in-Chief course, we will continue with SEEMO Conferences in the region, Anonymity - a Ruler from the Shadow The views expressed in deScripto are entirely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the positions like the WAZ-KAS-SEEMO South East and Central Europe Media of SEEMO/IPI.

Forum that will be held this year in Tirana. Simplified Narratives and Stereotypes ...... 49 All rights reserved. No part of deScripto may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, Serbian Tabloids and Representation of Women electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, Oliver Vujovic, Publisher recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the Publisher.

2 deScripto ISSN 2074-269X deScripto 3 Reality Shows as ’Gladiators’ Arena ...... 51 BOOK REVIEWS Milena Dimitrova’s Turbo Traditionallity in the Form of Modernity . . . . . 54 Golden Decades of Bulgarian Electronic Industry . . . 83 The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an af- In October 2005, SEEMO organised the SEEMO Dialogue Turbofolk and Media Anita Kocic’s filiate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is a regional Conference between editors-in-chief and media executives non-governmental, non-profit network of editors, media from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia/Montenegro Decentralisation and Regionalisation in Serbia . . . . . 83 executives and leading journalists from newspapers, mag- in Opatija. One month later, in November 2005, a SEEMO The Art for Social Change ...... 56 Dubravka Zarkov’s azines, radio and TV stations, news agencies and new me- Dialogue Conference between editors-in-chief and media Interview with Belgrade street-art diva TKV The Body of War ...... 84 dia in South East Europe (SEE). With its committees, executives from Albania, Macedonia (Republic of World Association of Newspapers’ SEEMO aims to create a bridge between international me- Macedonia-FYROM), and Serbia/Montenegro/Kosovo was dia activities and media developments in the region held in Tirana. Comics are Back ...... 58 World Digital Media Trends 2008 ...... 84 (South East, but also Central and East Europe). SEEMO also organised the first meeting of leading media Balkan Comic Artists Getting Back Together ...... 60 SEEMO was founded in October 2000 in Zagreb, Croatia, by a representatives of all important private news agencies in group of leading editors-in-chief, media executives, and pro- the region in June 2005, and as a result of the meeting the Interview with Marko Stojanovic, comic strip scenario writer COMMUNITY MEDIA fessors of journalism and communications from South East agencies founded a regional organisation of private news Media Scene for the Bulgarian Community in Vienna . . . . . 85 Europe, in the presence of representatives of international in- agencies (APNA). One Culture, One Voice ...... 63 stitutions and with the financial support of the International Press Institute (IPI). SEEMO has local partners, members and SEEMO actively cooperates with international, regional Hip-Hop Culture in Serbia coordinators in all countries and territories in SEE. and national governmental and non-governmental or- SEEMO AWARDS ganisations and institutions. SEEMO also actively cooper- Cyber Basement ...... 65 Dr. Erhard Busek and SEEMO Award One of SEEMO’s main activities is protecting press free- ates with other international press freedom and media or- dom by helping journalists and media outlets in South ganisations, and it supports and participates in joint re- Serbian Rock n’ Roll Scene Today Brankica Stankovic ...... 88 East Europe. Over 60% of SEEMO’s press releases and let- gional and international projects and activities. SEEMO Award for Human Rights presented to ters of protest to governmental and other officials have Music as Communication ...... 67 Spomenka Hribar ...... 90 had positive results in the past. Every SEEMO protest is dis- Together with partners, SEEMO has organised seminars Students’ projects within the Management of Cultural and tributed to leading regional and international media, na- and conferences promoting European values and ideas Artistic Projects course tional and international governmental and non-govern- (2003, 2004, 2005), ecological philosophy - environment mental organisations, politicians, and public persons and and better transport possibilities in the region (Belgrade Book Presentation: Bildung für Europa. Politische institutions. In the past, SEEMO has provided direct help 2002, 2004 and 2005, Athens 2003 and 2004, Trieste 2004, Pretty Blonds Speaking the Lines Learned Ansprüche und Anregungen für die Praxis ...... 93 to journalists in the region by giving them technical Sarajevo 2004 - all conferences in cooperation with City equipment and other assistance. SEEMO has also provid- of Vienna and Bohmann publishing group), a regional by Heart ...... 68 ed necessary aid to journalists who have received death conference on investigative reporting (2002), a regional Public Relations in Serbia threats. SEEMO has over 500 editors-in-chief, media exec- conference on minorities (2002), elections (Media and Photo Exhibit Review: Contemporary Serbian Photography utives and leading journalists from South East Europe as Elections in 2007, together with Radio 101, Hrvatsko in Vienna ...... 93 individual members, and over 100 media outlets and in- novinsko dru{tvo and Guardian Foundation), two confer- stitutions as corporate members. ences for editors-in-chief, media executives and leading MEDIA COMPANY journalists of Roma media in the region (2003), two con- BGNES - Bulgarian Private News Agency ...... 73 During the last seven years, SEEMO has brought together ferences of editors-in-chief, media executives and lead- Bulgarian Civil Society Battles to Limit Data Retention . . . 75 CONFERENCE REPORTS in various meetings over 6,800 editors-in-chief, media ex- ing journalists of Vlachian- Aromanian media in South ecutives, leading journalists and public persons from the East Europe (2004), several conferences on press free- Private News Agencies, Belgrade, Serbia ...... 95 region. Some of these meetings, like the meeting of edi- dom, the legal situation of media, relations between me- Private Broadcasting in SEE, Ljubljana, Slovenia ...... 95 tors-in-chief and media executives from Belgrade (Serbs) dia and politicians, the public role of parliamentarians, ac- PR IN FOCUS and Pristina / Prishtinë / Pri{tina (Kosovo-Albanians), were cess to information, the right to secrecy of information the first of their kind in history. No one before SEEMO had sources, tolerance (Media and Tolerance Conference in “Vienna is Special” - City’s Communications and Public Upcoming Events ...... 96 managed to gather such high-level media representatives 2004, together with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and Relations Philosophy ...... 76 from Belgrade and Pristina in a meeting. Between 2002 International Center for Education of Journalists (ICEJ)), SEEMO Protests ...... 97 and 2004, SEEMO organised 14 dialogue meetings be- teaching public relations and communications for gov- INTERVIEW tween editors-in-chief, media executives and leading jour- ernmental officials, etc. nalists from South East Europe. Continuited on page 6 State of the Media ...... 80 Interview with Axel Schindler, CEO of the Newspaper Group Bulgaria

This issue of deScripto is a joint project of

4 deScripto deScripto 5 Continuited from page 5 to everyone SEEMO Media Handbook (or SMH) in October 2008. The Media Helping journalists also means furthering their education. Handbook includes media reports and Several workshops and seminars were organised in the contact details of selected radio and TV field of education, especially for investigative reporters (in stations, newspapers, magazines, media Opatija in Croatia (2006), in Babe in Serbia (2006), in Tirana organisations, media schools, journalists’ in Albania (2007), in Bucharest in Romania (2007), in organisations, and internet service Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2007) and in Sofia in providers and other new media from Bulgaria (2007)) and also workshops for representatives of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, minority media. Some of the minority media workshops Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, and seminars took place at the SEEMO Media Minority Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Romania, Centre (MMC) in Opatija, Croatia. Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and In June 2008 SEEMO organised the conference Media, Bulgaria. SEEMO publishes this book an- Sofia, as the 2007 Winner of the Dr. Erhard Busek SEEMO Award SEEMO Board members (since 2007): Radomir Li~ina (Senior Marketing and Business, as also the regular meeting of the pri- nually in cooperation with its partners, and since 2008 the for Better Understanding. Dimitrova holds a PhD in Journalism Editor Danas daily, Belgrade), Agron Bajrami (Editor-in-Chief vate news agencies in South East Europe. In December 2008 partners are the Central European Initiative (CEI), the Austrian and is also the author of several books, such as: Pictures from Koha Ditore daily, Pristina), Boris Bergant (Deputy Director RTV SEEMO will organise the conference Public Broadcasting in Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, and Japan (1992), Parliament and Journalism (2000), and Slovenia, Ljubljana, and EBU Vice-President), Pavol Mudry (Co- South East Europe in cooperation with RTV Slovenija. the ERSTE Foundation from Vienna. Frandzhipani i Farangi: Two Bulgarians with the “Giraffe” founder and Board Member SITA news agency, Bratislava), Women of Burma (2005), written together with Magdalena Marta Palics (Editor, RTV Novi Sad, Novi Sad), Jorgos Papadakis SEEMO has several international and national governmental Next to these publications, SEEMO has published some Gigova. Dimitrova also teaches Press Journalism and (Journalist, Athens) and Zrinka Vrabec Mojze{ (Editor, Radio organisations and institutions as project partners, like the other books in the English language, such as Media and Investigative Reporting at Sofia University “Sv. Kliment 101, Zagreb). Former SEEMO Board (2002-2006): Radomir Austrian Development Agency - Austrian Development Minorities in South East Europe or the Handbook for Ohridski”. She is the President of the Union of Bulgarian Li~ina - President, Samra Lu~kin (Director, Boram Network, Cooperation, The Organization for Security and Cooperation Investigative Reporters in South East Europe. But SEEMO Journalists’ Investigative Journalism Section. Sarajevo), Stjepan Malovi} (Director, ICEJ, Opatija), Risto in Europe (OSCE), Austrian Federal Ministry for European and also publishes in local languages from the region, for ex- Popovski (Director, Makfax, Skopje), Remzi Lani (Director, International Affairs, or the Central European Initiative (CEI). ample, the publication Istra`iva~ko novinarstvo u JIE or the The SEEMO Human Rights Award SEEMO Award for Mutual Albanian Media Institute, Tirana), Jorgos Papadakis/Mircea SEEMO has an ongoing project-cooperation with a number editions of SEEMO Media Handbook in Albanian language Cooperation in South East Europe is traditionally awarded on Toma (Director, Media Monitoring Agency, Bucharest) and of foundations, universities, media schools and media com- and in Serbian language. SEEMO is also co-publisher of dif- 10 December, International Human Rights Day. In 2002, the Ognian Zlatev (Director, Media Development Center, Sofia). panies. In the past few years, SEEMO has coordinated several ferent books covering media topics. Book on “Media and award was given to Christine von Kohl, a fighter for human SEEMO Ethical Committee is represented by Danko Plevnik media monitoring projects in South East and Central Europe, PR” and a book on Media, Marketing and Business in South rights in the Balkan region, and Editor-in-Chief and founder of (commentator for Slobodna Dalmacija daily, Split). SEEMO and has also organised several pieces of media research. East Europe. Furthermore, publications on Public the Vienna magazine Balkan - Südosteuropäischer Dialog - Coordinators are: Albania - Frrok Cupi (director, Agon newspa- Broadcasting in South East Europe and Balkan anders. In 2003, the award was given to Neboj{a per, Tirana), Bulgaria - Ognian Zlatev (director, Media SEEMO started, together with the German Women, Men and Media are in planning. Popov, a leading Serbian human rights fighter and founder Development Center, Sofia), Bosnia Herzegovina - Samra WAZ Medien Gruppe and Konrad- SEEMO started also a regional research of the Belgrade magazine Republika. In 2004, the award was Lu~kin (director, BORAM, Sarajevo), Croatia - Ante Gavranovi} Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), the South East about Women, Men and Media. given to Fatos Lubonja, a leading Albanian writer, journalist (former president of the Croatian Journalists Association Europe Media Forum (SEEMF) - South East and fighter for human rights. In 2006 SEEMO Board Members (HND), Zagreb and of Croatian Publishers Association, Zagreb), and Central Europe Media Forum (SE- SEEMO awards prizes for outstanding chose Abdulhalim Dede, a journalist and a member of the Greece - Jorgos Papadakis, Moldova - Alina Radu (director, CEMF). The first SEEMF was organised in achievements in the field of media. The re- Turkish-Muslim minority living and working in Western Ziarul de Garda newspaper, Chisinau), Romania - Marina Zagreb in 2007, under the patronage of cipient of the Dr. Erhard Busek SEEMO Award Thrace, Greece, for the SEEMO Human Rights Award. In 2007 Constantinoiu (editor-in-chief, Jurnalul National, Bucharest), the President of Croatia H.E.Stjepan Mesi}, for Better Understanding in 2002 was the SEEMO Board named the journalist, writer and fighter for Serbia - Veran Mati} (Radio TV B92, Belgrade), Montenegro - and in cooperation with local media part- Croatian journalist Denis Latin, for his TV- human rights [eki Radon~i} from Montenegro, who lives in @eljko Ivanovi} (director, Vijesti daily, Podgorica), Kosovo - Haqif ners: Europapress Holding (EPH), HINA, show ‘Latinica’ (HTV). The 2003 Award was Bosnia- Herzegovina, as the recipient of the 2007 SEEMO Mulliqi (RTV Kosovo, Pristina), Ukraine - Aleksey Soldatenko HRT, Mediaservis, Obiteljski radio and NCL given to Kemal Kurspahi}, former Editor-in- Award for Mutual Cooperation in South East Europe. (Programmes Director, International Institute for Regional (Nacional) Media Group. The topic of the II Chief of the Bosnian daily Oslobo|enje. He Media and Information, Kharkiv). SEEMF is “Media and Democracy in South and his team managed to publish during the In 2007 SEEMO decided together with CEI to start as of East Europe: Professional Standards and war in Bosnia and Herzegovina Oslobo|en- 2008 the CEI Award for Outstanding Merits in Investigative SEEMO Advisers: Hari [tajner (former Director of Media Education of Journalists.” The II SEEMF je. every day in the besieged city of Journalism with a prize of 5,000 EUR. This Award was giv- Center, Belgrade), Boro Konti} (Director, Media Centar, will be held in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 5-6 Sarajevo. In 2005 this award was given to en in 2007 to Drago Hedl from Croatia. The Jury based its Sarajevo), Donika Shahini and Shpresa Mulliqi (OSCE November 2008. This II SEEMF is organ- Brankica Petkovi} from the Ljubljana- decision on the integrity and personal courage demon- Media Department, Pristina) and Mitja Mer{ol (former ised by the WAZ Medien Gruppe, based Peace Institute. In 2006 Danko strated by Hedl in carrying out his work on war crimes Editor-in- Chief, Delo daily, Ljubljana). Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), and Plevnik, international relations columnist committed against civilians in the eastern city of Osijek in SEEMO, with local partners Newspaper for the Croatian daily newspaper Slobodna 1991. According to the Jury, “writing about war crimes is The current SEEMO staff members are: Krasimira Plachetzky, Group Bulgaria and the Media Dalmacija from Split, received the Dr. not something that makes a journalist popular.”. SEEMO assistant; Sara di Pede, SEEMO assistant; Sladjana Development Centre, Sofia Erhard Busek SEEMO Award for Better Matejevic, SEEMO conference and financial coordinator; Understanding. Plevnik is also the author Since 2008 SEEMO has also the Award for the Best Elva Hardarson, press freedom and fundraising coordinator In cooperation with the University of of several books analysing media, such as Photograph in the Human Rights Field. The first winner of and Selma Koric, coordinator De Scripto magazine. Vienna, since 2004 SEEMO has regularly Information is Communication (1986), this award (2008) was Maja Zlatevska (Dnevnik, Skopje), for published a quarterly media magazine Towards the Civilisation of Mobile Text the photograph “Zatvor” (“Prison”), her contribution to the SEEMO’s Secretary General is Oliver Vujovic. for South East Europe called De Scripto. (1988) and The Practice of Ethical human rights struggle in the region. A certificate of dis- Journalism (2004). Plevnik has also pub- tinction was given to Marko Djurica (Blic, Beograd/Reuters), Since 2003, the South East Europe Media lished a number of books on politics, the for his photograph “Liturgija” (“Lithurgy”). Handbook (SMH), an annual publication cov- European Union, and the Balkans amongst oth- ering media developments in SEE, which in- ers. Soon his two new books, The Right to Self- SEEMO also nominated several leading journalists from the Contacts: cludes selected media contacts, has also Meaning and The Fortune of Reading will be region for important international awards. In May 2002, SEEMO - IPI been published. Since 2008 the book is pub- available. In 2007, after careful deliberation, the Bosnian-Herzegovinian journalist @eljko Kopanja from SPIEGELGASSE 2/29, A-1010 VIENNA, AUSTRIA lished under the name “South East and jury has chosen Milena Dimitrova, commenta- Nezavisne novine, Banja Luka, received the Concordia TEL: +43 1 513 39 40, FAX: +43 1 512 90 15 Central Europe Media Handbook (well known tor for the Bulgarian daily newspaper Trud from Award in Austria after being nominated by SEEMO. E-MAIL: infoŸseemo.org, WEB: www.seemo.orgContinuited on page 8

6 deScripto deScripto 7 MEDIA LANDSCAPE: Serbia in Transition Communications in the Age of Hypermodernity

By Nada Popovic-Perisic populism. Authorities in the world of communications who Dean of the Faculty of Media and Communications give rise to a utopia of ’a planetary world’ could, in near future, become a backbone of authoritarian regimes which control people; all the more so as they spend their time nailed to he age of hypermodernity has been facing the significant computers and also as their communication is technically inflation of the culture of ’screen’. Never before were transparent. T people in possession of so many ’screens’ as today, not only to ’see the world’, but to be live their own life. We are A diffusion of communication utopia recently unfolded with a living in a world within the world where the event becomes relative lack of criticism. Liberalism and power of media are spectacle. A network of screens has transformed our way of accepted as a sign of our political maturity. There are indeed life, our attitude towards information, time and space, travel authors like Régis Debray and Jean Baudrillard who tried to and consumption. To be is to be ’glued’ to a screen. criticise the media society, but their criticism makes for a few isolated voices. Emancipation begins with questioning the opposition between viewing and doing; with understanding that the obviousness that constitutes the relationship between viewing and doing constitutes the part of domination and oppression structure. It begins with our understanding that ’to be viewing’ also affirms or transforms such distribution of positions. A viewer acts as a student or a scientist, he is selecting, making comparisons, interpreting.

Communication has taken over huge amount of space in our ’modern’ societies. Communications has become, as Philip Breton says, a new utopia; the more appealing and more acceptable as ’big’ ideologies like socialism and liberalism are in crisis. It is a utopia of a man ’without his interiority’ reduced to Nada Popovic Perisic with associates Photo by Snezana Skundric his image in the society which due to communications became ’transparent’. An apologia of planetary universalism without I believe that a criticism of communication utopia should avoid any substance, a naïve enthusiasm of ’virtual worlds’ and ’global a false debate between technophiles and technophobes, or a type village’ have strengthened a terrifying demand to discover the of debate which is for or against media and new networks. same roots, demand for identical, a rejection of all other ways Problems are much more complex to come down to such simple for those roots to be reached... Today we see clearly to which alternatives. A difference should be made between the means extent the media focused all their powers on information, that and their application, and especially, the significance which is it makes them a powerful tool of disinformation. given to them by society. Information technology would play a lesser role in society if less importance was assigned to a certain Liberalism of the world of media whose interest does not concept of rationality. That raises the question as to why our necessarily overlap with public interest led to evolution of Continuited on page 10

deScripto 9 MEDIA LANDSCAPE: Serbia in Transition

Continuited from page 9 longer, or in other words, not only the element of exposing the truth. From photography to video, from information to society pays so much attention to communication. Presence of testimony, we are facing a semiotic orchestra of signs. technology in our environment is not a necessary a sign of modernity. Criticism is based on the fact that real modernity is If communicating means ’having in common’, and sharing what firstly political and only then technological. The essence is not is common, the contemporary world and its interconnectedness criticism of communication by itself, but of its excessive use. If continuously restore ways for us to stay together , and to revive we say ’everything is communication’, we take upon ourselves a our world in its details. Spiralling differences between scales of responsibility we can not justify. communication ranging from interpersonal to interplanetary, suggests the fact that one scientific discipline is not enough to By definition, media are supposed to bring people together, in cover the entire field of study. Hence, discipline like other words, to make it easier for them to gain access to events, communication science searches for its consistency ant tries to because communication, in its nature, tends to abolish distances. achieve it by means of confrontation of different knowledge. But ’distances’ put up a struggle more than we could have Communication is nowadays at a crossroads of philosophy and expected. Recognition of a uniqueness of a culture, which is social sciences. That is why it helps us understand several necessary in order to understand an event, is complex and it changes in the age we live in. First of all, how to think alongside resists media analysis. By transferring information, media help metaphysical? Namely, this science follows and analyses increase ignorance, because the biggest ally of ignorance is the developments in the processes of desacralisation and illusion of knowledge. Denis de Rougemont insists in one of his secularisation, which Max Webber considers to define the Media Change - The Key of Social Change texts on thorough differences which exist between ’information’ modern age. Secondly, it teaches us how to criticise logo and ’knowledge’ and ’information’ and ’recognition’. One of the centrism. Namely, our language is not only the means of Society is built through intermediation, which becomes increasingly mediatised. problems is that a modern man thinks he has knowledge of the discovering the truth, but a part of an entire orchestra of signs, event just because he has information about it. Regardless of what we call semiosis. It helps us criticise egocentrism. On Mediatisation changes the mechanism of social trust. quality of work of journalists, information always faces a step contrary to the individualistic concept of cognition, establishing after which it can no longer offer a meaning to the event. When of subjects is overseen through inter-subjectivity. And finally, By Thomas A. Bauer it comes to media we are facing a yet another paradox; our how to consider individualism and autonomy. New technologies feelings are more easily stirred up by television fiction than by make the sender’s monopoly on the meaning of a message more erbia over the last years has become a significant example, tives and because of its repeatability. Since knowledge, always be- pictures of real misfortunes in the world. difficult, and private acceptance of the message on behalf of an maybe also a model for an active transition. The political way ing a cultural good, in context of social usage of media increasing- ever-growing circle of recipients, easier. For too long S of and for change was not easy to be done but has now hap- ly becomes a media good, it turns-becoming an economic factor. Media and communications study is a very wide field with philosophers have been placing reasons inside a conscious pened irrevocably. There are many areas where that move of What counts, is the fact that media do not produce knowledge, but unclear borders that is hard to cover by programmes that offer individual as an innate ability. Information and communication change can be observed. One of those areas is the media. Since distribute and construct in another social-cultural constellation high level of specialised training. Therefore, we have opted to science manages to describe the outer side of reason which lies media is not just a system of devices or of organisation, but much than the one knowledge is usually produced or distributed. Media research this subject through its links to philosophy applied to in socio-technical networks of our cognition and classing. more a social system of intermediation: it is a cultural, political, do not construct a hierarchical distance and the social rituals they media and communication. Philosophy, as creative questioning educational and economical platform of building a society. If there are effecting, are rituals of personal or individual usage. In reference of the world, aims our approach. How can we evaluate the effects of technology? It has been is something relevant within a transition process, then it is the ac- the principle of trust that has always been important in communi- viewed as sub alternate reality for a long time. A project of tive movement of change of social relationship. What is changing cation of science and knowledge, the social construction of (pub- Post-modern philosophers like Jean-Francois Lyotard, Jean mediology - logic of media - is to examine numerous effects of through transition is not only the macrocosm of basic institutions licly negotiated) knowledge refers to other (new) constellations of Baudrillard, and Jacques Derrida are in the basis of our technology on a spiritual side, and its efficiency, according to a (market, politics), what is changing is the microcosm of social re- credibility, or of criteria for objective significance. Along the social consideration and critical analysis of the world of media. materialistic and eco-logical approach. This communication lations, increasingly developed and organised through media and change there is a level of media change, which is obviously and first- According to Foucault’s division into ’seeable’ and ’speakable’ culture appears to be complicated because it should embrace usage of media. The young and vivid media scene in Serbia, I sup- ly a change of technology - but in sum it is more: media change is a the focus inside a culture shifts towards speakable. In such a semiology, which involves mediology, then, models of pose, is somehow the continuation of a talent, Serbia always has change of culture (and social meaning) of getting connected to so- way picture is no longer being watched but ’read’. Our cybernetics, especially laws of circular causality and self- been famous for: ambiguous poetry and poetic ambiguity. This ciety or to communities, or to any time to any one in any topic in philosophy tradition has favoured the individualistic concept organization, terms of social psychology and psychoanalysis. special character of intellectual refraction takes care for strong ties any manner. It is a continuous changeover of relations aiming to be of cognition for a long time. Information and communication This curriculum should not only show how a message to tradition in times of revolution and also provokes with strong related to a meaningful environment. science accompanies philosophy in one attitude: only inter- circulates but also in accordance to which imaginary and tones for revolution in times of stagnation. The media landscape subjectivity and already established communities can create the symbolic influences it does so. That set of disciplines poses as in Serbia is a landscape of social and cultural change. This new mechanism of trust in media might have to do with the subject and ’self ’ provided with identity. Placed in the field of a perfect challenge. It can be of interest to sociologists, in same time decreasing importance of institutions (cultural criti- communication linguistic signs loose their prestige and philosophers and logicians. That was the very reason for the In a media society, social change in first line is media change. Media cal evaluation), when media understanding as (special) institutions autonomy: they are a part of the orchestra in which languages foundation of Faculty of Media and Communication and it is a source of experience that constructs experience becoming or such that just replace traditional ones, shifting over them to be- of body, pictures and signs have their place. Our language is no decided the nature of the curriculum taught at our Faculty.
knowledge because of the structure of sharing different perspec- Continuited on page 12

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Continuited from page 11 Press conference with President Boris Tadic Photo by Imre Szabo come media-like institutions: media religion, media politics, me- dia education, media economy and so forth. But trust in the media small number of journalists so the absence of several journalists for a also could emerge through the social construction of ubiquity. couple of months would not be feasible”, Ivanovic remarks. Increasingly media get used by people that generate knowledge or conversation and also by people that search for knowledge or con- Good quality investigative reporting requires time and resources. versation - both supposing that media are the framework of refer- One example is journalist and Blic editor Branislav Grkovic, re- ence of all, for all, and in relation to all. Media are supposed to be ceiver of UNICEF award for the story on battle against child the measure of reference in order to value what one thinks one pornography. “The story exposes the pattern by which the new era should know about supposing that any other also could know of technology mirrors the old power imbalance, readiness of abusers from there. This concentration of generalisation makes media to to transpose their old criminal habits to the cyberspace and empow- become the agencies of the generalisation of social presumption ered by the new technology occupy that space before children have and central agency of social connectivity. As this means a change even stepped into it. It is an excellent and convincing piece of in- on all levels of the concept of social change: a change in social re- vestigative work... It also elucidates the regional dimension. The ar- lations, a change in the structure of the discourses, a change of val- ticles appeals to fight this form of crime and violence back by good ues of the traditional social practice, and - last not least - a preparation and adequate policies,” the jury stated following the changeover in using technologies for the construction of social re- decision on the award. lation, the concept of social change related to the contemporane- ous societies, is a change of the principle of social intermediation. It took almost half a year for Grkovic to investigate the leads to the story. Such a situation can be described best as mediality or mediatisa- “The entire process lasted around five or six months, partly because tion of social (and personal) life (especially when getting remind- of how information got to me, and also because of technical matters. ed through reflections of Cultural Studies that not the (technical) I will make an example: I had to wait for three months to gain per- structure makes media being a media, but only the use of it. The mission from the Ministry of Police to interview one policeman who use of media structures (technology) intends the particular edia experts in the developed world sometimes ask the worked on such cases,” he notes. process of intermediation and makes media working as an agency Struggling question if investigative journalism is the only true form of of news, mobility, connectivity, flexibility, belongingness etc, of M journalism, then is everything else is just public relations? all what man makes realising and verifying as a social being. Media with Funds From the perspective of societies in tran- Media here do not have funds technology of the modern type work in exactly that sense: as the sition, well developed democracies enjoy to finance major investigations technical device media is the dispositive (Foucault) of just this and Interests the abundance of investigative journalists generalised presumption: media connect and intermediate people that expose affairs of public importance - to people, to all thinkable environments, events and experiences. While in the past media were and are able to prove facts before publish- A journalist and teacher of investigative ing. They can monitor their societies journalism, Branko Cecen, comments on Referring to the interest of futurability as the key interest of the controlled by politics and the ruling through the discoveries of investigative By Aleksandar that matter: “Serbian media do not make concept of social change, the conclusion is: there is a lot to think ideology, today this control is exerted journalism. In Serbia, as in most countries Skundric, enough profit to be able to engage into de- about and to research within that context - of course, first of all by finances and the principles of the in transition, things are quite different. Student, FMK veloping investigative teams, or to let jour- about the quality of media technology, which - again - is not on- Both media professionals and the public nalist spent three months on a single investi- ly a question of technological functionality or aesthetics, but al- market economy. Many media agree that there is not enough investiga- gation. However, media are not doing so one of the cultural aesthetics and ethics. In order to keep the discoveries came months, years, even tive journalism. Not that there is not any, but there is far less than much to overcome that obstacle. Not every story takes months to social and the cultural balance in that process of development, a necessary in a society that is not famous for weeding out cor- write; sometimes it can be done much faster. After all, many media technologically competent world of devices and markets needs decades after that in which they had ruption, crime and abuse of power. discoveries came months, years, even decades after that which had on the other hand a culturally competent user society. Media lit- happened, and they still attracted huge happened, and they still attracted huge attention. We have not done eracy therefore should not only be a subject for advanced schools, attention. We have not done Milorad Ivanovic, deputy editor-in-chief of a nation wide daily everything we could, we have not learned enough. Only when we it has to become a general main subject in societal learning pro- Blic, considers lack of financial resources and proper education to do, will we have the right to complain”, notices Cecen. grammes, since the world understands, who understands the me- everything we could, we have not be main reasons. “There is some investigative journalism in Serbia dia (Luhmann). Societies with an elaborated general media liter- learned enough. but not as much as in Western countries. Over there investigative Another important issue is status of journalists as professionals. acy level and with a high developed concept of mediality (medi- journalism implies journalists spending a lot of time and money Describing in short the findings of research in this area, Cecen atisation) will have much more chances to play a significant role working on a story. Unfortunately, media here do not have funds to summarises: “Journalists are underpaid and unprotected, both
in marking the benches of social change. finance major investigations. Besides, media outlets here employ a Continuited on page 14

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Continuited from page 13 Lack of legal response to the findings of investigative It Takes Faith legally and physically, and they are sup- reporters is number one posed to risk their safety in order to inform complaint and Persistence on the issues being hidden from the public. Now imagine an editor saying to a jour- nalist: “First you need to work and get Problems become more serious when Interview with Brankica Stankovic, the author some proper training. Then in your own some media choose to distort and manip- of the investigative TV series The Insider time go and investigate the wrongdoings of ulate facts. That causes confusion among some guy who can kill you and get away the auditorium - viewers, listeners and with it. And you will get 300 EUR at the readers. By Aleksandar Skundric, end of a month”. I find it extraordinary “There is investigative and pseudo-inves- Student, FMK that there are people who are willing work tigative journalism. In some printed media in such conditions”, Cecen concludes. we can read texts that at first glance look he Insider (Insajder) series by Brankica Stankovic is one of Journalist Branko Cecen like serious pieces of investigative journal- the rare cases of television investigative journalism on Brankica Stankovic, Photo by Igor Marovic Author of Investigative journalism ism but the stories are completely made up. T Serbian television. The three-member team is led by THE INSIDER and education And then you can hear ordinary people say- Stankovic in search for evidence related to the most sensitive top- Photo by BETA SERVICE, Currently, investigative journalism is be- ing: “They are all the same”. That is why ics for the Serbian society including football mafia, money laun- Vladimir Milanovic ing taught as a course at two Belgrade there is no real public reaction to investiga- dering, organised crime and corruption. Last year Brankica faculties and in the universities of Nis tive discoveries”, says Cecen. Stankovic received the 2008 Award for Better Understanding in don’t know faces of certain business people and politicians who are and Novi Sad. There have been an abun- South East Europe awarded by SEEMO. In the course of her virtually “owners” of Serbia. There are people who acquired all sorts dance of professional trainings provided The effects of investigative stories work, Brankica Stankovic introduced new and improved stan- of properties and companies around the country and public don’t through the donations of various institu- Branslav Grkovics story uncovered a ma- dards of investigative journalism and has addressed in her TV se- know who they are and where their money is coming from. They tions in EU and USA. However, the in- jor flaw in Criminal Law. Has it been re- ries the important issues that have been either concealed or side- choose to stay anonymous and simply respond in a casual tone: “I terest of students and journalists for the moved? “No. There is no political discus- lined by the authorities. In an interview for deScripto Brankica never give interviews nor answer questions”. They are arrogant to investigative journalism is decreasing. sion, no political interest for the Parliament Stankovic says that “things are going to change, but it takes a lot of journalists and act like they are protected from everyone. We had a There are also serious differences and in- to go after it. Have anything happened after persistence and faith in what you’re doing to accomplish that” minister who spit on and even kick a journalist and everyone just accuracies about what the term inves- I published the story, I would be able to say: laughs! That’s unacceptable. Journalists should not withdraw when tigative journalism means. In the socialist “Thanks to my text, someone realised some- Stankovic further explains: “When you keep in mind that what you faced with such behaviour of politicians or powerful people. times of former Yugoslavia, investigative thing and something happened”. But it did are doing is in public interest then you do not let anything be an ob- Otherwise, what difference media legislation make. Who is going journalism implied a combination of an- not”, concludes Grkovic. stacle in your work. I think that we as the investigative team proved to enforce it? The whole system has to change in Serbia so that alytical journalism and some sort of sci- Milorad Ivanovic, editor of daily newspaper BLIC that. We have encountered various difficulties in our work - people journalists can have a role as everywhere else in the democratic Photo by Imre Szabo entific investigation. Lack of legal response of the government “closing the doors”, spirals of silence. However, we publish everything world. Public is to control government not the other way around. and judicial institutions to the findings of investigative reporters we are sure we have enough evidence to prove and for which we are “There are two sides to that story”, says Milorad Ivanovic. “There is is the number one criticism of Serbian journalists. According to certain is correct. We also name the people who refuse to answer along Have authorities undertaken any activities as a result of your lack of adequate training on investigative journalism so many are the law, prosecutors are obliged to act upon any revelation that a with the questions they refused to address. That way a viewer can make findings? Any arrests being made or policy changes imple- confused about what it is. On the other hand, those who attend the person, official or an institution has broken the law. Reactions conclusions if someone is hiding something and also why that someone mented... available courses go back to new rooms unable to apply that which from public prosecutors on information from media are still ex- is stubbornly ignoring questions and remains silent in spite of the oblig- they have learned.” ception rather than a rule. As general public gets oversaturated ation to respond as a holder of public function. I believe that, eventu- Stankovic: The prosecutor’s office reacted several times during with news and revealed scandals, the lack of public response to ally, many things in this country are going to change, but it takes a lot the broadcast of The Insider in which we revealed the details about To make matters even more complicated, privatisation of the me- the journalistic discoveries becomes more and more obvious. of persistence and faith in what you’re doing to accomplish that.” the ways money was taken out of Serbia during UN sanctions and dia and new rules of the market democracy have brought finan- citizens of Serbia were being robbed. There are few more exam- cial interests of the media owners before the interests of public Investigative journalism in Serbia faces more obstacles than it has Have you seen any improvements in the overall conditions for ples of arrests. Police and the Prosecutor’s office reacted after the and the journalism. “Many media outlets will not investigate those incentives. It is easier to find a good investigative journalist than investigative journalism? Media legislation has been pro- aired our findings about “football mafia” and cigarette smuggling. affairs that affect business interests of their owners. In the past they someone optimistic when it comes to the future of that profes- gressing along with the work of the Commissioner for Several indictments followed the broadcast and some people were were controlled by politics. Today it is tycoons who are often more sion. However, with examples such as Grkovic or several inter- Information of Public Importance... arrested. However, I still see that as an attempt to trick the pub- powerful than the media and those who want to survive are afraid of national awards winner TV series “The Insider” the future does lic into believing something is being done to resolve organised criticising tycoons for they fear they might lose advertising income”, not look so grim. It improves in small steps. The question re- Stankovic: There are some positive steps, but that’s still minimal in crime. I don’t think any of those are related directly to The says Cecen. mains if it is fast enough?
comparison to normal, democratic countries. In Serbia, people still Continuited on page 16

14 deScripto deScripto 15 MEDIA LANDSCAPE: Serbia in Transition MEDIA LANDSCAPE: Serbia in Transition Continuited from page 15 More Doors Still Insider. If it were, then surely many of Deconstructing Stereotypes those for whom we, the journalists, to be Opened proved to be involved in crime, contract Interview with Boban Stojanovic, the activist of the Queeria killings, corruption, smuggling, would have been arrested by now. Interview with Rodoljub Sabic, - Queeria Centre for Promotion of Culture of Non-Violence By Nikola I believe the authorities are reacting to The Commissioner for Information of and Equality Herman, Insider primarily because of its wide viewer- Public Importance and Personal Data Student, FMK ship. As citizens throughout Serbia are n November 2000, the Queeria Centre that supports minority media in Serbia retelling its content after each episode, it Protection Rodoljub Sabic, Commissioner was established as the first youth thus becoming the first Lesbian, for Information of would have been too much for them to ignore Public Importance I branch, a working group within a po- Bisexsual, Gay and Transgender (LBGT) tions and policies to protect their rights. it and take no action. It is not up to a journal- By Aleksandar Skundric, litical party, Social-Democratic Union, to organisation supported financially by the Normative optimism is the ideal that re- Photo by FoNet Service, Nenad Djordjevic ist to prosecute and arrest, but it is to reveal Student, FMK publicly promote the rights of sexual and government. quires discard of all criticism. To have laws every doing that either government or certain gender minorities. In 2006, the group reg- is good, but the laws come and go, so do individuals are trying to keep away from the odoljub Sabic is the first appointed Commissioner for Information on Public istered as NGO - the Queeria Centre for The corner stone of the Queeria approach governments and politics. Being free, being public. Therefore, if we dig out evidence and Importance and Personal Data Protection in Serbia. Since the passing of the Law Promotion of Culture of Non-Violence is the inclusion of all interested in sup- who you are is what attracts others to recon- disclose it publicly, the prosecutor should re- R on Free Access to Information of Public Importance in 2006, the Commissioner and Equality. Today, the Queeria has be- porting the affirmation of queer rights sider their position. When you are free and act. That, unfortunately, is not happening yet. played a vital role in the implementation of this important legislation piece. “It is my du- come a well known brand in the Serbian and culture. Their strategy is somewhat comfortable with yourself, you set other peo- ty to help in exercising the right to a free access of information of public importance to every- media scene and the best recognised ac- unusual in comparison to typical human ple free”, says Boban Stojanovic, one of Do you consider the public and the one, and that goes for journalists and the media as well. I try to do my best in the current work- tivists in the promotion of queer culture. rights advocates. “We believe that in order the founders of Queeria Center in an in- media react appropriately to your dis- ing conditions, which are modest”, says the Commissioner in an interview for deScripto. In December 2008, the Centre received to be successful advocate for the rights of oth- terview for deScripto. coveries? funding for its web platform from the ers, we first have to be free ourselves. An in- Sabic continues: “As for the assessment of what has been achieved until now, it is depends Ministry of Culture under the programme dividual should not rely solely on institu- “Our position is the queer position. Some of Stankovic: I don’t. Quite the opposite. on what we take for a parameter. In comparison to how government and public companies our activists belong to the gay and lesbian Number of media outlets, especially news- acted upon their duty as prescribed by the Law on Free Access to Information of Public population and some do not. While we do paper and tabloids, are trying to cover up Importance four years ago, the situation has certainly improved. Nevertheless, in relation express our choices and affiliation where we whatever The Insider discovers. Or else the to what could and should have been done, there is little to be happy about. We could and believe it’s important, we don’t believe in journalists working for such media use should have done more. Therefore, there are a lot of government bodies that deal with the the correctness or incorrectness of the cul- false information to confuse the public and public’s right to know in a correct way, but there are still those that do not.” tural concepts, we do not subject to author- falsify the essence of what we reveal to the ity and we do not accept any forms of isola- public. The question is why? Why would In terms of concrete results, how would you describe the current status? tion - physical nor emotional. The position any Serbian journalist mind disclosing this of gay person in Serbia is the position of the kind of information in the first place? Isn’t Sabic: If we are talking about lack of response by certain government agencies, the condemned, stigmatized and discarded. it in every journalist’s interest for a story to problem is not severe from the point of view of quantity (number of cases) but the There exists a certain consensus in Serbian be investigated thoroughly? The answer is principles matter. In over two thirds of all cases, responsible government bodies sub- society around concepts of human rights and yes. But, many journalists here aren’t real- mit the information they previously refused to disclose after just initial intervention of unacceptability of the violence but in prac- ly journalists. They are paid by certain in- the Commissioner. In the other 30 percent of cases I had to issue an official request by tice gay people are associated within the dividuals to protect the interests of crimi- the Commissioner for the information/documents to be handed out. In the majority context of the morally problematic group. nals, business people, politicians...This is of cases government bodies obey the request with more or less enthusiasm. Our solidarity goes with anyone who does something to be ashamed of! Of course, not conform to violence to express their there are also professionals, but just take a Out of 6,000 cases that we have addressed so far, there are between 100 and 200 of selves and represents no physical threat to look at the Serbian media today - all the lies those where responsible government agency refused to obey the Law. That number the society”, says Stojanovic. and propaganda - and you will soon realise seems small. Nevertheless, it is unacceptable for anyone, and especially for public au- that the professionals are in the minority. thorities not to obey the Law. This problem should not be underestimated. Decisions How would you describe your ap- The only comforting thing is that it all re- of the Commissioner are law-binding, and the authorities are to obey them accord- proach? mains written and one day many of those ingly. In case they do not, the Government of Serbia is legally required to enforce the Boban Stojanovic, will be ashamed of lying to their readers execution of the Commissioner’s orders. That has not been a case yet. I have already Stojanovic: Our work is based on market Coordinator of the and viewers. In my opinion, those journal- labelled that lack of response from Government as an indirect breaching of the law. I NGO Queeria principles - we are developing more than ists should be fought against just like every believe it is necessary for the Government to change its attitude towards this issue re- Center Belgrade one ’brand’ and we consider the needs of other type of criminals in this country.
gardless of how small the number of such cases is.
Photo by Snezana Skundric Continuited on page 18

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Continuited from page 17 What about pointing to the violence Between the Rock and a Hard Place and discrimination of gender and sex- our target groups such as media, the gay ual minorities? community outside of big cities and out Privatisation of the Local Media in Serbia of Internet reach. Many human rights or- Stojanovic: When it comes to concrete ganisations speak the language that’s not examples of violence against people, we Journalists point to issues such as the absence of a media register, lack of easily understood by the wider audience condemn it publicly. When we talk about transparency of ownership structures and suppression of the research-oriented and mostly preoccupied with the prob- discrimination of the gay population, in- journalism as a result of a commercially driven privatisation process. lem of violence. We respect that but are stead of saying that we are discriminated aware that such language and approach is against based on our personal characteris- somewhat devoid of what I would call tics or choices, we talk about sick partner or quite a few decades one of local buyers in the group has to have a journal- neglect the professional standards for “the joy of living”. Therefore we are in an intensive care whom we cannot visit newspaper in Vojvodina - a renowned istic background. The privatisation con- commercial purposes, thereby jeopardis- searching for new approach to human because it is the privilege of the closest Fweekly Suboticke novine performed tract with the municipality of Subotica se- ing their positions as well as the position rights and advocating against violence family members. If people do not identify successfully on the local market with the cured the new owners monthly monetary of the newspaper. and homophobia. with a problem, there will be no empathy, assistance of the local authorities in support to the newspaper in the amount of thus no support and no change. Subotica. On 19 June 2006, it was sold for 10 percent of their yearly budget. In a sudden turn of events, several months What are some of your major strategic the first time in an auction. Nine poten- later one of the member of the new con- points? Taking up the public space is a key to our tial buyers took part in the auction. sortium, the journalist Harminc, decided strategy. Any public space: workshops, pub- During the auction the price increased 75 to step out and terminate her contract. Stojanovic: We live in a society where au- lic discussions, press statements, talk- times (the starting price was 12,000 EUR, The other two owners of Suboticke novine Snapshot of Nikola Herman „August face“ thorities are addressing human rights of on Queeria Calendar shows... If we don’t use it, someone else will. but it reached the price of 860,000 EUR). were arrested for abuse of their position. those indicted by the court in Hague, The office building in the centre of right wing politicians have adopted the kind of information and entertainment And, of course, our favourite ’weapon’ - Subotica, whose value is more than The national daily newspaper Politika re- language of non-violence, and fascists are they need: front covers, commentaries on playing with the stereotypes. One cannot 280,000 EUR, was also included in the By Vladimir ported in one of its June editions in 2007 adopting political correctness. That leaves stage performers, gay icon popularity identify with a homosexual person through property of the sold newspaper. Vlajic, that the privatisation agency annulled the us with no room but to look for new contests, interviews with celebrities, etc. ethnicity, religion or such a similar key. In Student, FMK privatisation contract because the buyers strategies. Our first position - show no If the journalists are creating the demand, search for ways to advocate for our rights, The journalists of Suboticke novine ex- did not respect the clauses of the contract. fear. People who spread hatred towards we offer them a good product. we can think about ’universality of human pressed an interest in participating in the The owners were accused of unlawfully LBGT count on inciting fear. We want rights’ and try and make public identify auction. They were engaged with devel- Fourteen journalists and two reporters re- pilfering money obtained from selling the to live free, joyful and happy in spite of through that concept, but that’s kind of too oping the business plan and the strategy signed after the newspaper was sold. newspaper and falling short of fulfilling bad experiences. broad. If we try to portray LBGT as ’normal’ for further development of this media They accepted an offer from the regional their obligations including payment of by the standards of the majority - we would outlet. Their goal was to ensure financial daily Dnevnik, which in part belongs to salaries to the employees of the outlet. Secondly - be a celebrity and hang be labelled as ’sissies’ who are sustainability of the newspaper while ac- the WAZ media concern, to further de- Furthermore, they have put the office out with celebrities. Activists faking it. For that reason in commodating to the principles of ethics velop a new weekly media outlet in building under mortgage, which they of Queeria Centre are of- its public appearances, the and professional standards of journalistic Subotica called Suboticke. As of June were not entitled to. That way they gained ten invited to appear in Queeria presents visibility and profession. They presented this pro- 2006, Suboticke were printed regularly even bigger financial benefits against the the media because of confirmation of all stereo- gramme to the local authorities, political covering key topics in the city with better law. After nine-months of delay and court their attractive ap- types. There are over twenty parties, the Ministry of Economy and the equipment and a more efficient business proceedings, the employees of Suboticke pearance, openness nationalities and ethnic Ministry of Culture and Media, but they strategy. In a short while, Suboticke finally received their salaries. and the identity role- groups in Serbia represented never got any response. achieved the circulation rate of its rival playing. In the media, by the Constitution. They Suboticke novine. On 18 October 2007, Suboticke novine we are positioning have the right to promote Suboticke novine became the property of was sold for the second time. This time it ourselves not as victims their culture, tradition and art, the consortium of three owners - two en- According to the editor-in-chief of was sold for 100,000 EUR on the Belgrade but as stars of tabloids. to wear their traditional folklore trepreneurs and a journalist. One of them, Suboticke Dragica Pavlovic, the only mo- Stock Market. Just like the previous own- We do not judge the and costumes. Our traditional the entrepreneur Rajko Stojnic had an 85 tive of the journalists leaving the priva- er, the new buyers got the entire property journalists and media. costumes are tight shirts, tight under- percent share. The only partner with the tised Suboticke novine was to keep the of this media outlet including the two- We provide them with wear, gossiping and obsession with sex, so - professional experience was the journalist professionalism and avoid working under storey building in the centre of Subotica. what’s the problem? All of that has been a Nada Harminc, who owned only 5 percent terms dictated by people who are not in Yet, this time the buyer had to take on the part of gay culture for centuries, so you can- of the consortium’s shares. That way they the media business. The journalists ex- responsibility for around 70,000 EUR of LOGO of the Queeria Center Belgrade not say that we are “trees without roots”.
met the legal requirement that one of the pected the new consortium to eventually Continuited on page 20

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Continuited from page 19 Zoran Kosanovic of the Independent people with shady backgrounds (and Journalist Association of Serbia (NUNS) probably connected with criminal and un- debt made by the previous owner. As the from southern Serbian city Nis describes ethical business structures) will buy local circulation of both Suboticke novine and another example of privatisation of local media using their influence or cash. The Suboticke was insufficient for commercial media, this time in the south of Serbia. In main motivation of these businessmen is survival of either newspaper on the local the third biggest city in the country - Nis, the power acquired through the media but market, an arrangement was set between the local newspaper Narodne novine was also the social prestige of owning your owners of both outlets to have journalists privatised in 2006. Twenty journalists left own media outlet. Tycoons would cer- of the latter return to their original post - this newspaper and went to the newly tainly use the privatised media for their Suboticke novine. In return, the new own- founded Nase daily. Less than a year later, own “business interest”. Privatised in ers Suboticke novine committed to print all Nase went out of business. The same such a way, “reformed” media would cer- of its editions in the printing house owned group of journalists went on to found tainly have to comply with new rules for by the media concern to which Suboticke new weekly Niski glasnik. That one also the “journalist standards” and of the belong to. That way, Suboticke novine failed, and journalists joined the other me- “businesslike” behaviour. would continue to publish in full with ver- dia outlets. Narodne novine is still being bal guarantees to keep all the journalists published with double decreased circula- Another set of challenges brought by pri- that returned to the newsroom in full em- tion and significontly lesser number of vatisation of local media is a significant ployment. At the same time, the owner of employees with overall little focus on lo- change in conception and broadcasted Suboticke would make a profit out of do- cal affairs. “Instead”, Kosanovic says, “the programme/content. In some instances, ing the printing job for all the editions of newspaper is filled with news provided by new owners accommodate to the com- their previous competitor. In November the national news agencies. Its content could mercial outlook of their programmes 2008, the agreement came to fruition. In not be praised for quality.” which become focused more on enter- the statement that followed on the online tainment and less on public information. edition of Radio-television Vojvodina, one These cases involving Suboticke novine and of the journalists Zlatko Romic stated that Narodne novine are striking and somewhat Journalists around Serbia have invested the editorial staff accepted the offer to re- representative of the challenges brought some efforts to suggest to decision-mak- turn to Suboticke novine because both out- by the privatisation of local media. The Newsstand in Belgrade ers to enable the workers in the media lets were poorly managed and did not process started in 2001 as part of the over- Photo by Kornelia Szabo business to buy out shares in their media prove to be competitive in the market. all privatisation of the state and public cap- and thus make the ownership structure ital throughout Serbia. However, the ini- more transparent. As journalist Jasmina tial results in the local media sector were fact that the privatisation process has not prescribe on 30-30-40 ownership struc- media theoretician, who analysed and Lukac wrote in the daily Danas (in the ar- Lack of vision and clear not satisfactory, which was the reason why been continued yet. Current public de- ture principle (that is, local authorities studied this issue in his PhD thesis. ticle “Will there be any buyers at all?” pub- objectives in the privatisation the privatisation process was discontinued bate on Law that should preventing media would have 30 percent of the ownership lished on 1 June 2006), the media would at the end of 2007. concentration /monopoly could help of the local media, the employees would “First, there is a danger of shutting down the remain the property of journalists, which overcoming most of the issues. However, also have 30 percent of the shares, and the media. For example, if the local media is not would be an additional stimulus in doing In spite of the verbal agreement to keep President of the Independent Journalist Gruhonjic believes that such a law should 40 percent would be on the market) sold on the public auction due to the lack of the job well. However, those efforts have all the employees in Suboticke novine, Association of Vojvodina (NDNV) have been passed and enforced way before would resolve the complicated situation interest among buyers, media looses its received little or no response yet. three journalists soon lost their jobs. One Dinko Gruhonjic states that the real issue the actual media privatisation started. of the media, allowing for more efficient working licence. On another instance, if it of them is Zlatko Romic, considered to is the lack of clear objectives and goals of privatisation. Some local authorities is sold successfully, new owners could decide Local media around Serbia are in a dead- be one of the best reporters by his col- the privatisation. “Media are not the same refuse to accept this proposition as the to completely give up on media activities lock as far as privatisation is concerned. leagues in the newsroom. The reporter as any other business and that was not tak- Law on Media Concentration Law on Local Self-Governance allow and take it to another business direction. Preparation for privatisation is going Mihalj Novak and advertising officer en into consideration. Protecting the interest could help overcoming them to have larger share in the owner- The Law provides the opportunity to do that slowly and there is an obvious lack of in- Stipan Stipancic were also dismissed. of the public should be key criteria.” most of the issues ship structure in the local media which after two years of privatisation. In both cas- terest on the side of the buyers. The local Furthermore, salaries have decreased by Gruhonjic also points to other issues such leads to another set of confusion. es, local media gets shut down and journal- authorities are either not interested or 30 percent and are also running late for as the absence of a media register, lack of ists are left without job. That makes a lot of scared of losing the media influence, so no four-months - all against the agreement, transparency of the ownership structures, “Privatisation of the local media is a deli- impact on the public interest of people in lo- one supports nor supervises the prepara- Romic claims. “What are the criteria by as well as the fact that this kind of privati- Dragan Janjic, former editor-in-chief of cate process because of the various challenges cal communities”, Tomic explains. tion process for selling remaining media which the workers were fired and why was sation results in suppression of research- BETA news agency, who recently held a brought to the journalist profession by poor- outlets. All that led the privatisation the agreement violated?” he asked his su- oriented journalism. Yet, the biggest position of the assistant to the Minister of ly managed or non-transparent process”, Journalists also fear the “tycoonisation” process to move from its initial phase periors, but he never got a response. problem, as Gruhonjic singles it out, is the Culture, believes that the law that would says Prof. Dr Boban Tomic, journalist and of the media, which means that business down to some sort of a ’zero position’.

20 deScripto deScripto 21 MEDIA LANDSCAPE: Serbia in Transition MEDIA LANDSCAPE: Serbia in Transition

Editors to be Held Responsible society. They are responsible for production of such a high amount of prejudices and stereotypes.” Interview with Nadezda Gace, President of Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia

Serbian media are operating on a market basis. So editors The influence of politics and believe that in order to sell they should produce flashy money on the media in Serbia is large and is intertwined headlines to be noticed on newsstands. But, it is not only scandals that sell and editors should think about By Damjan the responsibility that media have towards society. Malbasic, There has been a lot of talk in Serbia about Student, FMK the influence of politicians and tycoons on Nadezda Gace, he Serbian media landscape has rapidly being expelled from formerly state-owned the media. It is widely believed that some Head of NUNS developed and diversified in compari- RTS for protesting against the propaganda of the most powerful politicians and busi- Photo by Imre Szabo T son to the 1990s primarily due to pri- of Milosevic regime, she worked for or consolation to the impoverished and dis- ness people have control over the majority vatisation of the media and the growth of Jugoslovenska televizija - JUTEL (found- appointed public. And then, nothing. This of media outlets. Asked to comment on belled as tabloid in Serbia are not the tabloids Evidence would probably lead to high-rank- private investment in media outlets. Today, ed in 1990, just before the war, by journal- kind of approach makes it impossible to that, Gace points out that in the west, in the sense of what we see in the West. What ing officials”, says the NUNS President. the majority of public media consumption ists from all parts of former Yugoslavia publicly open serious discussions on issues print media are allowed to make a choice we are dealing with here are political tabloids has been centred on a few commercial tele- who wanted to preserve a integrated media that are important for the future of Serbia”, regarding their political affiliation. In used by politicians to ruin reputation of their Lack of educated, thorough and docu- vision stations with national coverage - scene), and then in many print media out- says Nadezda Gace. Serbia, it has not been clearly defined yet. political opponents. In Serbia issues are not mented investigative journalism Gace Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), TV B92, lets such as the Slovenian journal Delo and She also referred to the survey conducted raised to be solved, but to be used by politi- considers as the key reasons for which Pink, and Fox. Serbian readers are mostly the Serbian newspapers Borba, Nasa borba Journalists are not to blame by NUNS a couple of years ago. The ma- cians to deal with each other”. some of the most important issues have consuming dailies such as Blic, Novosti, and Danas. For that, Gace holds editors to be the jority of citizens believed that journalists never been properly investigated and re- Politika, Pres, Danas, and tabloid Kurir, all most responsible. “I do firmly believe that are not corrupt. “Another fact was worry- Although it is difficult to prove, Gace as- ported on. In cooperation with the US of which are privately owned. “The problem is not the topics but the ap- journalists are not to blame for such a state ing. People expressed their belief that only sumes that such tabloids “came to be with Embassy, NUNS has established the proach that journalists take. No critical ap- of affairs but editors. And I am not saying politicians lie more than journalists.” the aid of the remnants of the old state secret Centre for Investigative Journalism for all Judging by the opinions of journalists and proach whatsoever. It all comes down to the that to defend journalists but because I services that are well connected to political journalists interested. However, Gace the public alike, the quality of journalism same clichés. If they are covering corruption know that between them and what ends up “On the other hand, there are the rich people leaders”. “These remnants are still very thinks that the government should also does not meet the professional standards - they report that person got arrested and on TV, radio or newspaper there stands the gaining influence on the media, or even powerful, because brothers-in-arms have a stimulate the development of investiga- of developed and democratic societies. then make accusations before the trial is editorial team. It is the editorial teams who buying some outlets. I believe their motive stronger relationship than any others.” tive journalism. The majority of journalists are poorly over. The affair goes on in the media for are responsible for not opening up some of is not to ’rule’ over media. It’s more like paid, working in modest conditions and couple of days, prepared to serve as ’remedy’ the most important subject matters in our they believe that by having influence over Responsibility for public speaking have not had many opportunities to be media they can get closer to a certain politi- Issues are not raised to be The president of NUNS disagrees with properly trained and educated. cal party. Therefore, the influence of politics solved, but to be used by the general opinion that all Serbian news- and money on the media in Serbia is big politicians to deal with papers are beginning to look like each oth- “What you read in our dailies or watch in the and greatly intertwined. Influences today er and like tabloids; “I would not agree that news programmes are predominantly topics are much more sophisticated than in times each other there is an all-out tabloidisation. There are that are of little importance for citizens’ when only one political party was ’giving still newspapers like Politika, Blic and everyday life. That is the number one prob- orders’. There are many more roundabout Danas which operate in a different manner.” lem with Serbian journalism. Media are sat- ways to shape public opinion”. “After 15 years it is still not known who urated with stories like murders, crimes, po- murdered a journalist Dada Vujasinovic, or “Again, editorial teams are responsible. litical scandals, intrigues... which can be ex- Political tabloids who killed Slavko Curuvija nine years ago. Serbian media are operating on the market plained as expected outcome of a long-lasting Another popular belief in Serbia is that the Former Minister of Police reported that a basis. So editors believe that in order to sell obliteration”, says Nadezda Gace, president media is becoming means by which politi- journalist from Jagodina, Milan Pantic, was they should produce flashy headlines to be of Independent Association of Journalists cians try to assault and neutralise both not intended to be murdered, but only beat- noticed on the newsstands. But, it is not on- of Serbia (NUNS) in interview for their opponents and journalists who do not en up in order to be intimidated. His mur- ly scandals that sell. And editors should deScripto. The NUNS President has had a conform to their interests. Asked if der is still unsolved. These cases are not be- think about the responsibility that media long and rich journalism experience since tabloids are particularly responsible for ing solved because they would eventually have towards society”. the times of the former Yugoslavia. After Newspaper headlines on arresting Radovan Karadzic Photo by FoNET news agency , Zoran Mrdja that, Gace answers: “First of all, media la- reach some people that are not to be reached. Continuited on page 24

22 deScripto deScripto 23 MEDIA LANDSCAPE: Serbia in Transition MEDIA LANDSCAPE: Serbia in Transition

Continuited from page 23 Serbian Media Going Online Internet brought them, but also how the low streaming of radio and TV pro- and engage in a discussion forum. Blic al- However, the NUNS president is opti- web only media and citizen media devel- gramme, and both influence public opin- so started their own blog which is written mistic when it comes to instituting and oped in recent years. ion. Both have blogs mostly written by by several important figures from Serbia’s implementing responsibility of public of- Increased Number of Internet Users Speed Up well known public figures, as well as com- economic, political and public life. ficials for their public speaking. “For the Development of Media Web Presentations Traditional media in ments sections and forums. And both Another Ringier’s newspaper - freely dis- NUNS it is our number one priority. We is- and Online Media Outlets the new environment sites have much more cultural news than tributed 24 sata (www.24sata.rs), fully im- sue so many press statements reacting to Although the national television network, their radio and TV schedules. plemented their orientation towards every account of inappropriate public speak- which is now transformed into the public younger audience on their website. Short ing or offence against someone’s personality service network existed for much longer Millions of people confirm their trust in news stories, commenting option and in public. A politician was recently called (radio for around 80 years and TV for half these stations on a day-to-day basis, and fresh design, with possibility to download ’murderer’. An actress who played in a a century), it is best to follow it’s devel- with the possibility to react (to comment each issue in PDF format for offline read- move about Srebrenica was titled as ’whore’ opment from the point of dissolution of their content on their websites, in their ing. They are also the only daily to exper- in one tabloid. We act immediately to pro- former Yugoslavia at the beginning of forums etc.) the trust in the two most rel- iment with KlikMee (www.klikmee.com) tect the rights of people and journalism 1990s, when it started broadcasting under evant (new) media is far from being ques- technology, which allows easier access to speech. ’Street talk’ creates negative public By Ana Koncul, Marko Herman, the current name - Radio Televizija Srbije tioned, and it’s getting bigger by the day. online content for the users of photo ca- opinion. Increasing circulation by using Students, FMK (RTS). During the reign of Slobodan pable mobile phones. such words is no excuse”, Gace says. Milosevic, RTS was censored and known Newspapers online he Internet arrived in Serbia in widely. Also, it is worth mentioning that for manipulation and limited freedom of Daily newspapers are probably the first None of the daily newspapers have imple- Acknowledging that in the 1990s young 1995 when EUnet was the first 74.5 percent of households have at least expression. As a response, a radio station printed media organisations to realise that mented a real web 2.0 oriented platform people were deprived of proper education, T company to sell dial-up connec- one mobile phone, and that around the with a different news concept was estab- the Internet will influence them greatly. and citizen journalism is only in its infancy. Nadezda Gace says that the malfunction- tions on the market. Over the next seven third of them use their phones to access lished by a group of young people under This realisation leads newspapers in sever- ing education system and lack of knowl- to eight years it didn’t change much. the Internet. the name Radio B92. Over the course of al directions. Some refused to use the Periodicals edge are hardest to compensate. “Besides Few wireless and satellite providers were the following years this became a well-es- Internet for anything more than a simple Weekly and monthly magazines showed all the wars and poverty that Serbia suffered, operating but were way too expensive When you analyse the way the Serbian tablished national TV and radio station presentation, some decided they could sell mostly less understanding for the lack of education is great burden to Serbia. for many users which relied on dial-up media responded to this rather fast de- B92. A year ago, B92 also established a ca- access to most of their information Internet. They usually provide content Knowledge leads the way out of crises and until late 2002 and 2003, when first cable velopment of broadband Internet pene- ble news channel - B92 INFO, along with (which proved wrong), and some started that is widely available online (mostly in makes the wheels of society spin”, she says. providers came onto the market. tration, you could see that they reacted the new version of their online issue for putting all of their content online for free. other languages), and try to appeal to the NUNS regularly organises trainings, Although it wasn’t a quantum leap in rather late but also that things are mov- mobile devices. readers by additional content and nicely workshops and calls professionals to assist speed, it allowed users to have stable ing in a direction which is beneficial to One of the first to use the Internet and to designed “packages”. Therefore most pe- with education of young journalists. connections that didn’t rely on the qual- all. The best example is use of video ma- try to sell and provide their content freely riodicals’ websites are Internet advertise- ity of Telekom Srbija’s infrastructure. terials on media websites. In the early Relevant links: was Danas (www.danas.rs) daily. This me- ments for their latest issues without much The head of NUNS notes that she does Two years later, at the beginning of 2005, days, only TV stations used some of http://www.rts.rs/ dia outlet started as the opposition to the freely available content. For instance, the not have any illusions that politicians else- Telekom introduced an ADSL service as their material online, and some of them http://www.rts.rs/page/blog/sr.html government print media in the 1990s and weekly magazine with a good reputation - where in the world do not try to have me- an alternative to the cable connections. streamed their programmes. Now, many http://www.rts.rs/page/live/sr.html built their reputation as the strong oppo- Vreme (www.vreme.com), publishes some dia ’on their side’. “But there are rules to the media websites, those of traditional me- http://www.radiobeograd.rs/ sition, independent from the government of the stories and offer web subscription game. In Serbia rules still have not been set. According to the Statistical Office of the dia going online, and those of media http://www.b92.net/ newspaper, which promoted the voices of for those who want to read it all online. There still are no standardised systems”. Republic of Serbia, in the beginning of started online, use video materials to il- http://blog.b92.net/ the opposition political parties, youth or- 2008, 47.6 percent of households in lustrate their stories. And sometimes, http://www.b92.net/kultura/ ganisations and NGOs. Today, Danas’ On the other hand, another important Asked about the role of NUNS in drafting Serbia were owners of a computer (a this video material is being produced for http://www.b92.net/radio/uzivo.php web edition is a modern news website weekly - Ekonomist (www.emportal.rs) dis- media legislation and the goals of this or- desktop or a laptop), and 33.2 percent of their websites, although it’s mostly with contents updated several times a day carded such a model and created a full web ganisation today, Nadezda Gace replies that households were regularly using the something freely available online. and on the way to fully integrate video portal related to economic and political is- the voice of NUNS is being heard: Internet. Less than a half of Internet Today, both RTS and B92 have a dominant materials into their content. sues. Content from their printed issues is “Nowadays we participate in writing bills on users, only 15.5 percent of households Also, broadband connections allowed influence on creating public opinion in available for reading online and only re- media consolidation and transparency in have broadband Internet access, but the the users to more easily send their own Serbia and both have developed online Similar to theirs is the website of Blic dai- quires a free registration. Their online con- ownership in media. I think we play a good number of broadband users has almost contributions which are becoming more news platforms with increasing number of ly (www.blic.rs). They also update their tent is much richer than the printed version. role. Many do not like what we say, but we doubled in comparison to the year be- important for media. visitors. Only a year after B92.net was content on when-it-happens basis. Their are not here to be liked. We stick to morality fore. The latest development is that new started, in 1996, it was proclaimed as the website also leads to other publications Looking at bi-weekly and monthly peri- and ethics. I think that NUNS has a good ef- ADSL speeds that are available to the So when we talk about new media in most visited and the most influential web- under the Blic brand, and provides their odicals, it’s even harder to find those with fect on things that matter and we do not want users give us good reason to think that Serbia, we talk about how the tradition- site in the region. The contents of both readers several way of communication websites. It seems that mostly those ori- to be associated with any political option”.
broadband access will spread even more al media grasped the possibilities the websites are similar: mostly news, both al- with them; to comment on their stories Continuited on page 26

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Continuited from page 25 Domino Magazin (www.domino- specialised web magazine called Studentski sonal, or written from a personal per- Media in ented towards younger audience magazin.com). They publish stories svet (www.studentskisvet.com). They cov- spective, and couple of good examples are put some effort in their online on many different topics and are one er topics related to education as well as Blogowski.eu and Artmistakes.com. Serbia and presence. For instance, relatively of the rare examples where users can topics of general interest. And magazines young free monthly (soon to be bi- generate content which is published presented here are only a tip of the ice- There are also blogs related to specific the Idea of weekly) city guide City Magazine in the same manner as the content berg. There are many more good exam- topics which are rarely written from a per- (www.citymagazine.rs) created a written by magazine staff. Since it’s ples, and also o lot of bad ones. sonal perspective. Or when personal per- the Network website that has it’s own life be- the first magazine of that type in spective is there, it is the perspective of a tween two printed issues and also Serbia, the concept still has to prove Media 2.0 virtual character. One of such blogs is de- Between the “Internets” used a bit of web 2.0 trends by im- itself. Another good web magazine The Serbian blog scene is a world in itself. sign related Dizajnersi.com with not too plementing a blog which is written is Popboks (www.popboks.com). It is Since most magazines, whether tradition- much posts, but with content relevant to and the handouts-for-free by some of the staff members as created to resemble printed maga- al or web oriented, didn’t pay much at- those interested in design topics. Similar well as other figures relevant to the zines that write about pop culture. tention to readers’ needs, they started to that one (by concept) is Tracara.com local urban scene. Similarly, RLN Since local magazines market does- writing for themselves. Yes, blogs did (Gossip Girl), where a virtual girl writes (www.realno.org) has a website de- n’t have an issue that can satisfy the start as personal diaries, but nowadays about local and world celebrities. This is veloped with much attention. And audience which craves such content, they are a form and a concept of publish- also one of the rare blogs to implement a although not much of their content Popboks is rather successful and al- ing different contents. micro blog (www.twitter.com/tracara) can be read online, they allow the most only relevant issue. They did- with short celebrity information into its download of the PDF version of n’t implement any web 2.0 trends, The best place to start exploring Serbian content. And that web 2.0 trends do have By Vlada Jeric, the magazine. but have a stable publishing policy blogosphere is Blogodak (www.blogo- good ground in Serbia prove a couple Student, FMK and fresh content every day so read- dak.com). This is an aggregator with more micro blogs that are not personal. Web magazines ers come back. blogs sorted by topic. Not all blogs are Kursna lista (www.twitter.com/kurs) and Today, there are more interesting Serbian, but all of them are written in one Vremenska prognoza (www.twitter.com/ he title of this article deliberately web magazines in Serbia than web- Since most Internet users in Serbia of the similar languages spoken in Serbia, vreme) provide their followers with new borrows the expression from sites of traditional printed media. Illustration by are high school or faculty students, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and currency exchange rate, and weather in- T George W Bush and his “take” on Aleksandra Petkovic it’s only logical that there is also a Montenegro. Most of the blogs are per- formation.
how the Internet may be (mis)under- Personal magazin (www.personalmag.rs) is stood, which was delivered in public de- one of those examples. A very informative Reportage on web radio noviradiobeograd.com *New Radio Belgrade bate as late as 2004. This is in order to in- IT related magazine run by one of the well troduce the perspective from the very known Serbian bloggers. Another good New Kids on the Cyber Block is a radio without traditional genre forms that strives to improve the culture of di- start - what we will observe here is not a example is Benchmark (www.bench- When on one occasion I read about audiophile shelter on the Internet, full of free alogue, promote reconciliation and tolerance, establish contacts with Serbia’s unique “misunderstanding” of what the mark.rs), which follows the tradition of spirit that wasn’t felt on the Serbian media scene since the beginnings of B92, I was neighbours, as well as to positively ’provoke’ sleepy Serbian musical and general Internet may be, and something inherent well known American technology web- very interested in listening to New Radio Belgrade. And when I first tuned to their cultural public scene. to Serbia only; but, it is fair to say that in sites with thorough hardware tests and a programme the intention of those editing and broadcasting (streaming) the station Serbian society, more then in most of the network of websites for different audi- - to offer the alternative and a place in the (cyber) community where listeners can Through almost 30 different shows, (mostly) young staff addresses the topics re- other places it may be comparable with, ences. They also have a discussion forum enjoy all the things that didn’t find their place in the dominant media. lated to popular science, culture, sport, social minorities, and at the same time the very idea of the Internet is still ’un- with a lot of users and recently started a clearly broadcasts the message that they are against any form of government con- der construction’, and during this blog on which posts are written by staff Although it was experimentally streamed before the official start, on 6 October 2008, trolled arts, stereotypes and prejudices. process is a subject of numerous miscon- members and readers. And related to IT is the shaking up of the sleepy Serbian scene started, as the Editor-in-Chief Milutin ceptions and manipulations. a web/PDF magazine called PC igre Petrovic put it. This date isn’t randomly selected. 6 October is the day after the famous New Radio Belgrade clearly represents refreshment for Serbian media scene. (www.pcigre.com). They created a combi- 5 October 2000 revolution, when Slobodan Milosevic regime was thrown down. Although they were challenged by many problems such as lack of offices from We need those wires. And cables. nation of a website with fresh gaming Although people expected that changes would be very deep and implemented in all ar- which the programme could be broadcasted, inability for listeners to access their A lot of cables news each day and articles about games eas of social and political life in Serbia, most people feel that many things remained the stream, errors that prevent the official forum to work properly, listeners’ comments The wider awareness about the potential of for online reading as well as a monthly same. Therefore, 6 October is often referred to as the day that never happened. That is are mostly positive. And staff members don’t give up in spite the problems. Even the Internet in Serbia came fairly recently PDF issues which can be freely down- why this date was symbolically chosen for the birthday of New Radio Belgrade as a re- more, they plan to expand broadcast to TV and radio frequencies. (some would say that we are still waiting loaded and is often distributed on DVD action to the lack of interest of other media to improve Serbian (primarily music) scene. for that to happen). This ’slip’ from the supplements of printed IT magazines. Relevant links global mainstream is being explained by After only couple of months of broadcasting, NRB is one of the most popular http://www.noviradiobeograd.com/ the distinctive local history of 1990s, Connecting IT and gadgets with other top- Internet radio stations in the country. The audience is won over by the fact that this http://www.last.fm/user/NoviRadioBeograd which for Serbia would be marked by the ics of interest to Serbian Internet users is Continuited on page 28

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Continuited from page 27 ture of using’, which would be ’the second need’ to be connected, and then rush to lo- and then TV came challenged; but precise- stage’ in introduction of a certain new social cal providers and enlist for a line - it comes ly of it being the matter of time, and also violent appropriation of ’public’ by advanc- paradigm (of technology, of media, etc)? as the consequence of the set of strategies of scale, now the media in those societies ing ’private’ (in all possible meanings), sev- and campaigns to ’create’ that need and/or would have already a certain position to- eral lost wars it never ’officially’ took part According to the previous government desire. The interest of society to participate wards the Internet - they would be pretty in, reverting to the political ideas and social and the Secretary of the former Ministry in The Network needs to be clearly out- much clearly divided on the basis if they values of previous centuries, and finally by for Capital Investments, Dragana Djurcic, lined and articulated to everybody involved; somehow are trying to merge or inter- the international isolation and embargo on the fact that Serbia is still at the very bot- of course that the role of media would be twine and eventually become the part of anything and everything. Including the tom of the European list of ’penetration’ crucial in creating this kind of public aware- One Network, or if they have embraced Internet? Well, in some respect, yes. During of computers and Internet is not the fault ness and consent. The problem is, the tra- the approach to ’fight back’ and resist. 1990s Serbia was “allowed” to have a nar- of government but of citizens themselves. ditional media in Serbia at this moment do And none of them could ignore that the row “tube’” or two (I cannot resist quoting She was quoted saying the following, at not see the Internet as a friend or as an ally; Internet is already here and constantly senator Stevens here, to properly accompa- Between Internet and handouts-for-free Photo by Igor Marovic the SEE Broadband 2007, a regional so it would be the combination of misun- emerging, becoming more powerful and ny G.W. Bush) to connect it with the rest of ’broadband conference’ of the countries of derstanding and fear which would guide ’unavoidable’ in each circle of its perma- ’The Network’. After all, it was the Internet punishable by the law of any contemporary before 2004, there is at least something in South East Europe held in Belgrade: “The owners, managers and editors of “the big nent expansion. Still, nobody is sure what

which still was below the radar of regime’s society. On the other hand, there is no guar- terms of connectivity, and it is getting reason for not using the Internet enough is Computer Main Board Photo by Igor Marovic media police but which immense potential antee nor mechanism set in place not to see more and more wide-spread, if you are definitely not the price because [in the sur- to connect and communicate ’tremendous- this position being exploited by the state lucky enough to be in Belgrade or a few vey probably commissioned by government] ly contributed’ to ’democratic changes’, monopolists in a similar manner. If a na- other (for businesses and politicians more only 9.6 percent of households consider the right? Anyhow, the result of such policies tional public service like Radio Television of interesting) places. The first serious land- price of broadband Internet too high. Most from the side of both the regime in ques- Serbia (RTS) sees no problem in being mark number was reached in the spring of of the households - around 44 percent - say tion and ’the international community’ is backed by the budget, funded from the 2008, when, according to some surveys, they don’t want the broadband Internet, that Serbia entered 21st Century pretty mandatory subscription and by selling a Serbia had 250,000 broadband users. don’t need it or don’t know how to use it.” much disconnected, with analogue commercial space all at the same time, there Some sources state that we are operating modems here and there just to make the is no reason for the state-backed telecom with the number of around 500,000 al- picture more grim. And after several addi- company not to try to do the same. This is ready, some would mention much more, Traditional media in Serbia tional years required by the new establish- especially true with the forthcoming finan- but the statistics would come from differ- at the moment do not see ment to ’reposition’, Serbia finally entered cial crisis, which everybody is getting more ent sources of which none should be con- the Internet as a friend or as the world of “wider tubes” sometime in and more worried about, but which seems sidered as absolutely confirmed and ’ob- 2004, but again, ’not for real’ - the service that nobody really understands, which gives jective’, in a scientific way. This kind of an ally...Combination of was and still is significantly lagging behind a tremendous opportunity for (any) state or disorientation is illustrative of the lack of misunderstanding and fear media”, and consequently the entire public it did to us exactly, and it is understandable the average bandwidth of Europe today. business to bring decisions which it does a more mature social infrastructure in the would guide owners, managers sphere, into either rather pretending that that a lot of people may go trough the pe- not have to explain or argue at all - so, ’re- field, as still we wait for clear government and editors of ’big media’ the Internet is not really happening (or that riod of disorientation and confusion. And the prices... Serbian state-owned cession’ and ’crisis’ may become some sort policies (and then to fight with the conse- into the campaign against “the whole thing is overblown” and does Telecom remains to be a so-called “last mile” of ’magic’ words, and something you are quences of it), still most of the govern- the Internet. not deserve much attention) or into the Obviously, there is some kind of ’ half-a- monopoly - one of the few left in the world not really expected to discuss. ment and businesses and other institu- very campaign against the Internet, pre- generation split’ happening among the of telecommunications. It may not neces- tions have sloppy and dysfunctional web- senting it as not just insignificant and population in their 30s and up. There is al- sarily be a bad thing - where this monopoly Back to the story of the Internet - the re- sites, still e-mail is not something widely meaningless phenomena, another fashion- ready some research on the possibly grow- from the side of society or a state is being sult of such a recent local history com- considered as a valid sort of communica- But why would all those people think that of-the-moment to fade away tomorrow, be- ing cultural differences and the phenomena lost and the “free market” completely took bined with the existing monopoly in tion, and still there are no means of online they neither need nor liked to be connect- ing replaced by something else, but also a of ’misunderstanding’ and ’miscommuni- over, we already saw quite a few challenges Serbia is that the prices of Internet access electronic payment and related services ed, how would they decide about it? And potentially very dangerous place to be. cation’ between those involved in transfor- to the idea that all information going trough remained very high compared to the emerging. And yet, some of us enjoy the why would the government say that it has mation and those who are not; but there is “the tubes” should be treated equally, and Europe and the region, and extremely marvel of the lack of over-regulation in nothing to do with its society’s attitude to- This is something which was also charac- also something which should be viewed as some businesses trying to grab the piece of high compared to the average local in- the field, and hope it will stay that way. wards what is being considered a global teristic for the lot of traditional media in coming from the entirely different angle. It other businesses at the expense of ’network come. Obviously, infrastructure-wise, ’revolution’ in communications? The cul- societies which were going to this kind of is the willingness to understand, the trust neutrality’- which would be, without any Serbia is still one messy place - it is not Broadening “the tubes” ture of using and promoting the usage of ’media transition’ and which came to use to ’others’ and especially ’younger others’ doubt, at the expense of ’democracy’, ’the easy to get the connection at all, and once So, it can be said regarding the infrastructure, the Internet, as we all know too well and as digital networks before, and on a wider from the side of skeptics, and an honest right to public speech’, ’truth’, ’transparen- you get it you find yourself paying more- however expensive, slow and sloppy it may is the case with anything else, does not hap- scale, and still the process is unfolding in and (however ’painful’ it may be) realistic cy’ and other ’pillars of the society’ - such for-less, compared to everybody else be, that it became available for quite some pen ’by itself ’. It is not that millions of cit- many different places - as ’the tubes’ got attitude towards what is already happening an attempt should be defined, prevented and around; but, if compared to the situation number of people now; what is with the ’cul- izens will wake up one morning, ’feeling the broader, not only printed media, but radio Continuited on page 30

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Continuited from page 29 called ’real life’, which both become visible bold and more the ’caricature of itself ’ money they steal there, but also your en- or emerged as we started to use the then elsewhere and before, as the conse- tire ’identity’; and if by some chance it and what is emerging as ’ubiquitous’, Internet more, changing significantly not quence of the historical and political cir- doesn’t get you addicted to it, surely it which elevates the idea of Internet, or any- what we think about or do ’online’, but our cumstances outlining it. will make you dumber. thing ’new’, to the tipping point, making it understanding and material practices of not ’the phenomena’ of the avant-garde ’offline’, as well. The politics of fear Now press ’enter’ if you dare and ’experimental’ practice of one society A small survey made to illustrate this claim This is not to say that some of the things anymore, but a common, not-a-big-thing was done researching the excellent media mentioned in the headlines do not happen. and default social infrastructure. The If the Internet is mentioned at archive of Ebart Media Documentation, Of course that there is a lot of ’criminal’ ’tubes’ have to become transparent, to the all, it would be in specialised who provided a support to FMK in data- behaviour online - but, more-or-less in the point it makes them almost ’invisible’, be- columns and TV shows, or mining media for this issue of deScripto. It same ratio as in ’real life’, and it is expected fore we can consider that people finally ac- did confirm what is already suspected and - as the Internet and related digital com- cepted it - but never, ever, we should forget small pieces of news reporting ’perceived’ from the experience - the tradi- munication tools expanded our reach the material practices and material charac- from ’out there’...where we tional media in Serbia would rather ignore much beyond the possibilities of our body, ter of it. follow the activities of “them”, mentioning the Internet at all (being in de- or beyond the place we live in or the social a group of people who are nial), by not attributing the online sources Street Grafitti Photo by Kornelija Szabo circles we can be the part of - it did so for It is not that Serbia is that late in this queue ’different’, and who decided from which they predominantly aggregate all the aspects of ’us’. Also, this is not to to reach ’the tipping point’ - as we have to spend time “there”. news and information from, and, even cerpts confirm that those are still the two Parents don’t know how to control the online say that there is no positive and affirmative seen, even in the very society in which this more importantly, by avoiding any discus- dominant approaches used by the main- content (Danas, 8 May 2008), Internet coverage of the Internet, and that there are It will almost never be about ’paradigm shift’ of media was introduced, sion on the Internet and its omnipresence stream media, and here are some amusing makes you dumber (Politika, 12 July 2008), no specialised magazines and columns the United States, up to now there is still “us” and “here”. in the life and work of the growing number and characteristic examples, all from daily Prostitution flourishes over the Internet (Blic, dedicated to promoting all things Internet, both tremendous wide-spread use of the of people. In other words, you will not find and weekly press during 2008: 9 November 2008), Internet addiction on albeit most of it would be promoting the Internet among the population and a gen- many reports or discussions from, or the rise (Glas Javnosti, 30 November 2008), products and services, quite possibly con- eration of ’resistance’ to it, involving some Regarding traditional media in Serbia, about, the Internet in the traditional media Mass murderers buying arms over the Manipulation of public opinion on the nected with vendors or distributors and of the ’big media’ as well, and symbolically there is no doubt that both ’online’ and of today. It appears as if nothing really im- Internet (Blic, 17 February 2008), A mod- Internet (Glas Javnosti, 18 January 2008), acting as advertisement, without real criti- represented in the idea of Internet as ’in- ’offline’ aspects of this change are happen- portant happened since the 1990s, and that ern thief sits behind the computer (Glas Indecent proposals in chat rooms, parents cal and scientific discussion about the ternets’ by the former president, or the ing as we speak - most, if not all ’the big it is still considered quite normal to accept Javnosti, 3 February 2008), Hackers from misguided (Politika, 25 February 2008), Internet, besides on the Internet itself. even more amusing idea of the Internet as media’ would have or are in the process of that public communication and journalism, Kosovo attacked the web-site of the youth or- Children are the target of Internet maniacs However, most of those would be con- ’the series of tubes’ as explained by senator building the extensive digitized and net- culture and politics, entertainment and sci- ganisation (Danas, 18 August 2008), (Blic, 3 June 2008), Drugs and prostitution fined to ’specialised’ places and addressing Stevens. The recent electoral victory of worked presence. There is a vast network ence, and everything really, still happens on Albanians blocked Serbian web site (Kurir, in the virtual world (Politika, 6 December the audience already aware of the Internet President Obama was widely attributed to of ’smaller’ media, which are already ex- the pages of printed media or at the other 15 August 2008), Civil servants banned of 2008), Facebook addiction surpasses the ad- and its ever expanding potentials and prob- the success of his media and fundraising clusively based on the ’online’ approach, side of TV screens. In most of the cases, if using Facebook (Blic, 19 December 2008), diction on computer games (Politika, 6 lems. In the general picture, the ’popular’ campaign relying heavily on The Network. and the world of print media increasingly the Internet is mentioned at all, it would be Another robbery on YouTube (Blic, 27 December 2008), Internet more expensive, press, the one addressing just ’the people’, This replaces this symbolic resistance with resembles the looks and practices, ’the in- in specialised columns and TV shows, or February 2008), Electronic thefts e-mails under control (Blic, 26 July 2008), in the situation where there is no immedi- symbolic acceptance, clearly demonstrat- terface’ and ’the content’ of their online small pieces of news reporting from ’out (Ekonomist, 10 March 2008), National Inspectors chasing pirates (Politika, 14 ate knowledge and experience of the top- ing that it is not the matter of opinion but siblings. But, the shift in culture, ’the tip- there’, from some distant and still curious Agency for Telecommunication invades the November 2008), Computer viruses re- ic, is still producing more fear and confu- of recognising the material practice to ac- ping point’ or the symbolic acceptance still and dubious, not-that-significant-at-all privacy of citizen (Glas Javnosti, 30 July placed bombs (Nedeljni Telegraf, 21 May sion then critique and curiosity; without cept the new power of the Network, final- does not appear to be around the corner - place of ’internets’, where we follow the ac- 2008), Cash machines under the attack of cy- 2008), A law on electronic communication is having a clear social consensus, reflected in ly disarming the remnants of the genera- despite all the practices we are undeniably tivities of “them”, a defined and finite ber criminals (Biznis, 3 March 2008), Cyber necessary (Danas, 3 March 2008)... the media, that The Network is here to tion of ’sceptics’ and rendering any ’of- witnessing happening. The ’official’ atti- group of people who are ’different’, and criminals arrested in Kraljevo (Politika, 5 stay, with all of the gains and losses it may fline” approach to oblivion. It is important tude of the ’official’ media remains at best who for some reason decided to spend June 2008), Online sexual maniac got caught Hope you had a good laugh. It is impor- bring, it is quite possible that almost 50 to add that it is not just the idea of the in denial, and at worst quite defensive. If time “there”. It will almost never be about (Kurir, 30 May 2008), Charges against tant to remember that this is just a tiny percent of the citizens will continue to say: Internet-as-technical-infrastructure for the for this is already being said that it pre- “us” and “here”. The second approach, Internet paedophile (Press, 18 June 2008), portion of the headlines referring to the Internet? No thanks, I don’t think I really exchange of digital archives and communi- sents the ’expected’ phase in this process which is much more aggressive (or, per- Videos of orgies involving horses available Internet, and there is much more; so what need it... No matter how much is invested cation, and for creating ’virtual’ social net- of media (and social) transition, and some- haps more accurately, a defensive one), is online (Glas Javnosti, 18 June 2008), the average citizen reading newspapers in infrastructure, or not, from this point works, which relates to that change, but al- thing most of the societies experienced or being used in the cases in which the exis- Protect your identity while online (Pregled, could conclude on ’this Internet thing’? on it is the culture which decides on the so different other social processes, the dai- are about to experience as the one (for tence and influence of the Internet can not 22 August 2008), Laws needed against on- This is one dangerous place, in which ter- further progress in the field. And this is ly practices and modes of organisation some social groups) quite painful aspect of be ignored, or in which the aim is to spread line violence (Danas, 9 September 2008), rorists, pirates and maniacs of all kinds where traditional media should play a very (and of collaboration and communication ’evolving’ towards the networked society, the atmosphere of fear and doubt towards How to prevent the misuse of Internet? operate, and children are the prey of an important role. Once they are clear about and exchange) in what we traditionally then in Serbia this process may be more the very idea of it. Headlines and news ex- (Narodne novine - Niš, 9 September 2008), army of pedophiles; it is not just your what that role is supposed to be.

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The Art of the Internet in general, claiming that it is ’unstable’, ’unreliable’, tiative together with professor Jelena Filipovic from the Faculty of ’over-simplifying’, and repeating other common stereotypes? Philology and students contributed with three entries each, so the field Photo by Igor Marovic Rationalisation in is decently covered, I would say better then in the Wikipedia in English. Rancic: It is quite clear that the ’rules of working’ are much ’harder’, But, in general, this is what I see as the real problem, still there is the the Age of Crisis defined in more details and more transparent in Wikipedia then in all lack of people from certain fields who are also prominent in using and of the local encyclopaedia projects... understanding computer networks, and it is reflected in Wikipedia. Interview with Milos Rancic - a linguist, computer programmer, Wikimedia Serbia, ...and we had a flood of “new encyclopaedias” recently... Wikipedia ’broadens’ the scope Ebart media archive Rancic: Yes, right. In Wikipedia, there has to be a relevant source, and of future journalists’ education; preferably more sources, referenced; then the ’tone’ needs to be neutral, it teaches you how to search By Vlada Jeric, and you can not play on the ’authority’ card - in a lot, a lot of the oth- Student, FMK er projects it is just one ’authority’ figure which is referenced, some- body who wrote on something for which there are no other sources, no ilos Rancic is the expert in linguistics and one of the founders confirmations, and in that respect it is very problematic to state that What is the mainstream journalism re-publishing from of Wikipedia in Serbian, one of the fastest growing local lan- Wikipedia doesn’t come up to the standards of any general ency- Wikipedia (as a consequence of it being ’open’ for public use), M guage Wikipedias with more then 70,000 entries so far, and a clopaedia. I am not really following all the new and different projects what kind of ’content’ in average is of interest to the press? computer programmer working in Ebart media archive. In an inter- developing around, so still I take as the examples and references the

view for deScripto, he talks about roles of traditional and Internet me- Wikipedia screenshot never finished Encyclopaedia of Yugoslavia, then The Military ency- Rancic: Oh, I don’t know what they (the mainstream media) did re- dia, Wikipedia projects and other issues related to the development clopaedia and a Little Prosveta Encyclopaedia (so-called Mala enciklo- cently; I’ll need to search the Ebart media database to update myself on of the Internet scene in Serbia. aging’, although we all know for quite some time now, backed pedija Prosveta - officially: Opšta enciklopedija, trece izdanje, Prosveta, it (laughing)... But we’ve seen everything - really everything - piracy, the by all the relevant surveys and analysis, that it is completely the Beograd, 1978, which used to be a very popular and referenced one). ’real piracy’ - popular daily papers taking and using the photographs, for The small research I did using your media database confirmed other way around. Where, according to your opinion, does this Realistically speaking, compared to Prosveta edition, for example, al- example, or quoting the verbatim pieces of certain articles, and if all what that the ’traditional’ mainstream media would rather not need come from? Why do those people not accept it for what it most each entry in Wikipedia is just plainly better. And, one more thing they should do is to attribute it, but they don’t do even that, it just mention “Internet” at all, or would report on it in a context of is, and not try to benefit from having Wikipedia, instead? - Wikipedia is not a ’wonder’ anymore, so that the people would be ex- shows... Well, a bad attitude. Bad taste. But with some news agencies we paedophilia, identity theft, terrorism... As somebody who cited to speak and comment on it, nor we from the local branch of have a wonderful collaboration. For example, local WikiNews is re-pub- worked on “internets” for almost 15 years now, would you Rancic: You just reminded me of a thing I was contemplating for Wikimedia feel much need to campaign and ’popularise’ it around - lishing the news-stream from the Beta News Agency, and it works great. agree with that? some months now. Let’s think of the profession of being a journalist, most of the people I meet these days know precisely what Wikipedia is, for example. Today, it is a very demanding job to be one, and even for and are in general quite positive about it. People use it. It is here to stay. I see the potential for collaboration with traditional or mainstream me- Rancic: Well, considering Wikipedia, we are aware of it for quite some some ’simpler’ tasks, like covering the events around the city on a dai- dia, and I don’t think Wikipedia presents any kind of threat to traditional time. A lot of media would be reporting very negative, some even in a ly basis (for example, the daily shows like “The Belgrade Chronic” are So we hope that those “early adopting” problems marked journalism. Still there is the public demand to have an extensive and per- hilarious way, I can remember Press daily and how much we were covering zillions of different things) - it requires, besides acquiring the with suspicion and fear will fade out, replaced by focusing on manent, 24-hours per day coverage (and also the space to sell adds), es- laughing, but some were more serious in their accusations, like NIN information itself, a high degree of diverse knowledge on different the “real” problems of Wikipedia, on about how it works and pecially in smaller and mid-sized environments, like this one here - and weekly, who actually called Wikipedia “the Orwellian project’” - which topics. What I realised is that it is precisely the Wikipedia which pro- in which direction it develops. What kind of problems should I don’t think that the traditional local news services are in any state of is interesting, in a way that the consequence was that NIN itself be- vides the education of the future journalist in an adequate way, as it be discussed regarding Wikipedia today? immediate danger to be extinct. Still they provide the service some self- came repulsive for quite a few of Wikipedia people who used to read makes you to ’broaden’ the scope of your education, it teaches you organised entities can not - they produce the news which are systemat- it before. The most positive experience so far we had with Vreme how to search for ’sources’, it learns about the methodology of search- Rancic: The real problem of Wikipedia, and I am talking about the ’big’ ically covering all fields, deliver on regular basis and in time, and without weekly - there are always problems with being precise in modern ter- ing for ’relevant’ information, and the methodology of ’digesting’ and one here, the one in English, would be that it is still “thin” in those much if any oscillation - in other words, I don’t see any treat to Beta, minology, but the overall approach would be positive. I have to say representing the information in an understandable and transparent fields where, in general, there is not yet a critical mass of people who Tanjug, Agence France-Presse or Reuters. But with daily newspapers, it that I do not follow mainstream media that much, or at all - I haven’t way, and in a style which would be not that much different from a are also prominent in computer sciences, and in average that would be is different; it becomes obviously an obsolete thing, to say. been watching TV for years, for example... It was just a few days ago journalistic one - we can say that a lot of young people who decide to social sciences. Wikipedia is ’thinnest’ there. For example, as somebody I tried this new 3G feature on my mobile phone, so I watched TV on write for Wikipedia are by that very act showing the interest in jour- educated in linguistics, I can say that Wikipedia is pretty ’thin’ in the Well, the local numbers disagree - the circulation of traditional this tiny screen for some minutes - interesting - but in general, televi- nalism, anyway. My personal experience is that the average Wikipedian field - of course, the main things and basic terms are there, but com- press is not growing, but not shrinking, yet; and just 30 percent sion appears to me as some sort of the ’amusement park’ of today, and (which would be a prominent member of community or an adminis- pared to, for example, astronomy, which is covered in tremendous de- of regular hardcopy readers do read the online version of the if occasionally I sit in front of TV I just can’t stop watching, every- trator) has a broader scope of education then the average journalist. tails now, it is not much. But people around astronomy are familiar with dailies here and there. On the other hand, all the newspapers thing appears so unusual, to say... I guess I grew estranged from it. computer technology and computer culture for decades. Wikipedia in have online editorial boards and are ’competing’ to build ex- In the previous issue of deScripto dealing with local media Serbian would have slightly different problems, which would be simi- tensive web-sites and archives, and the concept of the news- Quite a few of the local journalists and different “experts” landscape, published in 2006, still there was some criticism on lar for all the communities from the smaller-in-population languages, papers-for-free, introduced by 24 sata, provoked some re- would still feel the need to speak in public about Wikipedia as Wikipedia coming from the people considered to be the ex- and that is that the certain individuals can still influence a lot; a good sponse by the biggest and most traditional - Politika daily re- unreliable, insufficient, amateurish, even ’dangerous’ or ’dam- perts, similar to what would be a popular misconception of example of that would be socio-linguistics, where I launched the ini- Continuited on page 34

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Continuited from page 33 Simply, there is no need for that many programmers. Society does not Similar chances you have to meet one on the Internet, then - it is not require that much. Especially when free software becomes dominant, much different, really. But you need to rationalise. cently begun handing out Politika.zip, a free digest of the ’real’ it will prove that there will be no need to have, I don’t know, 15 or 150 issue. But I agree that it seems that this sort of publishing is fad- different and competitive pieces of software to do the same one thing I started this small survey with the premise that Internet infra- ing away, and is being growingly replaced by the Internet - and you want; what for? Why would you need it? On the other hand, it structure, however expensive and outdated, became finally I also think that we haven’t even begun to explore the full po- doesn’t mean that there will no job for programmers, a lot of things available in Serbia, and that the society entered the phase in tential of mobile phones in this respect, for example - so the are there to be done, but still it will require less programmers. And the which the wider social acceptance of the Internet depends monopoly to find, produce and disseminate information or a similar is with journalism; there I expect even more of a specialisation. much more on promoting and researching the culture of using piece of news is definitely lost for daily newspapers. It is already it, living with it, working with it. It is only this way that it may be- over. Where the potential of professional journalism remains come both ubiquitous and transparent, a common thing, may be actually in the journalism itself, not just in standing in News agencies remain ’stronger’ something which should be taken as default. Would you agree? Milos Rancic between the news and the public, but in commenting, criti- in aggregating the news Photo by Vlada Jeric cism, analysis, contextualising, predicting, joining the dots - in Rancic: Well, infrastructure remains to be the problem. I myself had to ’interpreting” the news, to say. The ’news-as-the-information’ is But it would always appear de-contextualised from the real pull a very strong “connections” in Telecom in order to be “switched” already omnipresent, in real time and in all the formats and me- Some of EU Member States, or in some cases the certain mu- source of problem, which would be the security issues of from the notorious Puls-code Modulation (PCM) telephone line in my dia we may use, but as a fast and short, bold and dry, somewhat nicipalities, already require by law using of free and open- Microsoft products and the lack of education by the users, previous apartment to something which would be able to transmit data. disconnected ’piece of data’. Journalists should be the people source software, and the trend is to go towards an open licens- and it would somehow be attributed to the very idea of the But OK, let’s say it was a remote suburb, and that it was not the ’priori- who are there to “interpret” the data, to analyse what it means ing approach regarding the ’content’. What is your assessment Internet and computers themselves, as being inherently prob- ty’ to upgrade the lines there. Some parts of Belgrade still have a lot of is- and what are the possible consequences of it. on the current situation with using open-source software in lematic and dangerous. sues regarding connectivity. Then I moved to the city centre, and ended public services and introducing e-government services on up making the improvised connection using the line from the apartment Rancic: There are a few paradigms there. One is about the content, those principles here? It may be a bit far-fetched, as still Serbia Rancic: But, regarding those issues, again I don’t find the situation next door, as my line again was not ’modernised’ and couldn’t be used and what the nature of that content is. Another is the question of me- is lagging behind what is EU or regional average in basic cate- here much different then in most of the other places. I consider my- for data. So infrastructure is definitely still something to deal with. dia, in a technological sense. When I am not behind the computer (and gories considering using of computers and digital networks. self pretty well informed about the topic, as most of the time I fol- that is almost never), I am following the news on my mobile phone. low Slashdot - it is my main news source, as at least 20-30 percent of Regarding promoting the culture of using the Internet, I quite agree that The point is, the technology of such access to news is not in that wide- Rancic: There is something which is not reflected in the statistics. the news on Slashdot feeds I find I am interested in, which for me any sort of coordinated activity from the side of government and insti- spread use yet. Still a majority of the people will grab newspapers on Statistics can be often misleading. Belgrade is significantly different makes it by far the most relevant source compared to anything else - tutions is yet to be expected. There are some new people around now, so their way to toilet. Me, I take my mobile. I’ve done that ever since I then the rest of the Serbia. Belgrade is not that much behind in and there I see the similar problems being reported from more or less we will see. I had the opportunity, by chance, to meet most of the peo- got a first mobile, which was able to do so. But this technology seems Internet then most of the cities its size, in average; but everything everywhere, including the United States. There are people every- ple who were officially in charge of the Internet by now. It has to do to be still emerging, and I am sure once it takes over people would feel south of Belgrade is almost completely disconnected. The other thing where who are afraid of the Internet, who scare other people with the with the Computer Center of the University of Belgrade (RCUB), and no need to revert to carrying a bunch of papers around. The previous is, you know, our position here, the position of the society, it is still Internet, and there are numerous different horror stories about the with Faculty of Electrotechnics. This would be the profile of the people year may be characteristic by announcing the technology of paper-like like that the “pirated” software is one perfectly acceptable thing - and Internet emerging all the time; I am online since 1995, so pretty much involved, they will be predominantly engineers. And it appears to be the computer display. That means that soon we will read from such dis- this is also my personal position - of course, there are other problems from the beginning of the Internet as we know it, and in my imme- problem. There are always two aspects of the technology, but the aver- plays, and you’ll have only a few displays around, which will show any with it, as it is based on the technology which is “closed’, the code is diate environment I never ever experienced any of the “horror sto- age local politician would not be able to distinguish between the two, content from any source on your demand, so for journalism I do not closed, and precisely because of it being based on that kind of tech- ries”. It is obvious that there is a campaign against the Internet among and would see it appearing as one. One aspect is the technology as in really see the option of not publishing online. What would be a rev- nology, you could have a lot of problems. Not just once it was proven some social circles, or by some individuals; I attribute it to fear. Once what engineers do - determining, planning, creating and maintaining the enue model for journalism is one entirely different story - I don’t to be the case. On the other hand, people use what is available, they some people used to be afraid of the soap, remember? It is the mat- technical functionality of one system. It has a lot to do with hardware know, probably advertising... And also, when occasionally I go do with what they have and nobody should condemn it - but the ter of understanding, of knowledge. Just look how the horror stories and software issues. There, without any doubts, the Faculty of through a paper copy of the newspapers, most of the times I find my- global trends are slowly being replicated here, as well. On this small about the launching of the Large Hadron Collider in European Electrotechnics is producing a competent people. And this is what most self reading the news I read yesterday online; since I already read the laptop of yours you now have Ubuntu, I see. More people I talk to Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) this autumn emerged. politicians are able to recognise as “technology”. But, there is another yesterdays news yesterday, I go online and read the news of today. But are considering to switch to Linux, or to at least try it. People really thought that when they switch it on, the whole planet aspect of technology, which for politicians and those in charge is not ar- I think that aggregating news is still not that easy, and I think news would collapse into itself, and whatnot. In some places on the Far ticulated yet, and because of which having those new people around is agencies like Beta are still much ’stronger’ than the Internet, to say; Regarding the government policies, I don’t see any of this reflected there. East still people believe that if the fan cooler is switched on, you very important. You need people who know how the Internet is work- especially considering the local news, they have people who do that all There I see nothing happening really. I see some initiatives, even from should not spend any time in the room where it is working, as it may ing. I have no doubts that engineers would continue to make great func- the time, they gather the news, filter out the noise, and organise these the places which are close to the structures of the government, but in re- “suck all the air out” and you may suffocate. Some Somali tribes be- tioning and very redundant systems for electrical distribution, or land streams into categories which may be of your concern, otherwise you ality and within what we consider as ’official’, nothing is happening yet. lieve that local men can become impotent only by shaking hands with line telephony. But the Internet is different, as it requires all what an en- would have to cope with that. But a very small number of people is white men, so they will be afraid to touch you. Of course, a certain gineer does, and beyond, in order for it to really work. This is not to say sufficient for this job, so it would be just a small portion of the people Back to the story of local media and the Internet. The latest level of rationality and rationalisation is always required. There are that engineers would not be a perfectly good choice to deal with the working in ’journalism’. Journalism is becoming different now. I think horror story I found in December spreading around tradi- paedophiles around. There are people who would rape a 5 year old Internet - only, additional education is required, and one that goes be- that today there is too much people in media and journalism. Similar tional media was that the 80 percent of computers in schools kid. These things may happen. But are not usual - how many people yond engineering. And I think that there is a big lack of this kind of peo- to software - also I think there are too many computer programmers. in Serbia are found to be infected with some sort of mallware. you met in your life which may do such a thing? None, I guess. Continuited on page 36

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Continuited from page 35 Devastating Status In Belgrade, three out of four Romani media were denied broadcasting license ple. I met engineers who can code in complex languages just like that, of Roma Media and who are able to program micro-controllers to do wonders, anytime, but who just happen not to know how to format the text in Microsoft Interview with Dragoljub Ackovic, How would you describe the way media are addressing Roma Word. Probably it is different by now, and I think the situation among citizens and issues that concern Romani population in Serbia? young people is much better in that respect - I am talking about some the Vice President of the Roma Parliament previous generations - but those generations would be precisely the peo- Ackovic: Media that talk about Roma people the most are those ple who grew up to be of influence in certain institutions today. The Media that talk about Roma people the who have a sensationalistic approach towards the Roma population, problem is if you try to learn about the Internet issues from some sort for example reporting on Roma persons who stole a chicken, or got of ’external’ position, you will always be lagging at least a generation be- most are those who have a into fight half-drunk, or an under-aged Roma child smoking. On hind. You need to be ’on’ the Internet in order to know about the sensationalistic approach towards the the other hand, they don’t have the opportunity to write about Internet. This is the profile of people required, and those people would Roma population, for example Roma men or women who have brought important change or have be able to “push” things. But still we have politicians who think “OK, developed something or saved the ship from sinking. Roma people this is something connected with computers and Internet, we need an reporting on Roma persons who stole a are not on the governing positions and nowhere in the world do engineer here”. This I see as one serious, core problem. Dragoljub they have such opportunities. I wish these media outlets could leave chicken, or got into fight Ackovic the sensationalism behind and start reporting on real issues. And, for the end: as somebody who lives and works on and from half-drunk, or an under-aged Roma Photo by BETA NEWS SERVICE, the Internet - Wikipedia is voluntary affair, of course, but before child smoking. On the other hand, they D. Antonic As the Secretary for Information of the International Roma Ebart, you have been working with regional VOIP providers, so don’t have the opportunity to write Union I have struggled a lot with main international news agen- professionally and financially you have depended on the Internet founders and the Vice-President of the International Romani cies to persuade them to use term Roma instead of Gypsies. for quite some time - how do you access the consequences of about Roma men or women who have Parliament considers shutting down of media in Roma language Some of them would even claim that we made it up to be differ- forthcoming recession on Internet, on the people who depend brought important changes or have ’to be systematic’. Since 2006, the Republic Broadcasting Agency ent. We did, but a couple of thousand years ago. That is what we on the Internet in their daily activities and those who are direct- has been implementing new broadcasting legislation and has been are called and what we will always be. Will mainstream media do ly employed on the ’internets’ - what will change for you? developed something or saved the ship licensing radio and television outlets on local and national level something to change it? I don’t know... from sinking. in Serbia. Several Romani media were not awarded a licence and Rancic: Well, there are a few aspects there. The company I work for is have shut down in the process. In an interview for deScripto, I remember that in 1969, one of the biggest Yugoslav dailies at data-mining and archiving media. A lot of companies, institutions and Ackovic explains why: that time Novosti was running an initiative to support Roma peo- political parties are depending on exploiting these resources in order to ple and it was very well received by public. Since then, I have not analyse and decide what to do next. Whatever crisis is coming, I think “There were, in fact, a lot of problems in the area of electronic me- seen any similar initiative ever. Last December Politika daily was this is the last service they would decide to deprive themselves of. So dia to be solved such as large number of illegal radio and TV sta- publishing feuilleton and that was good. But, not enough. I think my position is pretty “safe”, to say. On the other hand, I ex- tions. However, I believe that none of the Romani media should pect a lot of rationalisation to happen around. There will not be much By Andrea have been denied a license because there were not that many. In Do you think that treating Roma people as a minority in the funding around for developing this and that anymore, and a lot of Perunovic, Belgrade, two Romani TV stations were shut down - Amaro Drom media is helping or hindering their status? things would go under the process of rationalisation. This rationalisa- Student, FMK and Khrlo e Romengo. The radio station under the same name as tion should also include accepting the open-source and free software the latter has been shut down as well. Now, when you shut down Ackovic: The minute that you start dividing people into a ma- on much wider scale, and I actually think that people able to work with three out of four Romani media on the territory of Belgrade, one has jority and a minority, there is a problem. Receiving the treatment free software may be in growing demand. It also may mean even more ver the last years, the Serbian public have witnessed a to wonder if that has been done on purpose. I believe it was. Even of a minority in the media can only be harmful for us. What is the of using the ’pirated’ software. But I expect that a lot of programmers number of awareness raising campaigns promoting the more so as none of these outlets ever received a penny from the pub- difference between TV show on Serbian culture and TV show on would lose their jobs and contracts. When a bank goes down, for ex- O rights of minorities and marginal social groups, as well lic budget, but all were supported by private funds. Romani culture? You can’t divide the culture, and life for that ample, it does not require the developing of any software applications as number of appeals focusing on the alarming status of the matter, on a majority and a minority in any period of time. anymore. So, as in any crises, those who have more options would Roma population in Serbia. Still, the prejudices about Roma The Decade of Roma Inclusion Presidency is currently held by have much better chances to “get through” - and it is true for pro- citizens are visible within the Serbian media. Their language is Serbia under Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic. He recently How effective could media be in resolving problems of Roma grammers, as well. If you can code in several different languages, you rarely heard on Serbian radio and TV stations even in areas with spoke very affirmatively about the development of Romani media. population? have much more chances then if you know to work just with one; if a larger Roma population. As for the Romani media, the status When I asked him why they shut down three media stations, he had you can port for different operating systems, you are better off then is as difficult, since the number of media outlets in the Romani no answer. I do not think he even knew about it. Ackovic: You will be surprised to hear that it is the media who if you are connected with just porting for one. We can also see more of language is decreasing. Dragoljub Ackovic, editor of the created most prejudices about Roma people. Also, encyclopae- the outsourcing in one scenario I can think of, and much less in an- Romani programme in the Radio Program I of the national One thing is for sure - our language is our state. If you shut down dias very much produce stereotypes and then influence genera- other; it is very uncertain which way it would go. But living in Serbia, broadcasting service Radio Television of Serbia since 1978, the Romani media, you are seriously impacting Roma national aware- tions of readers. one thing proved to be constantly true: anything is possible.
founder of Romani news agency Rominterpres and one of the ness, culture and everything that constitutes being Romani.” Continuited on page 38

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Mediating the Past read the headline in the Croatian Jutarnji list. “More Mila Than Instead of the victims or the missing, it’s the war Senida,” countered Belgrade-based Vecernje novosti. crimes and the fugitives charged with them that have become the symbol of Serbia’s division. (Don’t) look back in anger While Dnevni and Jutarnji could afford to state explicitly that it was the (Bosnian) Serb forces that stormed the village and snatched Senida, the reportage in Vecernje plays it down. Perhaps Still on the loose and widely believed to be hiding in Serbia, Mladic Born in a Cross-Fire Hurricane so as not to disturb the Dickensian aspect of things, it emphasis- is by all sides agreed to be ’the most wanted fugitive’. But whether Almost 17-years ago, at the very start of the war in Bosnia es the merciful ’soldier saviour’ angle, and speaks rather of her this makes him a national hero or a barbaric murderer depends not and Herzegovina (BiH), which will become inextricably being ’swept by the whirlwind of war,’ as if one is swooped into primarily on the nature of the acts committed (or solely on one’s linked with terms such as “ethnic cleansing,” “genocide,” and a new home and into a new name by a force of nature, or of fate; daily paper of choice). The facts have to be weighed up, debated, “war crimes,” a child, not more than a year old, was taken or by an overused, worn-out metaphor. and, ultimately, obfuscated, by tactics ranging from the often em- from a village near Tuzla-where the father happened to have ployed cry, ’But what of the crimes committed against us?”, ab- been away on business-along with her older sister and moth- Years ago in a Belgrade’s quarterly Genero, a political sciences stract historical justifications, to the detached lingo of jurispru- er. The latter two have never been found, nor have they so far professor and media theorist, Snjezana Milivojevic, examined dence. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that one could have seen been identified among the remains exhumed from any of the why “the media are the ideal site of opening up the facts of the past in January 2009, on the same network, Oliver Antic, an esteemed mass-graves which Bosnia and Herzegovina is littered with. and critically examining them,” upon which “it is discovered that professor and ex-dean of Belgrade’s Law faculty saying that, no, Roma children in front of Belgrade Gallery Photo by Aleksandra Petkovic Yet the child survived, and, through ways, which can at best the past was and is-an ideological battlefield.” The past may seem he would not report Mladic to the authorities even if he knew his Continuited from page 37 be described as “murky,” ended up being raised by an older to us dead and buried, but its ghosts are haunting by the very way whereabouts. He also argued against extradition to ’foreign couple in Belgrade, coming to know herself as Mila Jankovic. we speak of it, or, rather, the way we don’t. And if a story of a courts’ on the basis that the much-disputed, constantly criticised You were talking about the shutting down of the Romani me- most innocent war-survivor yields such disparate press accounts, (sometimes rightly so) Hague tribunal is ’illegitimate’ and ’un- dia. What is the situation in Serbia today? In her teens, the awareness of adoption and her origins the polarity which severs the public each time a controversial fig- just’. His words echoed the attitude of the previous Serbian gov- prompted an identity crisis and some trouble at home, which ernment, which has considered cooperation with the ICTY often Ackovic: Romani media in Serbia are in a devastating position. led to employing the Red Cross to try matching up Mila’s only under severe international pressure. But he went even fur- When define Romani media as those who broadcast programmes DNA with any of the samples volunteered by the survivors ther, wondering: “Imagine if Martin Luther was extradited into the in Romani language or whose owners are Romanis. There is one of the war. This is how Mila found her biological father, hands of the Inquisition. Would he receive a fair trial?” local television and radio station in Nis, one radio station in Muhamed, alive and living in Germany, having fled there in Krusevac, and one in Obrenovac broadcasting only commercial 1995. She also learned of her birth-name: Senida Becirovic. Sitting next to him, prominent human rights activist Natasa announcements. I am the editor of the Roma world, which is One article reports her nearly fainting upon seeing it in- By Gavrilo Kandic seemed stupefied. “Is that the kind of message you want to Romani programme on national radio service RTS. Regional TV scribed into the commemorative monument to “THE MISS- Petrovic, send to Law students?” All this, and more, in a primetime politi- in Novi Sad is broadcasting Amen Adjes show. There were in the ING”. In the traumatic events that took place afterwards, Student, FMK cal talk show aptly named State of the Nation. If you can guess the past random broadcasts on the TV stations in cities Kikinda, however, hers is the first name that can safely be taken off right percentages of the public’s opinion divided upon the issue, Pristina and Smederevo. Now, the question is why on TV RTS, that board. start text-messaging now, for you may win some money. The which is national public service, we do not see any programme in ure or a past event re-emerges into the media spotlight can easi- question of the day was delicately phrased as “Would you report Romani language. We wrote tens of times to the CEO of RTS Or perhaps not so fast. For, as we are to learn by just scan- ly be imagined. Instead of the victims or the missing, it’s the war Ratko Mladic for a million euros?”, that being the sum Serbia has Aleksandar Tijanic but received no answer. ning the headlines dealing with the story, Mila/Senida is still crimes and the fugitives charged with them that have become the offered to anyone who provides information leading to his arrest. split in two by war, and she is not the only one. So are the symbol of Serbia’s division. The spokesperson for the polling agency explained the stagger- What about Internet media? Do you have any presence there? formed nation-states and citizens within them divided; peo- ing 65 percent of ’No’ answers by the way the question was put ples who were, after decades of living together under the A House Divided to the polled. “It sounds a little like, ’I’d sell him out for a million Ackovic: Yes, Roma people are using the Internet a lot, and the communist system of Tito, separated by ultranationalist pro- “I’d name Ratko Mladic supreme commander of the army,” said bucks.’ You don’t get a clear message from the officials what he is in- majority of Romani organisations have their own websites. Our paganda, machine-gun bursts, barbed wire, mutually inflict- Mladen Obradovic of the extreme right-wing organisation Obraz dicted of and how backed-up the indictment against him really is.” organisation Rominterpres has a website and I noticed that there ed wounds, and borders drawn in red ink. Long after chart- last year, in a Question and Answer session with the private TV were around 12,000 visitors in just a couple of months. That’s a ing desirable territories on the map and besieging of cities, the B92. “There’s a long lineage of Serbian heroes, embodying sacred The article follows with a high-government official in charge of very positive statistic, and there certainly are much better web- war-mongering regimes dismantled, respective dictators safe- Serbian values. Novak Djokovic [top-world tennis player], Ratko cooperation with the ICTY depressingly declaring the “battle al- sites than this one. My colleagues and I thought of something ly in their coffins, it is in the realm of naming that the strug- Mladic...” he enumerated, a defiant smirk on his face. In his ready lost,” since “the attitudes are already formed.” useful for Roma people, to build a Romani nation-state on the gle for interpretation, and thus identity, is waged. world, and that of many of his compatriots, arguing otherwise is Internet - Romanistan. It is very popular among “Romani hack- considered treason, ’anti-Serbian’. Wartime Bosnian Serb gener- Possibly still the most reviled person in Serbia, thanks to her re- ers” and people using the Internet. Romanistan is housing our The Sarajevo’s popular daily Dnevni avaz broke the story of al Ratko Mladic happens to be indicted by the Hague-based lentless efforts to unearth the evidence of atrocities, coupled with national library, the Bible translated in the Romani language, and reunion as “How Senida Became Mila.” Its Serbian and International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (IC- the equally relentless demonisation campaign waged on her by daily news as well. For Roma people it’s a source of information, Croatian counterparts followed, each with a piece of their TY) for crimes against humanity, genocide, and other atrocities late strongman Slobodan Milosevic’s media, Natasa Kandic of the but also source for so much more that concerns our being.
own. “They told me: ’You are not Mila, your name is Senida,’” committed during the 1992-95 war in BiH. Continuited on page 40

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Continuited from page 39 Since tabloid dailies deal with Hague-indictees in much the same Enjoy the Silence way they do with celebrity gossip, the sudden arrest last July of On 15 January 2009, the European Parliament adopted a resolu- Humanitarian Law Centre is well-aware what an attitude-shak- Radovan Karadzic, former Bosnian Serb political leader, was fol- tion by which 11 July is designated, in the whole of European ing effect a mere media event can have. It was her, after all, who lowed, after the first couple of days of ’hard news’, by a sure fire Union, as a day of remembrance of the Srebrenica massacre. got hold of, and submitted as evidence to both the Hague’s and ’whirlwind’ of intrigue and trivia. Thus the line between reality President Boris Tadic, who had attended the Annual Memorial, Belgrade’s war crime prosecutors, the infamous ’Scorpions’ and fiction was once again blurred. Living in, granted, a bizarre called in 2007 on the Serbian parliament to adopt The Resolution video-tape. Initially presented at the Milosevic trial, just a month disguise among Belgrade residents for years, practicing alternative of Srebrenica, but came under heavy criticism from all sides of ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, the medicine under an alias Dragan David Dabic, this ’other’ Karadzic the aisle. The right called for condemnation of all crimes, com- Serbian public has been confronted with a video showing mem- resembled more a mix of a John Le Carré spy and a spiritual guru. mitted on all sides, rendering the whole thing meaningless, while bers of a Serbian paramilitary unit executing Muslim men in the Liberals, supposedly a voice of the ’Other Serbia’ in the par- plainclothes, by forcing them to lie face-down, hands tied, in a liament, barked how the resolution was not condemning enough. roadside ditch, before shooting them in the back. “Alleged satisfied patients, presumed lovers The matter of the resolution has yet to be resolved. and soap-opera elements attract readers and The showing of the tape was simultaneous with the Serbian war viewers. Which is fine in terms of circulation, To feel compassion towards a victim not of one’s own ethnicity, crimes prosecution charging the soldiers identified from the especially toward those made victim by one’s ethnicity, it turns video. Two years later, in 2007, it secured convictions for four of but it is a duty of journalists, nowadays mostly out, is to be engaged, self-consciously, in a political act. “The ba- them (the verdicts almost invariably rendered in opinion and forgotten, to inform and not to entertain.” sic mistake with the concept of confronting one’s recent past here commentary pieces either as ’unpatriotic’ or ’nowhere near harsh was that it was presented as something self-explanatory, well-un- enough’). Citing a government-ordered survey, the prosecution derstood, and good for its own sake,” muses psychologist Kaja claims 70 percent of the population was informed about the tape. The Independent Association of Journalists (NUNS) published Damnjanovic. “I’m not saying it was intentionally botched-up, but Its office has received a steady soar of coverage ever since, the to- in its publication Dosije (No.25, July 2008 - September 2008), a Borka Pavicevic Photo by FoNET news service - Bozidar Petrovic it did allow for reconciliation to become just another political tal number of segments and articles devoted to it in the past year scathing critique of the media coverage following the arrest, pin- stance, ideologically optional.” And so it did with genocide de- being, by their account, about five times bigger than in 2003 pointing the exact moment when ’Radovan Karadzic fell into And so is this ’Other Serbia’ itself, it seems: liberal columnist nial: wearing T-shirts with Mladic’s picture printed on is - when it was first established. oblivion’ behind media-friendlier Dabic. Along the same lines, Teofil Pancic argued that the term “lives in the [rhetoric of the] whether one likes it or not - a specific kind of punk-rock atti- the war crimes prosecution offered its critique: “Each medium re- Right much more than in those who are this supposed Other Serbia.” tude adopted by Serbian youth today. The prosecution judges its overall cooperation with the media ports about it from its own angle, but what is unfortunate is that of- Thus, pundit Djordje Vukadinovic of the conservative think-tank as “positive, especially with those whose editorial policy is open to ten they are more eager to deal with side-details... than with facts New Serbian Political Thought, when asked which parties com- a more complex examination of these issues.” Noting various “pre- that brought an indictment upon those people.” prise the pro-European, liberal option, decreed that it is “All those To feel compassion towards a victim not of one’s cious investigative programmes dealing with war crimes” borne who coincide with the current interests of American foreign policy.” own ethnicity, especially toward those made out of this cooperation, it still reserves a critical glance at how “Hard-news facts, it seems now, can hardly keep the public’s atten- victim by one’s ethnicity, it turns out, is to be the media have reported the ’Scorpions tape’ affair. “The footage tion for long,” estimated Aleksandra Niksic of Belgrade bureau of “What happened,” says Pavicevic, “is that these two positions be- was shown on 1 June 2005 as part of a live coverage [of the Agence France Presse. “Alleged satisfied patients, presumed lovers came so entrenched that they exhaust themselves in arguments, and engaged, self-consciously, in a political act. Milosevic’s trial in Hague] on TV B92. By the time for the evening and soap-opera elements attract readers and viewers. Which is fine never do the arguments leak outside, to the people.” news, however, it was only B92 and another local TV station that in terms of circulation, but it is a duty of journalists, nowadays most- deemed it top story. The day after, the killing of Srebrenica’s young ly forgotten, to inform and not to entertain.” Niksic, a then-war reporter, who has covered the war in BiH for Arguing that the media in Serbia are actively engaged in ’politics men was only on the cover of [independent] daily Danas, while the several foreign media outlets, remembers the different ap- of oblivion’, Snjezana Milivojevic in Genero is quoted: “Forgetting highest-selling Vecernje novosti reported about it on page 17,” the A Tale of Two Cities proaches in Serbian media to the stories she had witnessed at the is a normal human activity... but a nation-wide act of forgetting is prosecution says. “Language is, of course, a diabolical thing. It reveals everything,” starts time. “Sometimes only the dateline was the same in these articles.” something else: a silent agreement to forget the shame.” The stance a prominent human rights activist Borka Pavicevic, hunched over her of most political subjects in Serbia is similar when it comes to our Since then, Serbia has experienced a surging proliferation of antique office-desk in the Center for Cultural Decontamination, “But such an attitude should not be forgiven nowadays. Maybe then the war-crime past. The most prevalent phrase is, ’let’s not look back tabloids, mainly of an openly nationalist persuasion, but what where various panel discussions, workshops, plays, ballets and op- public in Serbia did not get proper information on the war in Bosnia, but forward’, in other words, let bygones be bygones. else? What say the watchdogs themselves? “The key change since eras are performed. “I don’t know of anyone from this ’Second’ but glorifying or finding excuses for atrocities, persons and events that the fall of Milosevic in 2000 is that war-crimes committed by Serbian Serbia”-the words ’second’ and ’other’ being one and the same in have been historically and legally confirmed-such as the genocide in While this may suit the majority of the population, Damnjanovic forces are, for the most part, no longer being denied,” says Milos Serbian-”who ever named something First Serbia. It’s how a majority Srebrenica-must be punishable in a responsible society,” Niksic says. warns, it can erase the identity of the victims. While Natasa Milic, editor of TV B92’s main news programme. “But the nation- defines a minority.” Reaching up for a collection of essays published Kandic piled up facts about the crimes, there should have been alist part of the public often counters with unconfirmed reports on at the eve of 1990s wars, she says, “Here it is”. The book was indeed What seems to have been the failure, according to Pavicevic, is other realms for the reconciliation processes to occur. “It’s obvi- Serbian victims, the goal of which is to equate crimes against non- titled ’The Other Serbia,’ and came about as a response to the lead- “the lack of an original language, except in a handful of authors, a ous that can not be conducted without the political elites declaring Serbs-such as the genocide in Srebrenica-with Serb sufferings”. Milic ing Greater Serbia cause. Needless to say, the anti-war force had lost language which you use, here, to speak about the crimes committed it an interest of the society,” says Damnjanovic. estimated that most of the media report neutrally on crimes com- the battle. Ever since, along with Kandic, Pavicevic is more famous here. By no means does it mean that you should speak more plain- mitted by Serbs, but lacking analysis and investigative methods. for the abuses that are hurled at her then by her statements. ly, but that you should think better.” Continuited on page 44

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Continuited from page 41 Between Urban “Let us imagine,” echoes Niksic, “that after Milosevic fell in 2000, and Rural, top minds-whoever they may be-sat down and thought it through for six months, and implemented a new subject in schools, called some- Global and National thing along the lines of ’my neighbours, our conflicts with them and why they shouldn’t happen again.’ What the democratic government How Mainstream Media Construct should have done was to seize control of the school history books.” National Identity in Serbia Changed in 2002, new history books in Serbia have only flipped ide- ological leanings, no longer favouring the communists, deeming the former Yugoslavia of Tito an imposed experiment on the Serbs. he building of a civil society and the principles of citi- They have introduced another preposterous historical perspective, zenship in the post-Milosevic Serbia have made the in- interpreting the 1990s wars as a continuation of World War Two. T formative programme much more flexible and less par- “The unfinished war has continued after exactly 50 years,” so conclude tial, so that, at least formally, different political options get ap- the writers of the history textbook meant for high-school children. proximately equal media space. However, since in Serbia in this moment there is a polarisation between the retrograde Damnjanovic is suspicious about the theory, taken for granted, forces of the retro-nationalism and the corpus of pro- that if we do not settle the disputes of the past, we are bound to European options more ready for a dialogue on Euro-integra- repeat them. “Because, if you accept that current events crucially tion, this bipolar discourse can also be recognised in the me- Living determine the future, then even the Battle of Kosovo seems like a dia content not strictly related to politics. Observing the most in the valid argument, does it not?”
popular media content in Serbia at this moment we can dis- media cover how strong this dichotomy is, and how, through differ- Photo by ent approaches to creation of these contents, different con- Igor Marovic Taken from an article published in Dnevni avaz on 19 January, 2009, written by E.H. structs of national identity intended for the media consumers are developed. Triumph” reality show, with participants from all over ex- before had accomplished. Students of the “Academy”, scrutinised Senida Be}irovi} Yugoslavia. Although people-meters may not have registered a by domestic and foreign experts, learn to sing, to dance, to act on will stay in Sarajevo! We could easily predict what kind of media image awaits us big whole-evening viewer rating, people at the “Operation stage, overcome stage fright and become favourites of the public this year right at its very beginning. Traditionally, the New Triumph” management have to be satisfied with the fact that dur- from all over the country and the region while at the same time While the media pressure (which she was exposed to because Year’s Eve programme on Serbian television, apart from an air ing New Year’s Eve over one million people voted for their performing next to international music stars. This project is par- of her unbelievable destiny) subsides, Senida Becirovic makes decisions about her future. A girl who grew up in Belgrade as of festivity, has a certain patriotic note. On the public broad- ticularly interesting in terms of the internationalisation of me- Mila Jankovic, after one soldier carried her out of the house on casting TV channel, precisely at midnight, about a hundred dia in the region, and together with the increasing trend of pop- fire, in Caparde, near Kalesija in May 1992, managed to find her accordionists started playing Serbian folklore dances, and in ular TV series, made in ex-Yugoslavia states co-production, an- real father after 16 years and decided to go back to Sarajevo. this way, with the national music, wished the citizens all the nounces the tendency of an inevitable international cultural and She will live in the house of her mother’s sister Munevera and best in 2009. As for the music programme, the prevailing media dialogue. her husband Esnar Vrabac. sounds were those of traditional folk music, but also those of “I will stay with my aunt and uncle in Sarajevo. I will start going to the newly composed commercial folk. On the two most pop- The peak time in the New Year’s Eve programme belonged to school again and get into college there. I will of course go to visit ular channels, the public broadcaster Radio Television of the episodes of the most popular TV series in Serbia at the mo- Djecije selo in Sremska Kamenica, and people who helped me a lot while being in Serbia”, Sanida said for Dnevni avaz Serbia and Pink TV that insists on entertaining programme, ment. Judging by their titles (“Peasants”, “Village’s on Fire newspaper. mostly the same performers participated in the shows record- while an Old Woman is Combing”, “My Relative from the Most important reasons to stay in Sarajevo, as she said, were ed beforehand. By Nikola Benderac, Lada Paunovic, Ranko Stojilovic, Country”), it is obvious that the intention is to bring back the love and attention she received, as well as understanding. Students, FMK small remainders of the urbanised society to the “rural parts” “It was up to her to decide. We have two sons, a year older and a Far behind were televisions that offered significantly less con- as well. Viewer rating of this series is measured in millions. year younger than she is. Everything we can do for them, we will do tent that could be considered “national”, so B92 television had for her as well. We think of her as our third child”, Esnar Vrabac said. only 5 percent of viewers that night. On the other hand, al- favourite contestants at the “Musical Academy”. Since this au- By creating an appealing and likeable image of Serbia, not perfect In the meantime, the problems with her documents were most four million citizens watched a part of Pink TV’s tumn, the most expensive and the most ambitious reality show but easy to become fond of, and by having access to so many solved. She got her ID card on the name Senida Becirovic, but “Grand’s Folk Festivity”, a very popular TV show in which, in has been shown in Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia and homes, the media construct a national identity that is, according she decided to keep the name Mila, as well. She said she wanted to find the truth about what had happened to her the prime-time, commercial folk music by both anonymous Herzegovina and Montenegro. The Emotion production suc- to the viewer rating, readily accepted by public. The current ser- mother Senada and her sister Sanda. and popular performers is aired. In the New Year’s Eve prime- ceeded in gathering almost all of ex-Yu republics in what is the ial “Village’s on Fire while an Old Woman is Combing” arouses time B92 aired one of the final evenings of the “Operation most complex TV project in this region, something that no one Continuited on page 46

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Continuited from page 45 If this suits the rural type of construction of national identity im- posed on us in the media, we certainly have to take into account nostalgia also in the city kids who had spent the most beautiful also the population for which other type of content is placed; moments of their childhood in some relative’s countryside home. content that produces a different national identity considered re- al by that kind of public. Some of them may identify with char- The image of a village in this series actually depicts real Sumadija acters from the “Bitter Fruits” series or from the films like (central part of Serbia) and Serbia in general, “the way it is”, in “Obituary for Escobar” that present an urban environment in other words, the way it is presented by those who create “reali- which the main character is usually a guy who becomes a crimi- Instalation on 13th ART EXPO ty”. The way people talk, their faces, clothing... it is all completely nal because of the ill-fated circumstances but at the end he falls in in Novi Sad titled authentic and easily recognisable since it had already been shown love and changes from the core. That kind of content, the same as “From Picasso to Marina Abramovic” and seen in the media that way, and thus became familiar to the the ’rural series’ arouses big media attention and gets sympathies public. The public now recognises it as real. Those country peo- of the viewers. Photo by Kornelija Szabo ple from the series are warm and sincere, but also critical, even envious towards their neighbours. If we are not rural, then we are urban, but in any case it has to be in the way the media present us, while we only have the possibil- ity to choose which image to incline to. Who are we actually? The By creating an appealing and likable image community is divided into two fractions. Two ways of thinking of Serbia, not perfect but easy to become fond are formed; both created and placed by the media. of...the media constructs a national identity press individuality. They develop xeno- On the one hand, there is an idea of a quasi-urban part of elite phobia in us, the fear of everything out- that is readily accepted by public disgusted by anything domestic and turning to someone else’s, side our little world. Do they do it on rejecting its own roots and everything related to the past. It is ar- purpose and influenced by those who ac- gued that we should look to the future and invest in it but we tually want an old woman to be combing However, in difficult situations, no matter what, they are always shouldn’t by any means be ashamed of our roots. It is a good to while the village’s on fire? ready to help. They have gone through the World War II, the na- approach the world, of course, our goal is to become a true part tionalisation of their possessions with the purpose of “denation- of it, but in doing so we could definitely use some of Radasin’s Do the productions that basically represent alisation”, that affected them in the first years after the World wisdom (Radasin is the protagonist of the aforementioned seri- ’the story about us’ just try to sell the well- War II, disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991 and the bombing of al “Village’s on Fire...”) and some of that almost philosophical branded product with the secure market 1999. It all left traces on them, the whole village was on fire, but tranquillity with which one bears all up’s and down’s, fortunes i.e. viewer rating? It is obvious that the do- still, at the end they move ahead without making much fuss, so it and misfortunes of his little ordinary life. mestic media production fails to show that is good, as a misogynist saying - considered a popular wisdom - the people in the immediate surroundings goes, that “the old woman was combing”. We should think seriously about the way we try to present our- live the same problems and similar and sim- selves to the world, how to catch everybody’s fancy, and do we, ple lives just like the people in Serbia. In this series we can also recognise the huge importance of fam- in trying to do so, lose ourselves? What is the message we send ily as an institution and its internal relations that are certainly not to the world? Can’t we be part of a community? How does the life attitude of “an old woman that is combing while the village’s Is it aimed to stir stereotypes to political effects, with the idea of ideal. In a family people argue, command, cheat, but above all, world see us based on what we convey? on fire” and in that sincerity and simplicity we will be recognized, ’being national as opposed to global’ and with the typical mes- they love each other infinitely, with all the purity of heart of a accepted and esteemed. sages like “so what, if the world doesn’t want us, we are self-suf- simple soul, and even when doing harm, they do it unintention- Belonging to a nation is determined by the national will, senti- ficient, our wisdom and honesty are enough; all the bad things ally, simply because they know no other alternative. ment and consciousness. Undoubtedly, the national will is a And what if it was not that simple, what if the media placed just come from outside...” move towards the European integrations, but to do so, it is nec- a likeable and appealing image of what we could be, of what we Father is the head of the family, but it is the woman who puts an essary that every individual has national consciousness. The na- could identify with? What if it was just a simulacrum of our na- Or, in lyrical colour, with the nineteenth century style romantic effort without indispensable for progress. She assembles every- tional being is expressed through mentality, through typical re- tional identity, created by the media? When we adopt that im- rapture, they want to arouse sympathies in the public for their thing and everybody. The man is proud. He would give up his actions to everyday life situations, through the way general hu- posed image, we become exclusively self-oriented, oriented to- fellow-countrymen, consciousness that this is where we belong, own son because he thinks that he hasn’t managed to turn him man values are accepted and expressed. We should join Europe, wards our immediate surroundings, our little needs... In doing which represents a certain deviation from the onetime emphasis into a man. His son is a deserter, a fact he couldn’t forgive nei- we should join the global world, and we should accept its values so, we are given amnesty for the possible guilt of not reacting to of epic, warrior and “divine” elements. Leaning on the stereotype ther of them. But he still suffers for his pride, he is hurt, and he but without losing ourselves. We should walk proudly towards the wrong moves of the individuals we had given the power and of a ’Serbian soul’ doesn’t call any names, doesn’t provoke and, secretly hopes that his son will eventually come back, and when Europe, with sincerity and simplicity, neither ashamed of our pa- the right to lead us. They deprived us even of the right to feel above all, it is politically neutral. The viewers like to identify with he does... it is as if he had never left. Here we can recognise how tron saints and festivities (days and celebrations dedicated to anger and rage for the narrow-mindedness. They lull us into a positive characters, and those who can’t recognise themselves the series promotes the ’patriarchal-heroic’ morality that, in fact, family’s patron saint) nor of our popular wisdom. We should pre- narcissistic image. They emphasise spite as a prevailing national there, are left to other TV channels.
is a pure demagogy. sent all this to the world and, eventually, bring along even that characteristic. They pacify possible individual efforts, they sup-

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tain and that relativity is commonplace and of the event itself. That The myth itself is Simplified Seeking not Facts but Power rational. In the end we get an impression impossible to confirm or deny. Tabloid sto- that amongst ourselves we are equally im- ries don’t seek the truth, they seek power, Narratives Anonymity - a Ruler From the Shadow portant and respected, and that anyone can and they draw that power from the dis- be an unnamed source. That way we can be course that arises from the and from which and The phenomenon of the flood of cataclysmic statements of in the spotlight too and that feeds our ego. they are shielded by anonymity. Stereotypes unnamed sources or journalists spreads throughout entire The problem becomes more serious when This raises serious questions; what are the newspapers, especially before important political events, stories that come from such tabloid media ’serious media’ doing? Why are they help- Serbian Tabloids By Kristina Balac, like elections, with the sole purpose of contaminating started to get reprinted and re-broadcast- ing to sustain the institution of a powerful Student, FMK ed in the media that are considered pro- Anonymous? Are they so naive or are they and Representation the public with sensationalistic and tabloid ’news’. fessional and credible. When such ’news’ part of the same machinery? It seems to me of Women becomes a topic amongst the so-called that the answer is again in the balance of villa on Banjica [neighbourhood in of contaminating the public with sensa- ed power. Under the guise of anonymity, ’serious media’ that takes it to the higher power and dominance. Media have started Belgrade] for a member of Al Qaeda’, tionalistic and tabloid ’news’. After per- journalists and their sources appear to in- level and ’news’ starts gaining legitimacy. to compete with the truth. They strive to ’A ’Tadic’s grandfather responsible for the forming their task (and that usually lasts form the public, while they actually con- grab total control over society because a so- murder of Prince Ferdinand’, ’Islam con- for a couple of weeks), a paper closes down fuse them and make them incapable of ciety that is dependent on media can pro- quers Western Europe’, ’The planet threat- and everyone forgets it. In spite of it all, no judging and interpreting information in Tabloids have started vide them with an everlasting existence. ened with famine and lack of water’, one wonders why they even came about, or the texts. A source that is neither named to compete with the truth Economics and existence, as principles of By Nevena ’Criminals taking over the Balkans’, ’Seselj what happened to the paper itself. nor described, as it should, is put in a media society and an unnamed source as an Kujovic, might be coming home’, are all headlines place of power in a way that they can pre- institution of unlimited power. Completely Student, FMK published every day in Serbian daily tabloids. sent information that will certainly have The primary goal of anonymous sources free of responsibility and liberated from the These stories about cataclysms, bloody A source that is neither an effect on the public, without being held has always been to influence the public, to truth, the media can publish all they want, clashes, conspiracies and scandals are mass- named nor described is put accountable. They can lie, as they can tell draw the attention from certain events and in order to show they exist. They create Contemporary media culture provides produced and published in the same manner. in a place of power without the truth, but that is of no importance to issues to another direction, or to prevent their own reality, media reality, which is par- forms of ideological domination that help the story. The important thing is that their critical analysis by shedding a different allel to social reality and brings it into ques- to reproduce the current relations of Stories crop up, cause fear, panic and gos- being held accountable. information is talked about and that the light on the whole story. When passions tion. The dominant discourse is created by power, while also providing resources for sip, and then disappear the way they came medium maintains its popularity. flare up even a serious analysis becomes an tabloids and based on this dominant dis- the construction of identities and for - as if they had never existed, only to analysis of a passionate response to that course the public builds its picture of reali- empowerment, resistance and struggle. come back again, stir things up, and dis- Many assume that the reason is the low prices, The anonymous source often reveals mor- event, not of the event itself. That is when ty. Therefore, in the world of pictures that (Douglas Kellner Professor Ph.D., appear all over again. which could not cover expenses. Those who bid details, especially when the issues are responsibility of the tabloid is conveyed on are too big for us to observe completely, or Philosophy, Columbia University) want to explore a little further usually hit a murder, rape and political scandals, so that to ’serious’ media which later strengthen too blurry to make out, our reality becomes The question of their origin is dubious be- wall, because they cannot find information re- the multitude of information stops the au- the whole debate and prolong the anxiety. confusing, and the unnamed takes over a le- n the analysis of the Serbian politi- cause such articles are often unsigned, signed garding owners or people in charge. For ex- dience from reacting and critically analysing The public are not given the chance to pay gitimate place of power. Such power be- cal scene since democratic changes by initials, or are based on unnamed sources. ample, a daily newspaper Sutra (Tomorrow) the story. His job is to target the emotions attention to new and verified information. comes absolute; you can not resist it be- I in 5 October 2000, one has to no- existed for a couple of weeks around the 2000 and to confirm doubts and fears. Regardless Instead, the whole story, that used to be a cause it is unknown; it can either be ig- tice a distinction between two major They usually come out of nowhere, appar- elections, and then closed down. There was of the fact that that he has little credibility, gossip, is given a connotation of a myth. as nored, which will not harm it, or strength- political elites both of which are deeply ently caused by nothing at all, while they not at any point a name of anyone responsi- he is sensational because he stirs things up, if a passionate response to that event, not ened by discussing it further.
rooted in the authoritarian tradition as are actually always present and keep on ble, someone who could be addressed or held raises eyebrows. Likewise, he is also to seen by the political analyst and the reappearing in order to keep the citizens in accountable. Recently a magazine called show a different assumption of an event, an university professor Dr Jovica Trkulja. a state of uncertainty, anxiety, panic and all- Grom (Thunder) was started, whose goal was alternative to widely-known, even in so- The first elite represents the remaining round fear. They are always sensationalis- to ’strike the socio-political, sports and celebrity called ’serious media’. He plays his role power structures of the former regime tic, mythical, conspiratorial, based on se- issues’ as it proclaimed. And all that in the even when he has been refuted and he is al- while the second includes the newly crets and speculations and it is inconceiv- midst of the climax of the financial crisis? The ways cited in order to show the pluralism of established pro-democratic structures able who is telling us what, and why. That answer lies in the symbolic construction of opinion and probably freedom of expres- that have encountered many challenges phenomenon of a flood of cataclysmic the balance of power and dominance. sion. That way an unnamed source builds in the development. On the level of statements of unnamed sources or journal- his identity in the world of unknown and media representation in the tabloid ists spreads throughout entire newspapers, Anonymity is a master in disguise, a ruler mysterious, awakening pagan tendencies to “Anonymus media, these two types of patriarchy Source” especially before important political from the shadows. It provides for a myth- the occult and mystical. He becomes a kind Photo by are being portrayed in a simplified way events, like elections, with the sole purpose ical, almost god-like position of unlimit- of a God that shows us that nothing is cer- Snezana Skundric Continuited on page 50

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Continuited from page 49 of visual content, tabloids typically print women. Tabloids tend to be selective in pictures of female bodies followed by the women roles they illustrate with pic- Reality Shows as ’Gladiators’ Arena thus producing a divergence between stereotypical sexist comments, thus repre- tures. Most commonly, women are repre- these two types of masculinity on the ba- senting women and their sexuality as yet sented through entertainment roles - Serbian TV viewers overwhelmed with reality shows on all major national TV networks sis of difference between the ’right’ and another available good on the market. fashion models, TV celebrities and pop ’false’ masculinity and division between Printed tabloid media use the genre of and folk singers. erbian electronic media outlets are nowadays overwhelmed first series of the Big Brother the first of the participants who was supporters and traitors of ’Serbianity’. ’pornographic photography’ varying from with reality programmes. Big Brother, Operation Triumph, It’s kicked out was a young man who stated that he was a homosexu- Masculinity promoted those close to ’soft’, not as depicting and not so exposing, The next big group of roles contains the S Time for Babies, 48 Hours Wedding, Survivor, Exchanging al. The audience did not want to get to know him better and he Milosevic’s regime, who fought in wars as seen in tabloids, to ’hard core’ photog- ones related to the private sphere - moth- Wives...all ran during prime time on television stations with na- could not profit from his stay after being ejected. On the other and are affiliated to the right-wing ideol- raphy present in pornographic magazines ers, housewives and wives. The analysts tional coverage including the public service network Radio hand, a man and a woman who started a relationship inside ’the ogy, to represent the ’right’ manliness, and (definition of pornographic photography had to include the categories “without a Television of Serbia RTS, Pink and even politically-oriented me- house’ were later hired as hosts in a TV show. those men who now undertook role” on the list, as well as the “body-ob- dia such as TV B92. In these television the power to implement reforms ject”, for women depicted re- shows, ordinary people are filmed in ’real- and serve as ’attendants of the gardless of any social context, life’ circumstances such as weddings, Created ’Me’, edited in the west’ are the other - weak and anonymously and exclusively women during their pregnancy and whilst editing-room, over time gains ’treacherous’ manliness. as a “decoration”, which didn’t giving child birth, family life, but also put priority over a true ’Me’ have the equivalent in the group in out of ordinary living conditions such as By means of well tested repre- of the male photos. There we see on a deserted island in Panama or in the Big sentation techniques, the omnipresent gender inequality, Brother house. For months, then, Serbian By Nada Kostic, tabloids are confronting these sexism and misogyny in the print viewers have been glued to their television Student, FMK TV shows that make us become directly two politically and culturally press, especially on the covers and stations, carefully watching what is hap- involved in the most intimate moments in different options. They pro- in the daily tabloids. Visual por- pening with their favourite characters in relationships of people similar to us stim- mote the ’Serbian warrior trayal of the stage performers is ei- the reality shows, identifying with their feelings, fears, inter-rela- ulate voyeurism. An observer is in some way a participant. manhood’, conservative pa- ther sexist - woman as the body- tions difficulties and conflicts. In the process, the viewers de fac- Without blinking he watches silently, and sometimes with tears triarchy and political intoler- object or the promoter of the fash- to consolidate their own position in a distribution of social roles in his eyes, his heroes desperately fighting for their happiness. ance using narratives which ion industry, and the look being the and adopt forms of socially (un)desirable behaviour. Typical ’he- Even though he lives their every emotion, rejoices over their suc- are as simplified as narra- highest value and preoccupation - or roes’ of reality shows are faces you would see in everyday life - in cesses, and grieves over potential sad moments, often imitating tives one may find in porn pornographic. Moreover, a large part a store, on the bus or while walking around the city. They come their actions in real life, a participant on the other side of a screen movies. In addition, of their photographed and written from all walks of life with different characters and tempers so that is just an observer. All he can do is identify himself with the par- tabloids frequently use material consists of the pornograph- every viewer can find his or her own favourite. The selection of ticipants and fulfil his need to ’live’ and ’feel’ something by pornography as the emo- ic photo-reports by the paparazzi, re- participants to participate in the reality shows reflects the typical spending a couple of hours in front of a TV-set following the tionally-based foundation vealing the underwear and “indecent” mentality of an environment it is being both filmed and broadcast rhythm of some life story in a more-or-less realistic environment. of the pre-rational think- body parts, or other smutty content in. Every reality show favours certain suitable prototypes. In the ing, raw instincts and dis- and “humorous” photo-comics with These viewers have an important role they need to play while crimination and control people from showbiz full of offensive they watch a certain reality show. Many of these shows are com- Cover page of ALO tabloid over women, all part of violent, exclusive comments. “We have become bored with watching actors give us phoney petitive in character. It means that participants fight for a mone- Photo by Kornelija Szabo and warrior patriarchal culture which con- emotions. We are tired of pyrotechnics and special effects. tary prize (or so it appears on the surface). But when you take a tests the civil society and its political plu- implies pictures of naked or half-naked fe- Misogyny in tabloid media takes many While the world he inhabits is, in some respect, counterfeit, deeper look you see that a reality show stops being a set of games ralism, civil liberties and rights, and poli- male body -in detail, medium close-ups, shapes, from the obvious to very sophis- there is nothing fake about Truman himself. No scripts, no cue that are meant for players to show their abilities, and turns into tics based on political pragmatism, com- entire figure - which concentrate on the ticated. It contains in itself discrimination cards. It isn’t always Shakespeare, but it’s genuine. It’s a life”. a gladiatorial arena out of which one person can come out ’alive’. promise and pacification of ’warlike’ mas- sexuality made available to a viewer). of women regarding their look and age, as These are the opening quotes in Peter Weir’s movie, The What does that really mean? It means that players will stop at culinity. From an ideological standpoint, well as negation or disparagement of their Truman Show. Truman lived in a simulated world, but no nothing to win, and that producers can push the human psyche misogynous pornographic material vali- The number of photos involving women professional achievements, stereotypes more than the people who watched his show 24-hours a to and ridicule people without limit. Nowadays, in reality shows dates the ideological values and gender in the daily print media is considerably which underestimate their intelligence day, seven days a week, and who found comfort in it for there is a real battle going on, a battle for ’survival’, and also for identities of the authoritarian patriarchy. small, media analysis show. However, it and abilities. Furthermore, it indicates 30-years. As described by the creator of The Truman Show the sympathy of the audience because they decide their faith by gets considerably higher in the fun pages, that their only goal is seducing men and in the film, people want to watch genuine feelings in which voting. That is the role viewers need to play while they enjoy Tabloid newspapers achieve their high cir- and in the entertainment newspapers. The eliminating their female competition, by they will see parts of themselves, and they want to face a watching their favourite ’gladiatorial games’. culation through the means of sensational- analysis of the social role of women on large reducing a role of women to that of true, cruel, real life without any masks. Rawness is what ism, political exclusion, celebrity gossips these photos shows that there is a tenden- sex objects and judging them by their ap- appeals to people. and various kinds of hate-speech. In terms cy to create stereotypes of the roles of pearance.
Continuited on page 52

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Continuited from page 51 “You never know when someone will be so psychologically and phys- Truman realises that his whole life is a hoax concocted in order ically stressed they might turn the whole house upside-down. Then to draw from him un-staged emotions and actions. Television Another important point is how accurately participants in you have to be ready to react quickly and in the best way possible, rarely puts up with silence (even if that silence speaks more than the reality shows are being presented. The behaviour of which requires expert professional training and strong nerves”. Big a thousand words), and even more so today when it represents a some participants can be completely edited, and that Brother can be explained closely as possible as a live feature pro- kind of a confession booth, a bed patients lie on during a session way they can be given new identities. Maybe some gramme. It is dramaturgically very complex because it involves with their psychiatrist. Truman realises at that moment that he of them willingly agree, with financial monologue, dialogue, suspense and all other elements of drama. does not possess any privacy because he shares it with a multi- compensation but most of them do tude of people all over the world. All those who participate in any not know what is coming to them Big Brother was as popular as it was for the same reasons as Latino- reality show are doing the same. It is obvious that today, the line when they step into the reality American soap operas are popular. There are significant correlations between private and public keeps getting thinner. It almost dis- space. That newly created ’Me’, between these two types of TV shows. They both represent substitu- appears. So does critical thinking. Lost somewhere in between edited in the editing-room, over time Illustration by Aleksandra Petkovi} tion for a real life to their consumers, and at the same time give them Big Brother and 48 Hours Wedding. It is replaced by the attitude gains priority over a true ’Me’ of some an opportunity to characterise certain people as ’good’ or ’bad’, that the only competence comes from what is said and shown on person. When that happens, trying to As number of viewers of B92 programmes in- which is a basic need of most peo- prove that things are not the way they creased, the ratings given by the examinees were ple”, explains Mihajlovic. He says are shown on TV is in vain. For God’s going down. The percentage of people rating the that the process of selection in- sake, TV does not lie! quality of programming of B92 with the highest mark volves experts in psychology who (5/5) went down by 3 percent in the evening hours, and create a psychological profile of One of the reality shows whose purpose for 6 percent for programmes broadcast after-midnight applicants with their physical and is to make pop and rock celebrities out hours. Likewise, the number of people who gave the sta- mental (in)abilities. of its participants is Operation Triumph. tion a rating of 2/5 increased by 3 percent for the evening, Serbia was the first country in the and 7 percent for late-night hours. Results further show the There is also a team of scenario Balkans in which it was broadcast. Of same for afternoon hours which received lower marks for writers. They observe relations in- course, as it was a new show, it was quality in October compared to April survey. side the house and create a story by amongst the most popular in Serbia, espe- choosing which information they cially because its participants came from all make public and which they don’t. over the ex-Yugoslavia. In order to examine Reality shows bring viewers but lower the There is always a risk of breaking the ratings of the TV station that aired quality of the programming as seen by public some moral code during that selec- Operation Triumph, and to see how viewers tion, and it is up to the production rate that station, Center for Free Elections company whether to misuse some and Democracy (CeSID) conducted two In October, the number of viewers who were giving the highest information or not. surveys. The first one was in April 2008, before ratings for B92 programming decreased by 13 percent. So the shift Operation Triumph, and the second, in October in the programming made to adjust to the Operation Triumph “There was no misuse in Big 2008, when Operation Triumph was being aired on brought some new audience but lowered overall quality of the Brother. Dramatic flow was dictat- the TV station B92. Both times examinees were programming of B92 as seen by the people surveyed by CeSID. ed by how interesting events were”, asked the same questions - At what time of do you Big Brother was certainly among the most popular and also most claims Mihajlovic. That is why watch TV on workdays? And At what time do you logistically complicated television shows. Dragoslav Mihajlovic, some people get angry and think watch TV on weekends? They were also asked to the on-line editor of projects such as Big Brother and Operation that they have not been represent- rate the quality of B92’s programming. Since Triumph notes that such shows require use of high technology. ed truthfully. They claim to have Operation Triumph was aired during morning, afternoon and been manipulated, that their state- Public announcement evening hours, examinees were asked to rate the quality of B92 “This was the first time so many video cameras have been used in a ments have been taken out of con- for Reality programme’s in those exact hours. live broadcast”, says Mihajlovic. “Video recordings were filmed ei- text, and that they were portrayed TV Show Killer ther by ’live’ cameras, operated by cameramen, or remote controlled as completely different people. After midnight during October, B92 broadcast live from the cameras. There were also innovations regarding audio technology According to Mihajlovic the only ones facing danger while taking TV, and it is not to be doubted. The way things have started, it house participants in Operation Triumph stayed in, while after- because microphones were worn by participants and they were also part in reality shows, are celebrities. They have to pay close at- looks as if in some time there will not be a single person who noon and midnight hours were reserved for stage appearances of placed around the house” What is an ’inconvenience’ according to tention to their behaviour because one wrong move is enough to would not wont to discuss their privacy in public. We can easily members of this so-called ’singing academy’, and for a retrospec- Mihajlovic is the unpredictability of the participants’ reactions in demystify their persona and wreck their image. picture a situation where there will be a sign on every TV station tive of the events of the day. It was evident from the beginning the show. Control is to some extent possible by means of assign- that reads: “Come on, open your soul to us”. Anyway, hasn’t of the TV show that a number of people watching B92 increased ments given to participants, but sudden, unpredictable events are “Truman, say something, God damn it! You’re on TV! The whole everyone ever wanted to give an interview for television and be- by 5 percent from April to October. always behind a corner. world is watching you!” shouted his ’father’ at the moment when come somebody? Isn’t that so?

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Turbo all media content (videos and shows), which promoted the image of turbofolk Traditionallity performers. in the Form The effects of the new style on the Serbian youth of Modernity The image of female singers, who were a lot more present in the media than their Turbofolk and Media male colleagues, was often connected to their provocative clothing and lifestyles. Scantily dressed on the stage, with lots of Turbofolk is a burning of the people, makeup, they mostly played on the sex Every encouragement of that burning card rather than good songs. The basic is turbofolk, characteristic of their style was: minimal Igniting Homo sapiens’ lowest urges, clothing (mini skirts and cleavage), high Music is the favourite of all muses, heels and lots of shiny details (unless the The harmony of all arts, Scene of GRAND PARADE SHOW on TV Photo by Vesna Andjic entire outfit was extremely shiny). With Turbofolk is not music, their provocative moves on the stage and Turbofolk is the favourite of the masses, that engulfed Serbia and started dominat- sat” (200 km/h), who is therefore consid- the equally provocative way in which they Cacophony of all tastes and smells, ing the media as well as the taste of young ered a representative of this genre. dressed, they set the standards of behav- I didn’t invent it, people in the early 1990s. In turbofolk, as iour and clothing, promoting “pink” cul- I just gave it a name a new musical genre which the newly- The aesthetic analysis of turbofolk would ture during Serbia’s “black days”. (Rambo Amadeus, Belgrade composed folk-music turned into in the probably indicate a mixture of styles and Reference to ’pink’ comes from the name Illustration by Aleksandra Petkovi} musician and composer) 1990s, one can recognise ’traditionality’, genres, unoriginal lyrics and kitsch, but tur- of the television TV Pink that was the which the word “folk” stands for, and the bofolk became an inevitable part of this so- first one to promote turbo-folk music and here are different descriptions of tur- characteristics of the modern lifestyle, ciety’s everyday life. Even though this music turbofolk lifestyle in their programming diggers’). An abundance of long-legged the new “elite”, consisting of businessmen bofolk as from the point of everything embodied in the word “turbo” (taken encountered mostly negative views and was thus exploiting this form of entertain- blondes, with too much makeup, wearing and turbofolk singers. Therefore, when T to nothing. “For some, it’s just another from car racing, this word signifies some- considered far from quality music by critics, ment largely to attract viewers. short skirts, “hugged” by fake fur, actively we speak of turbofolk, we can’t fail to musical genre, a successful entertainment thing fast, such as an urban lifestyle). In it was commercially exploited and therefore walked the streets of the city hoping to be mention the role of the media, which sig- profit-making business... for others it is a accordance with that, the songs of the became a recognisable and authentic audible recognised and fulfilling their lifelong wish nificantly contributed to turbofolk’s in- lifestyle or a project of mass political manip- new genre are based on an upbeat rhythm, décor of this part of the world. With their provocative moves - “catching” a wealthy man. The knight in credible success. ulation or an authentic sub- on the stage and the equally shining armour from fairy-tales was substi- culture... You can also hear However, turbofolk, which is provocative way in which they tuted by a perspective “businessman” dri- The media played a crucial role in exploit- claims that turbofolk simply present in other countries in ving a BMW, and the castle with a luxurious ing this musical genre, because it is char- [ doesn’t exist (and never has)”, the Balkans these days, can- are dressed, they female villa. They thought they deserved to live in acterised exactly by the multimedia nature explains Radovan Kupres, not be understood if its val- singers] set the standards of luxury and hedonism, and they naively of being broadcast on radio and TV, but the author of the television ues are not contrasted with behaviour and clothing, likened themselves to their music star idols also being represented in weekly tabloids. series All that Folk. the values that characterise promoting “pink” culture that dominated the music scene and set new However, the media breakthrough of tur- folk music, its predecessor. It during Serbia’s “black days”. life values and standards. That is how the bofolk enabled the opening of private TV Those who consider it a is only then that we can re- old values, which were in force up until stations in Serbia, especially and TV Pink musical genre outline that it alise that those values were them, stumbled and were eventually swept and TV Palma, stations that based their started out in the former By Tamara Granic, Tijana Stojanovic, Jelena Lacmanovic, even more twisted by the cri- Soon after its appearance, turbofolk culture away by the “pink tsunami”. programming on folk music. Yugoslavia in the late 1980s. Students, FMK sis and the war that our soci- attracted lots of young people in Serbia and It was influenced by many ety went through during the in the region of the Balkans. Young people It’s not just the music that promoted The entire nation was being “bombed” by modern styles, and the mu- 1990s. Turbofolk promoted liked their style and they identified with those values; they were also present in long Sunday shows broadcasting that sort sic itself represents a mixture of ethno techno and dance matrices with elements luxury, glamour and money - in a word, some of its elements. Inspired by the lives music videos, music shows and other vi- of music. The most popular shows of this music with the influences of Arabic, of folk and the recognizable “howling”. good life - which itself was a paradox con- of music stars, most members of the female sual representations of turbofolk per- variety were ZAM, Minimaksovizija and Turkish and Greek folk music. Such a “be- One of the first turbofolk songs that sidering the situation the people were in. gender visually looked alike and followed formers. That is how almost all forms of Jedna pesma jedna zelja (One Song One nign uncultured form of entertainment” starts with the words: “Techno, techno, The new values were promoted not only the same styles, but also started forming a mass media participated in the education Wish), whereas the radio was dominated by: originated in the “general cultural crisis” technofolk!” was Ivan Gavrilovic’s “200 na through music, but also through almost society of so-called “sponzoruse” (’gold- of the young people and the promotion of Continuited on page 56

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Continuited from page 55 aforementioned places, one can hear the The Art it on the mentality, but you must consider the well-known sounds of folk hits being lis- paint prices, which are doubled because of the Poselo, Sabor and Diskomer. When the Pink tened to by those who “don’t prefer folk”. for Social import taxes. One of the other reasons, per- and Palma television stations “launched the Despite the fact that all those places are haps, could be the fact that street art is illegal. stars into the sky”, the tabloids became in- packed on weekends, few people would Change Still, regardless of that, spray painting on the terested in their personal lives. The songs, admit that they listen to folk music, be- streets is not considered a major felony in the happenings on the music scene, i.e. be- cause it has a negative connotation. Interview with Belgrade Serbia. The whole state is in the certain state ing informed about the lives of performers of confusion, which impacts the artists and became a common topic among the mem- Of course, there are those who “really” street-art diva TKV the scene, as well. There are special police de- bers of our society. Pompous headlines at- don’t listen to folk music, whose choice is partments in some countries dealing just with tracted the attention even of those audi- pop and rock music, but their choice of po- By Nikola Herman, that issue, while in Serbia the only thing ences that seemed uninterested, and the tential places where they can go out, or ra- Student, FMK questioned is the price of taking it off.” texts acquainted them with the most recent dio and TV stations they can listen to and events in the lives of their favourite per- hear the sound of their favourite songs, is On “The scene”... formers. The general public would widely very small. A TV station such as very morning I go out to balcony “It all started in New Belgrade (a part of discuss affairs and break-ups of ’celebrities’, Metropolis, which airs videos and concerts to have my morning coffee and Belgrade) between the blocks of buildings. their marriages and divorces, cellulite, un- of pop and rock performers hasn’t been “E the first thing I see are six huge The first Hall of Fame was there, in block derwear, pregnancies and scandals. able to gather momentum, ratings and pow- billboards attacking me. On the highest one number 70. The whole atmosphere was er, with which it could force a new taste in (30 meters high) there is a yogurt adver- Grafitti made by street artist TKV Photo by Kornelija Szabo reminiscent of the New York ghetto. Yet, the The greatest interest surrounded the bright- tisement, with a half-naked woman look- hot spot has moved to the city centre nowa- est stars such as Fahreta Jahic whose artistic ing at us seductively”, Belgrade street- Today in Belgrade, urban space is overly gically, but sometimes the theme of the work days. The Belgrade art scene has developed name is Lepa Brena and Svetlana Velickovic, artist TKV begins her story on how she saturated with street posters, billboards, determines its place. It doesn’t matter to some hugely compared to the nineties, which cre- today Raznatovic - Ceca. The media fol- decided to start with this form of art. and other forms of advertisement. Street artist, and they can work wherever, but some ated the necessity to leave the ghetto and ex- lowed Ceca’s private life closely, and turned art could be understood as a reaction to do think about aesthetics.” tend to the whole city. The parts of the city her and paramilitary commander and mafia While briefly reminiscing on the out- this space organisation. What is depicted where it was the most present were Belgrade lord Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan’s wedding in- door advertising in the 1970s when it on those billboards? Great number of “I make the art for the social change. To give a districts of Dorcol and Vracar, but current- to the spectacle of the year. The wedding was mostly about former Yugoslavia those ads carries the street art iconogra- value to something unworthy, and communi- ly one of the most “crucial” places is a pas- was broadcast live, and the tape of their state symbols, flags, coats of arms, phy. However, when a street artist “fills cate with the audience who can be basically sage called Bezistan, located in the heart of wedding was later sold by LP production of TKV notes that already in 1980s there in” the billboard with his own tag, such anyone, regardless of the gender, age, educa- the city centre. However, the graffiti Hole of Radio Television of Serbia. That event is one was a significant influence of New York act is considered vandalism and it is re- tion level or anything else”, she explains. Fame is located in the warehouse of former of many that confirm the link between tur- graffiti scene on the streets of Belgrade. moved straight away. It’s an irony that the state oil company, right across the Ada bofolk, the new criminal elite and the state- In the 1990s, disintegration of the state, iconography of the street art is bothered On street art and billboards... Ciganlija city lake, which is not in the city controlled media. total isolation, poverty and the state re- by the street art on the billboards. “Many corporate businesses use the street centre. Right behind it is the wall of the hip- pression, as well as material and exis- iconography for advertising their products. podrome, which is also a place that gathers Even today when it is usually being called tential insecurity made this form of ex- Street art artist TKV explained it to us. That is a far-reaching technique. For exam- the street artists. The political influence is “folk”, “pop-folk” or simply “narodnjaci”, pression less achievable. The first tags She started doing street art in 2004, which ple, if a street artist signs his name on the entering every aspect of the society, so it ap- it doesn’t have a strong enough competitor didn’t appear until the middle of the has developed over the years into a life Coca Cola billboard which has this iconog- plies to the arts, as well. The divisions inside that could resist its power and perhaps take decade, a time when a very small scene style, way of communicating, and reacting raphy incorporated in its advertisement, the state are copied onto the street art itself. away its status as the most popular musical started to develop. This technique was to her surroundings. that signature is automatically considered to There is no unity, which influences the au-

genre in Serbia, a status it’s had for years. Folk singer Lepa Brena Photo by Imre Szabo also used by the organisations fighting be an intrusion, which is a paradox, because thenticity of the native style. There is no “lo- That is confirmed by the high ratings of against the former regime as part of the “The point is you have to express yourself. that’s exactly what is represented on the bill- go” of this region, it is still under discovery.” shows such as television shows Grand music, for years. All that the fans of those citizens’ protests and activities of pro- Urban space gives great possibilities to express board. That signature becomes overwritten Parada, Stars of Grand and massive reader- types of music are left with is satisfying democratic opposition parties. They yourself and frees you from restraints and and removed in two days. There are street On street art on and off streets... ship of tabloids such as Svet and Skandal. their musical needs in cyber space because used this subversive media to get their rules that would usually be imposed. It offers artists around the world doing nothing but “Despite the use of street art iconography for this world is ruled by turbofolk, which can message across, because there were lit- thousands and thousands of information, and billboard interventions.” marketing purposes, or some sort of institu- One of the characteristics of our capital be discussed not only based on one’s per- tle opportunities to express these ideas. you have to respond to it somehow. The only tionalising of street art throug galleries, street city is the great fun and crazy nightlife, sonal beliefs, impressions and the taste of The most famous is the Otpor question is what form you will choose, and “Despite the fact that our society offers a lot art itself doesn’t lose its essence nor its pur- happening on rafts such as “Blaywatch” those who dislike it, but must be seen as a (Resistance) organisation sprayed the street art is the form free from all censorship. to react against (not necessarily with street pose. It’s not threatened by it, and the need and “Acapulco”, in pubs all over the city really popular phenomenon. What is good symbol of a fist all over Serbian towns The place and the subject matter depend sole- art, though), people rarely do so. That’s why for that kind of self-expression isn’t any and also in ’fancy’ clubs. At each of the and what isn’t remains to be seen.
and cities. ly on the artist. I choose my work space strate- the street art scene is so poor. You can blame Continuited on page 58

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Comics the very beginning illustrated supplements, The second half of 1939 was marked by War II as a prevailing subject matter. which gradually cultivated the language of two significant events stirring a relatively Edition Never a Slave then appeared with- are Back comics. Such circumstances fostered a cli- tranquil climate in the comics market: in Children’s Newspaper from Gornji mate for more rapid development of comics. first, Mickey’s Realm magazine was to be Milanovac, later renamed into Mirko and The very same period and release of licensed released, Politikin Zabavnik shortly after- Slavko- two partisan messengers who were For the sixth time, issue of Max and Moritz by Wilhelm Busch wards, which was to shake the supreme the most popular characters in the edition. Belgrade hosted the represents the transfer from caricature and position of Mickey Mouse. Since 1939 Its circulation was around 200,000 copies, International Comics satire to the form of comic book. when Politikin Zabavnik appeared, comics which is not negligible even in global has been its component, and included terms. At that time, new editions appeared- Street Artist TKV Showroom. The event However, comics, still not defined as a works of almost all relevant international Penguin, Zenith, and Panorama which Photo by Kornelija Szabo gathered together medium, were released without a clear con- authors. All distinguished national authors would emanate the longest-lasting edition Continuited from page 57 On accepting street art... enthusiasts from all cept, as supplements to newspapers, and (Navojev, Sensin, Solovjev and Lobacev) in our region-Stripoteka (Stripoteque). “As I came on the balcony to drink my coffee even the additional hurdle to commercial started working for this magazine. weaker. Street art doesn’t have a reputation one morning, I noticed the wind has torn the around the world and prestige of such publications was set by In 1971, due to the amendment of the fed- of being the real art in Serbia. It still isn’t billboard with that half-naked woman seduc- had most visitors ever. their unacknowledged artistic value. In Most national authors fully relied on the eral law on press and other means of in- showcased in the galleries.” tively watching us (who in a way represented such a climate of ignorance authors like texts of their colleagues. There were no strict forming, all literature containing any traces the yogurt goddess, 30 meters long) in two Andrija Maurovic and Branko Vidic started selection rules for literary works and works of kitsch was burned, and comic books Yet, this type of art is recognised in some of pieces. That was the moment of deliberation omics are back! We could say so creating comics. As illustrators, both au- of both national and foreign authors were were not spared. Besides, comic books its forms. There was an exhibition in the from the visual molesting, even if it was for a for the comic scene in Serbia. thors are related to the set up of two pre- adapted. Some of them were Tolstoy, were additionally taxed, which brought a “Blok” gallery, in New Belgrade (block short period of time, since it was soon replaced C However, not to make any con- war comics’ development centres - one in Pushkin, Twain, Shakespeare, Verne, Dumas, number of editions to an end and made number 45) named “Street art and graffiti”, by the new one. Except that the 30 metre long fusion, comics are deeply rooted in our Belgrade, the other in Zagreb. Gogol, Hugo, Dickens, London and Nusic. many authors stop working or shift to il- in 2007, featuring artists such as: Lortek, woman was no longer there, on the tall build- country, it was widely read and regular- lustrating licensed editions. Hope, Nasa, Angel, Gua and TKV. For two ing near the highway in New Belgrade.” ly published. But let us start from the The Belgrade daily newspaper Politika weeks, that is, as long as the exhibition was very beginnings of the comics in has continuously published comic and The end of 1970s and 1980s were shown, the gallery recorded the greatest There is always a counter balance. In Yugoslavian region. educational stories since 1930. The “golden years” of Yugoslavian and number of visitors. Furthermore, eight places overcrowded with different adver- biggest success was Mickey Mouse, fol- Serbian comics marked by numerous graffiti and street artists painted the Eastern tisements, the reaction will emerge “natu- Appearance of comic books in Europe lowed by other Walt Disney characters, editions and involving many nation- Tower inspired by Japan, as a part of the rally”. Even if there wasn’t for such great and the USA in mid-nineteenth centu- making these stories a regular supple- al authors. Strip Art, Spunk News, Ex “Belgrade days” manifestation in May 2008. visual content imposed on us, there would ry reached yet in 1860 our publishers ment to the paper. Still, not until the Almanach, Laser, Politikin Zabavnik The same year in August, Belgrade Summer be a reaction to other things: political, cul- who were not at all immune to the new release of Alex Raymond’s Secret Agent and Stripoteque covered vastly ex- Festival (BELEF) festival in Belgrade in- tural, or any other action which influences and prosperous medium in rise. The X-9 was the term comic book used, Yugoslav region and were issued in cluded a street art event in its programme. that part of the world. very same year Moonwalker magazine but instead phrases like graphic novel, By Vladimir Bozovic, Luka Beslagic, all republics. Circulation was high It took place on the Nikola Pasic Square, was founded in Novi Sad, and in 1861 picture novel, cartoon, etc. The term Students, FMK and editions numerous. and many graffiti and street artists from “We need to accept this type of communica- Mosquito illustrated magazine appeared. comics became widely used in Politika Serbia, as well as the other parts of the tion. It can be a lot deeper than it might and then widely acknowledged. During the 1990s comics scene was Balkan region took part in the event. seem, or than some would like to present it. In those days, some magazines disappeared The issuing of comic books came to a halt at almost gone, influenced by other events, Street art communicates, but it allows to be while some others took their place. In 1861 Although comic books gradually appeared the beginning of World War II. It affected nevertheless leading to its revival in 2000 On street art and the Internet... communicated with. It criticises, but gives the satirical magazine The Hedgehog of in almost all high-circulation newspapers of Politikin Zabavnik, Eye, Mickey Mouse, when comic books slowly started reap- “Considering that the nature of street art is freedom, as well.” Podrava appeared in Varazdin (today in the time, it was apparent that European and Happy Magazine, Mickey’s Realm, Blue pearing, different, modern, with new char- such that its works can disappear any time, Croatia), the only issue of Humorist mag- American publications were prevalent, Magazine, etc. Thus, a turbulent period of acters and stories created mostly abroad. the Internet is the one place that somewhat “We currently live in the world which turns azine in Novi Sad as well, while Jovan which does not undermine the relevance of pre-war comics and impressive works ended. keeps it alive. When you do something, you the works of art into art products, whose val- Jovanovic Zmaj issued the Zmaj satirical our authors who did have space for their It is estimated that the circulation in those VI Belgrade International Showroom take a photo of it, post it on the Internet and ue is measured in terms of the money they can magazine in Budapest, shortly preceding works. Editorial policy of newspapers then days was between 20,000 and 40,000 copies. For the sixth time, the Student Cultural it lives there. You have to be prepared that earn. The work of art is seen only as a good, its regular circulation in Novi Sad. The was intentionally focused on presenting Centre of Belgrade organised the once you have done something on the street, with its market value. Street art is offered to magazine represents the precursor of con- state-of-the-art works to the public, making Taking into account the social circum- International Comics Showroom. This it is not yours any more. It lives its own life. everyone. That’s the art which lives on the temporary comic book in our region. national authors at least qualitatively match stances at that time, the post-war period event, which gathers together the enthu- The Serbian scene is mostly using streets and communicates with all people.” the foreign ones. At the same time, Mika Mis was not fruitful for comics. However, in siasts of the ninth art from all around the “Myspace”, for its own self-promotion, as The milestone for the development of magazine was released in Belgrade, gathering the 1950s, as conditions changed for bet- world, took place from 25 to 28 well as for the private conversation and in- “The word of the street art is the last ’free’ comics is marked by the release of satirical- exquisite cartoonists like Djordje Lobacev, ter, comics started coming back into all dai- September 2008. ternal exchange of ideas.” word”.
humorous magazine Nettle displaying at Nikola Navojev, Djuka Jankovic, etc. ly, weekly and monthly papers with World Continuited on page 60

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Continuited from page 59 The Young Lion award, given to students up to 15, went to Jelena Vucic for Paper Balkan Comic Artists Getting Back Together Since 2003, the International Comics Airplanes. The jury awarded Ana Interview with Marko Stojanovic, comic strip scenario writer, the eight-time awarded Showroom has been organised in September Grigorijeva for mature and imaginative with duration of several days, depending on comic strip named “The Game”, and nine- participant at the VI International Comics Showroom the programme. Along with the Balkan Comic year old Teodora Birmancevic was award- Meeting in Leskovac, the International ed a special prize for the youngest contes- By Vladimir Bozovic, Luka Beslagic, Stojanovic: I learned from anyone who What is your overall impression on the Showroom in SCC in Belgrade, and the Comics Showroom represents the biggest tant. Besides the above mentioned, the Students, FMK astounded me, and I learned all I could. comic scene in Serbia today? fact that more and more national authors comic festival in Serbia nowadays. prizes were also awarded by the patrons of Now I teach the participants at the are working for international publishers the Showroom - Stripoteque, System omic books have always been school of comics to carefully observe Stojanovic: I think the climate is far bet- only confirms the improvement. I think The most interesting part of the festival is the Comics, Happy Thursday, Strip Pressing part of my life”, starts Marko comics, illustrations, films, and if they ter that in the 1990s and it is improving. there are more than 30 comic-artists comics contest. The sixth International magazine, etc. As in the previous years, the “C Stojanovic his story.” I like something, to immediately ask them- There are no giant leaps and not all is working for French, Italian or American Comics Showroom received 210 works from International Comics Showroom hosted learned Latin script by reading comics. selves why they like it. That is how the right, let me make myself clear, but grad- publishers, many of them are even work- 32 countries and from all continents except numerous guests in the field of ninth art. “Mom, what’s this letter? Oh. And this craft is learned, and comic strips have to ual improvement can be seen. First of all, ing on two serials at the same time. Africa. The topic was free, and the prescribed This year’s guests were David Lloyd from one?” and so on, bit by bit, I read a bit be craft before they could perhaps be- there are more and more comics editions, length was one to four boards. The members the UK, Matt Hollingsworth from the of “Rahan”, “Johnny Logan”,” Il come art. As for scenarios, I learned from at the newsagents’, at comic books stores; Serbian comic strip has started look- of the jury were Srecko Jovanovic, publicist U.S.A, Esad T. Ribic from Croatia, Bart Comandante Mark”, just for a start. As Alan Moore, Frank Miller (in his early big publishers like System Comics, ing up to world trends, but production (president of the jury), Vasa Pavkovic, liter- Nauwelaerts from Belgium and György for my involvement in comics, my first phase), Tiziano Sclavi, Garth Ennis, Neal Marketprint, White Road and Happy is still lagging behind. Are there any ary critic, Miroljub Milutinovic Brada, comic Palfi from Hungary. steps were also made when I was little, solutions to this problem? strip author, Zlatko Milenkovic, “strip news” maybe even before I learned Latin web page editor, Kokan Mladenovic, theatre David Lloyd is known to the readers as the il- script. I remember a notebook with a Stojanovic: Money. In the right hands. I director. The jury estimated that science fic- lustrator of graphic novel V For Vendetta by drawing on each page, each representing know it is nothing new, but it all comes tion was a prevailing genre, regardless of the Alan Moore. Apart from this work, he has il- the next war phase between two groups down to the amount of money invented country or contestants’ profiles. lustrated comic books Hellblazer, Aliens and of fighting Stickmen. Drawing, and lat- in comics and to the right or wrong way it Night Raven. Matt Hollingsworth is one of er writing, had always been connected is invested. It is especially unfortunate Showroom prizes were awarded on the the leading colourists in the world of comics with comic books, with narration, with that next to nothing is invested in nation- first day, at the opening celebration. nowadays. Some of the comic serials he telling stories. I was not interested in al comics, in national comics production - Special award for contribution to Serbian coloured are Preacher, Daredevil, Hellboy, drawing and inking out of the context of for this reason a great number of our comics was given to Srecko Jovanovic, the Hellblazer, The Filth, etc. During the festival, comic strip and for this reason I had comics-artist publish their comic books in founder of the Children’s Newspaper back Hollingsworth held an exclusive presentation never wanted to enrol in the secondary France, and domestic readers do not even in 1956 and its long-time editor till his re- on colouring. Esad T. Ribic started drawing school of arts, let alone the academy. see a page of their comics. We need to in- tirement. Children’s Newspaper was one of professionally in the mid 1990s. Since 2000 he Simply, it was not my ’cup of tea’, and vest systematically in national comics, and the most significant comic book publish- has worked for Marvel Publishing. Currently even then I knew - but when the school use production to rebuild distribution (a ers in the former Yugoslavia region, with he is working on a serial Submariner: The of comics was opened in Leskovac in scar of national comics publishing since such publications as Ex Almanach, Yu Depths. Bart Nauwelaerts was in charge of 1995, I was the happiest person in the the 1990’s) and attract or, why not, create Comics, Gigant and Pearl Comics. this year’s promotion of the International world. Finally, I found somebody who public. I see this as the only way. Comics Showroom in Ganshoren (Brussels, knew how to make comics, but I also In 2008 festival Grand Prix went to Alem Belgium), while György Palfi, as the repre- met a lot of people of similar age and of It often happens that a comic-artist Curin from Croatia with the comic book sentative of Moholy-Nagy Art and Design absolutely the same interest in comics. first becomes popular due to foreign Marko Stojanovic (second from left) Photo by Luka Beslagic named I’m here - I’m not here. Mijat Mijatovic University from Budapest, held a lecture on Heaven. Nowadays, my colleague publishers and then acknowledged and Marko Stojanovic were awarded the best illustration. Srdjan Niklic Peka and I are giving lec- among the national public. Has any- work in the field of classic comic language for tures in the school of comics “Nikola Gaiman, Warren Ellis. I still like Brian Thursday are constantly issuing new edi- thing changed so far? their comic book Hunt. Violet Helix by In 2008 the Showroom had most visitors Mitrovic Kokan”, named after its Azzarello, for example. This writing style tions, which is very important for creating Bratislav Milenkovic and Milos Jakovljevic so far. Numerous lectures and workshops founder - and I can assure you that pre- is alive, it breathes, drags you into its own new public, more than necessary to the Stojanovic: As I have already said, no. was chosen the best work in the field of alter- were organised during the festival, a lot of serving heaven in life is by no means an world and will not let you out until you comics today. Second of all, there are a Our comics-artists are excellent and native comic language and at the same time works were exhibited, and a comics mar- easy task. are told all there is to be told. Regarding few publications that somehow manage to formed to a great extent; they are highly awarded by the jury a special prize for innova- ket was organised in the lobby of the letterists, at the very beginning it was release national comics, e.g. Strip appreciated in the French comics market, tion in comic art. Best scenario award went to Student Cultural Centre where visitors Whom would you name as a role Bane Kerac as the first role model, but I Pressing, Think Tank, Eon, Enea. We have which is commercial and always hungry Marko Stojanovic for Labour, while the best could buy the copies of the comics they model among the comics scenario also looked up to Mike Mignola, Frenk two big comic festivals - Balkan comic for good comics-artists. Why should they drawing award went to Dragan Paunovic. miss in their collections.
writers and illustrators? Miller, Eduardo Risso. meetings in Leskovac and Comics Continuited on page 62

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Poster for the Second International Salon Continuited from page 61 One Culture, released when the new government started their term, and the lyrics of the song were the fierce and direct criticism of the whole waste their energy here in Serbia trying to widely connected comics scene in Serbia One Voice political scene. The following part from afore mentioned song find a way to publish a few boards and be and the Balkans in general, via sites and best depicts state of mind of young people at that time. miserably paid (and often with a few- forums like UPPS (upps.org.yu), which is Hip-Hop Culture in Serbia month delay) or even work for free, when certainly a desirable direction with good “I’m sitting on the river bank, staring at the Danube, there is somebody out there who wishes results and diverse forms of cooperation. Wondering who is putting our new constitution together, to pay abundantly (for Serbian circum- ver the last couple of years there has been a major break- Wondering why our president is dumb, stances) for their talent and work? And The Longevous represent an attempt through of American hip-hop and there have been changes What is Milo (Montenegrin president at that time) hustling... then somebody can find it strange that to publish a ten-album authorial seri- O in hip-hop culture altogether. It seems that all those changes motherfucker! people have high-circulation publications al. Is it going according to your plans? influence very slowly the development of Serbian rap and hip-hop What’s the means of transport, planes or the railroad? in the west, and yet nobody has heard of culture in general. Even though Serbian hip-hop culture may be Are the goods paid in cash or by settling the debts? them in Serbia. Stojanovic: The Longevous are even more proud of its early roots, dating from the beginning of the 1980s, Are the partners Greaseballs or the southern tribes? ambitious than it seemed at first, since they and of its enormous influence on popular culture during the very Low birth rate; there are less and less Serbs, The International Comics Showroom were not envisaged as a serial of ten albums, difficult for living wartimes during the 1990s, the biggest expan- Sister if you wanna give birth you need balls, seems very serious in its efforts to be- but of as many as we could make - the first sion and breakthrough of young artists happened in the period af- To give up everything and to work like a dog, come the pivot of Balkan comics. How cycle, which rounds up a story, consists of ter 1999 till the last couple of years, when Serbian rap found itself To be a barefaced liar and steal, realistic is it to have the authors and Pulishers like System Comics or seven albums. It is the serial published in in some sort of status quo, which lasts till the present day. Double standards, cooking books, publishers reconnected into a creative Labyrinth should be congratulated for Politikin zabavnik and System Comics’ al- To smile like a rat in elitists company, publishing framework? their efforts to publish national comics on bums - the one dealing with the adventures Groups and artists which ruled the Serbian hip-hop scene in the To fake like American wrestlers on a business dinner, a regular basis, and we have also to admit of Kraljevic Marko (the immortal, in our 1990s made more profit from their work than their colleges Or to play possum when foreigners come, Stojanovic: Balkan Comics Meeting was that their publishing work is based on en- interpretation) and the mysterious Chinese nowadays, because at that time piracy and Internet were not that To renounce Guca, kajmak and radza, established in 1998 and has been organ- thusiasm, of both publishers and authors Chen (a vampire, in everybody’s interpre- powerful and spread out. And to tolerate Croatians, Borka, gay parades, ised every year since, making it the oldest who work for them... tation). Adventures of these two accidental Fuck Levy’s documentaries, comics festival in the ex-Yugoslavia re- partners start in Vienna, on the night of Artists who made their breakthrough after 1999 and 2000, during I don’t feel shame about my origins.” gion. The uniqueness of this festival is Which Serbian authors would you es- Mozart’s death; and besides Mozart, the the times of so called the 5 October that it is focused on younger Balkan au- pecially name? Longevous introduce Till Eulenspiegel, Revolution and times of changes and de- Another example worth media attention thors, and it also aims at familiarising Milos Obilic, Vuk Brankovic, Faust, mocratisation of society, received the was a guy under alias Marcelo, Philology comic scenes in the Balkans. This year’s Stojanovic: I am already tired of repeat- Sherlock Holmes, Frankenstein and a great biggest media attention. After 5 October Faculty student, who in a prudent, truth- meeting brought together around 120 au- ing how great our authors are, but it is number of mythological creatures. It is an there haven’t been changes just in the dis- ful, cynical and in a bit brutal way de- thors from Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, true. Dejan Nenadov and Darko Perovic adventure comic book with a pinch of tribution of political power, but in culture scribes social issues damaging to the soci- Macedonia, Romania, Bosnia and have for long been my favourites, since Yu macabre located in a solid historical con- as well, and especially in Serbian hip-hop ety. In his song “House on a draft”, he de- Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Strip I read retroactively - and both of text. As for the plan, it has been spoiled a culture. One of the most amazing exam- By Milos Dunjic, scribes individual’s viewpoint, young peo- Greece, with over 50 guests attending the them are doing great things, for Italian bit by the fact that only the first episode has ples of changes in culture itself and in the Student, FMK ple’s viewpoint about current situation to festival. There has also been the and French publishers, respectively. At been published in “Politikin zabavnik” even human relations in war raging countries is be more precise. International Comics Showroom in the moment, Rajko Milosevic Gera is at though three have been done, but the team the BASSIVITY MUSIC, founded in Belgrade for the last six years, this year the peak of his career working on the members (comics-artists from Serbia, 2002, which gathered artists and groups from the former “I don’t watch weather forecast, with around 200 authors from 32 coun- Scalped serial for a branch of American Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Yugoslavia region at one place and as such got pretty good press I already know it’s gonna be bad, tries worldwide. This festival is expanding Detective Comics (DC), Vertigo, while Herzegovina, Macedonia, Bulgaria and coverage. After BASSIVITY MUSIC record label was started, and I grew up among nettle, year after year and bringing better and the comeback Vladimir Krstic Laci from Romania) Srdan Nikolic Peka, Vlada after a big step forward in Serbian hip-hop culture, new genres, So I didn’t turn out to be a rose, better authors each year. I am not quite Nis is creating miracles for French pub- Aleksic, Aleksandar Sotirovski, Tihomir artists and groups started emerging in Serbia. During the 1990s Reality is sad and today sure how realistic it is to reconnect au- lishers Soleil and Delcourt. I cannot skip Celanovic, Radomir Izgarevic, Milorad the only and most influential genre on Serbian hip-hop was It broadcasts live, the horror thors and publishers into a publishing sto- some mid-generation artists like Srdjan Vicanovic Maza, Igor Jovcevski, Denis “gangsta rap” with its messages about violence, money and re- Turmoil and scuffle, life as a necessity ry, because national publishers have little Nikolic Peka, Vladimir Aleksic, Milorad Dupanovic, Danijel Atanasov, Filip spect. It was the main driver of the whole scene as well as of its With nothing to offer commercial interest if there’s a stable do- Vicanovic Maza, Leonid Pilipovic, then Andronik, Mihajlo Dimitrovski The Mico, creation. In the years after the 5 October and in the years of de- You’ve replaced all the big shots mestic production. Simply, it is much people of similarly my age Mirko Colak, Borivoje Grbic, Nebojsa Pejic, Boris velopment, emphasis is on criticism of the social and economic But the rats are still there cheaper to pay royalties for a certainly lu- Ivan Sainovic, Jovan Ukropina, Milisav Bakliza, Milan Anatanasijevic, Dejan well-being, human relations, and politics. One of the most signif- Along world class thieves crative French or American comic book Bankovic, Sinisa Banovic, Nebojsa Sedlan, Ivan Sainovic, Damjan Mihailov, icant examples of political rebellion is the band “Beogradski Who don’t care than pay a national author and risk if the Pejic...Finally, it is a fact that the Internet Zoran Jovanovic, Mijat Mijatovic etc. are Sindikat” (Belgrade Syndicate) which released single “Govedina” About our concerns, slimeballs comics would be sold out or not. provides possibilities for creating a more still working hard to succeed.
(Beef) in 2002, one of the most controversial hit-singles. It was Continuited on page 64

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Continuited from page 63 After this sudden breakthrough and after these changes concern- derground.com. It tries to gather all They don’t give a fuck ing style happened, it may be said that these last couple of years artists at one place, to introduce them, About those who are low on the social ladder, were a period of inertia and splitting. When I say inertia I mean and to report about what is going on in Doesn’t work, I know they don’t see them, that styles haven’t changed, because all those styles and subgenres, the world of local hip-hop. There are We’ve just sorted ourselves a bit, which emerged after ’October’ changes, are still developing and plans and projects aimed to help young And a new scandal arrives defining. When I mentioned splitting, I meant on splitting the unknown artists, and most important- They whacked a prime minister scene into underground and commercial rap. Economic changes ly there is a will for creating new TV While people stare in shock, way to go influenced division. Nowadays it is hard for an artist to break and radio shows, as well as making a In a capitol city, through because the whole hip-hop scene is put aside and neglect- documentary about Serbian hip-hop On a shiny day, a man with a crutch ed by the media. The question remains whether it is because of for- culture which is expected to be the ba- And where were the boys eign competition, lack of quality performers with the strong mes- sis for other projects aimed at helping In blue coats?” sage, whether it is because of Internet, lack of interest of big record the development of future composers Concert of the rock band labels to promote and support and for people eager to see something SINESTESIA in Belgrade more young artists, or whether it is happening in the Serbian hip-hop Cyber Basement Photo by Igor Marovic because of the fact that only per- scene. formers that got famous before Serbian Rock ’n’ Roll Scene Today 2000 have benefits from it. Be that as it may, while I’m sitting in front of my computer, or while I’m ock ’n’ roll in Serbia today, eight and a Apart from Student Cultural Center Although the underground scene is walking down the street and listening half years after the 5 October over- (SKC) and the renovated Youth House very strong at the moment, with a to the latest news on how Eminem and R throw, which was considered as a mile- (Dom Omladine), rock ’n’ roll today can lot of good groups and artists, they 50 Cent released their new albums and stone for social changes and as a sort of be heard in about ten small clubs in cannot reach a wider audience and had already hit the top of the charts, “rock ’n’ roll revolution”, is even deeper un- Belgrade and Novi Sad, while rock concerts earn a living by making hip-hop even before songs appeared on TV, I derground than it was under the rule of in other cities occur rarely. What makes the records. Media’s lack of interest is have to wonder what will happen with Slobodan Milosevic. Whether it is because situation even more difficult is the over- what holds the whole thing back. the Serbian hip-hop culture. Is the fate of piracy, lack of understanding, lack of whelming number of so called ’tribute There is not a single TV show deal- of American hip-hop lurking behind good composers, lack of money, or maybe ing with hip-hop at the moment. the corner; mass production of bad because of financial power of that “other”, There are a couple of radio shows artists, meaningless songs without re- never lustrated, turbo folk scene. Rock ’n’ in Belgrade and other towns in bellious messages, without a cry for roll has been pushed to the margins of soci- Serbia that deal with hip-hop but something better? Will we forever be ety, and left in the hands of their enthusiasts they are not the most popular radio torn between strong didactical under- in the last couple of years. The example of a stations, therefore are practically ground sounds and completely com- well-known Belgrade band “Eyesburn” best By Aleksandar unnoticeable. Compared to foreign mercialised sounds about what kind of illustrates the situation of the Serbian rock Scepanovic, Students Theather Play -FOUR SEASONS-VIVALDI (SPRING presented as Hip Hop part) Photo by Igor Marovic hip-hop radio shows and stations, rims somebody put on his car (even scene. Soon after the already mentioned 5 Student, FMK (e.g. Tim Westwood’s BBC Radio though that certain somebody cannot October, “Eyesburn” achieved, for Serbian Alongside these artists who base their lyrics on the criticism of One show is the most famous and one of the most influential even afford car and those rims which circumstances, good commercial success society and politics, new groups and individual artists emerged shows for everything new that comes out) local radio stations most American rappers own and pro- but confronted with the inability to bands’. They play songs from worldwide with the emphasis on humorous funny side of human relations, which had the opportunity to air those shows didn’t manage to mote). Will we be in constant disagree- progress in an existing environment, the known bands, supported by the radio sta- as well as having a good time, and all those things that made life hold on for long, and soon enough were cancelled, above all, be- ment between those two sides, or will band soon ceased to exist. Their frontman is tion Beograd 202, and gain profit for the easier and simpler in these hard times of transition Serbia was go- cause of lack of understanding from environment, editors, as well as we snap out of it and reject all those building up his European career, the drum- club owners unlike original composers who ing through. The band “Bad Copy” with its laid back and some- previous negative experiences concerning hip-hop, which was con- meaningless issues and start making mer plays in Lepa Brena’s band, the bass often have to pay for the organisation of times repulsive style brought that humorous style back to the sidered as a bad legacy from the 1990s, connected with criminal and high-quality, realistic, down to earth player gave up music, and the guitar player their concerts. The situation is somewhat scene, and they managed to form a big fan base eager to hear bad boys who used to make this music. and above all didactical songs which performs with the cult underground metal similar with the record labels. Bigger com- something that would make them laugh and cheer them up, dri- might be the means for everyone to ex- band “Osmi Putnik Dva”. The only possi- panies in Serbia hardly ever release records ving their thoughts away from everyday problems they endured. On top of all of these problems with the media, copyright prob- press their thoughts and feelings in ble choices for rock musicians in Serbia to- from the alternative artists. Radio As far as criminal themes in Serbian hip-hop culture are con- lems and piracy, Internet as one of the basic source of informa- these times of mental repression. Who day are leaving Serbia, giving up music, go- Television of Serbia (RTS) releases rock cerned, it is still the base for it, and groups and artists who were tion for young people in a way hinders young groups and artists knows? Time will tell, and we are left to ing over to the ideologically other side (fi- records occasionally, but mostly from al- the best in this genre during the 1990s still have a big support and but it also helps them. One of the few websites, which deals with fight for our place in this jungle of sym- nancially much more powerful) or going ready established bands (“DLM”, respect, among both mainstream and underground fans. the whole Serbian hip-hop scene more seriously, is serbianun- bols and virtual feelings.
underground and starting all over again. Continuited on page 66

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Continuited from page 65 replaced concert placards, records which Serbia. Popboks has so much to offer, but Music as a Communication could not reach music publishing compa- for promoting rock music the most impor- “Eyesburn”, “Disciplina Kicme”), or ex leg- nies are available for free download, and spe- tant is their section called “the scene”. Students’ projects within the Management of Cultural and Artistic Projects course ends’ “the best of” compilations. Media com- cialised Internet portals and web magazines “Young and unknown artists, as well as all pany B92 turned completely to world mu- are covering the rock scene. There are over other bands which cannot reach record labels sic, Multimedia released several alternative 500 biographies of still active bands, news, and media, are invited to present their music If we think about the music as a way of records (Six Pack, Rare, Thimble, Sweeper), concert previews, critiques and list of all to wider audience.” If the recordings meet communication then we may reach a and reactivated Automatik is probably the rock clubs in Serbia on the RockSerbia web- certain technical standards (which Popboks mostly alternative oriented record label to- site (www.rockserbia.net). BalkanRock does not consider too strict), they are in- conclusion that one of the forces with the most day (“Euforia”, “Covek Bez Sluha”, (www.balkanrock.com) is not so good tech- cluded in an online database of the scene. powerful influence on creating of any kind of “Goribor”, “Backbone”, “Decontrolled”...). nically and visually, but it encompasses rock At the end of last year Popboks moved for- art is the power of art to communicate Another one worth mentioning is One scenes from former Yugoslavia as well as ward in promotion of the scene, and in co- Records, which releases mainly hard rock Romania and Bulgaria, whereas operation with Odlican Hrcak record label, throughout the world. Art is language and heavy metal records. Alternative ori- BalkanUnderground (www.balkanunder- starts edition ’New Serbian scene’, and pub- understandable everywhere in the world. It ented small record companies appear on the ground.com) created by merging one web- lishes debut albums for “Nezni Dalibor”, market now and then, but they mostly go site from Novi Sad and one from Osjek, “Petrol”, “Repetitor” and “Slaptrap”. overcomes religious boundaries, cultural bust, because they have small target groups, managed to connect underground activists heritage, race and gender. price of the resources, percentage that dis- from the former Yugoslava. However, two The positive effects of this Internet gueril- Photo by tributors take, and insufficient initial and re- web magazines whose efforts in popularisa- la fighting are becoming visible on the Snezana serve capital. Large broadband Internet ex- tion of the scene we must point out are Serbian metal scene as well. One of the ’in- By Sanja Petricic, Assistant Professor Faculty of Media and Communications Skundric pansion in comparison to dial up era further Trablmejker (www.trablmejker.com) and siders’, Marko Tica, who organised many diminished supporting bands by buying Popboks (www.popboks.com). Here is how concerts of foreign bands in Belgrade, their CDs (and cassettes long time ago). Trablmejker defines its mission: “What we founder of the independent record label hile studying at the Juilliard School in various musicals), and music students projects involving classical music are trying to do is to point out qualities and Mr. Metal Records and guitar player in the in New York, I had the attend acting and dancing classes. through this course, and to present them potential young people in our country have band “Decontrolled”, says: “Even though W opportunity to meet with the The programme also encompasses to the Belgrade audience. The idea was to The alternative rock scene has which are unnoticeable for whatever reason there is much more enthusiasm than serious concept of connecting several arts into composers and choreographers courses, present classical music in a new and almost completely transferred there may be, even though they are worthy, to work done on the scene, bands that work se- one performance, i.e. with the making of aimed at connecting the composer, creative way, and students to acquire to the Internet and is operating meet each other through communication and riously started to stick out. Quality of the multimedia projects. The Julliard School instrumentalist’s and dancer’s talent basic theoretical knowledge in arts to widen the circle of creative and free mind- recordings, shows equipment and image is on has three divisions: drama, dance and through projects performed once a month management, which would later be used in a sort of cyber basement, ed people.” Apart from comprehensive con- a higher level, and from the last year first se- music. Each division has its own in the prestigious Allice Tully Hall. in the practical work of designing and due to insufficient support cert previews, album reviews, forums, blogs, rious connections with the abroad had been educational plan and programme for realisation of projects. especially over the last download section and online shop, selling established, so bands can go on a tour in a sur- students, but the interdisciplinary Interdisciplinary cooperation also couple of years. CDs, t-shirts, books (out of which they rounding countries and bigger festivals, while cooperation is well developed. appears through student’s own initiative, We have managed to realise fifteen published one “Heroes of the Urban Misery”, some of them are releasing their records for such as composers who are composing projects so far, out of which several were a collection of poems from 44 authors from mediocre European record labels.” What is a dance without music, opera music for contemporary plays, dancers realised in Dom Kulture Studentski Grad After cancelling rock shows on almost all the former Yugoslavia) and unique pieces of without acting or acting without who are performing in opera and similar. (Campus Cultural Center). One such TV stations as well as magazines Rock art by young artists, their creation of online Are those things indicators that the Serbian movement? Interdisciplinary cooperation By acquiring experience in this way project was realised in the Office of Express and OK Magazin, articles about al- serial “Trablmejker Bureau of Investigation” alternative scene will come out of the “cy- is more and more the represented model through interdisciplinary cooperation, Cultural Development gallery, Student’s ternative bands can be occasionally read in is particularly interesting. Their “TBI team ber basement” soon? Time will tell. of studying at Julliard, because students students have the opportunity to be Cultural Center and children’s theatre Blic and city guides (Yellow Cab, Trip, City tries to indentify the causes and guilty parties Musicians and promoters united with their have the opportunity to learn about ideas acquainted with different concepts of Pozoristance Puz. Magazin, Beoskop and Singidunum Weekly), for the condition Serbian culture is in”, as well enthusiasm can make certain improve- and interpretation of different interpretation of all performance arts. whereas rock music videos are shown only as groundbreaking enterprise “My ments, but they have no control over cer- performance arts. While I was working on multimedia on MTS and TV Metropolis. The alternative Underground” based on the social network tain facts;music equipment is probably the Upon returning from America, I started projects with students, I came to the rock scene has therefore almost completely principle, and its goal is to “create networks most expensive in the whole Europe be- A very significant part of educational my pedagogical career at the Faculty of conclusion that it is very important to transferred to the Internet and is operating for creative people”. cause of the customs, and bands are not in a plan and programme is interdisciplinary Media and Communications in Belgrade work on developing young people’s in a sort of cyber basement, due to insuffi- position to present themselves outside cooperation, during which dance in 2006, where I made the educational creativity and to enable them as much cient support especially over the last couple The website Popboks, which was at first Serbia because of the rigorous visa regime. students take acting and singing classes, plan and programme for the course work on this kind of projects as possible, of years. Bands and clubs opened their just the Dzuboks and Ritam magazines That’s politicians’ job. Jobs for those politi- drama students take dance and singing called Management of Cultural and so they could get better acquainted with Internet presentations, MySpace and archive, in time, became the most signifi- cians, who before and after 5 October, de- classes (and later implement their Artistic Projects. I wanted to enable art in an unschooled manner. Facebook profiles, “bulletins” and “events” cant web magazine for pop culture in scribed themselves as rockers.
acquired knowledge in their performance students to make, organise and realise Continuited on page 68

66 deScripto deScripto 67 MEDIA LANDSCAPE: Serbia in Transition MEDIA LANDSCAPE: Serbia in Transition Pretty Blonds Speaking aving been driven crazy from the Lines Learned by Heart too much “history” and “dou- H ble” standards, overexposed to Public Relations in Serbia political propaganda and having experi- enced a lot in life, an average Serb is in- clined to see a “plot” and a hidden agen- The transition process carries in itself a powerful da in almost anything. Therefore Public potential for public disagreement. PR managers are Relations (PR) is some kind of a novel- ty that should convince us that some- challenged to identify it, lessen its effect, rationalise it, thing is good for us but is actually not and work toward resolving it to help create in our best interest. On the one side, PR understanding within the environment in which managers are considered to be ’manipu- lators, people from the shadows that make businesses operate. crucial decisions and govern our faith’. PR Week seminar at the Faculty of Media and Communications Photo by Igor Marovic On the other side, we tend to simplify It is clear that PR activities do not deserve which we do not understand so many such a reputation. It is a job that requires of people working in PR have not been Students of FMK performing in a theather as a part of the course Music as a Communication perceive PR managers as “parasites” a significant amount of work and creativ- properly educated for the job. In majori- Photo by Snezana Skundric who do not really do anything useful. ity. In essence, public relations cannot be ty of cases, this happened as a result of re- Continuited from page 67 Thus, the mission of this course is to Executive Director of Communication done by copy/paste templates and it also organisation of companies that caused give students valuable experience in art Services in Erste Bank Serbia Andrea involves tough decision making. some job posts to disappear (like Social Students fulfilled necessary criteria management through practical work, and Brbaklic says that the public perception By Milena Standard Officers or All-National during the realisation of projects and met thus connecting with students from of the PR profession is such that most Beatovic, In 2008, the Public Relations Society of Security Officers). While this does not my expectations. It is interesting to other faculties, artists (amateurs as well people see PR managers as “pretty Student, FMK Serbia commissioned an online survey necessarily prove to be the reason for the mention that most of the students got in as professional artists) and cultural blonds speaking the lines learned by called “PR Profession in Serbia” on the bad image of PR profession in Serbia this touch with this kind of work method for institutions. heart”. This attitude, Brbaklic says, ideal. An economy in transition has state of affairs within the profession. The fact points out that not enough impor- the first time, which implied a number of stems from lack of understanding of the brought unemployment, uncertainty and survey involved 154 public relations offi- tance is being given to the profession of challenges like team work, efficient time If we think about the music as a way of basics of the profession. insecurity of one’s existence. Therefore it cers employed by companies, organisa- public relations. consumption, human relations in the communication then we may reach a is not surprising that the institutions that tions and PR and marketing agencies. business world, and at places where the conclusion that one of the forces with Such as it is, current public opinion to- are symbols of a new system such as non- projects took place they experienced the most powerful influence on creating wards the PR profession is far from governmental organisations, marketing Out of total number of PR employees in 34 percent of PR employees working with various artists and cultural of any kind of art is the power of art to agencies, privatisation advisors and finan- companies and public organisations, 34 were not hired as PR institution’s administration. communicate throughout the world. Art cial experts and PR managers are generally percent were not hired as PR profession- Public Relations is defined as a professionals but were is a language understandable everywhere group of managerial and viewed unfavourably and suspiciously by al but were transferred from another post This course’s concept was somewhat in the world, overcoming the religious communication activities whose the general public. within the company. Thus, over one third transferred from another post risky because projects were held at well- boundaries, cultural heritage, race and goal is to create, maintain and improve good relationships with known cultural institutions - like those gender. Regardless of whether it is the social environment. It means mentioned above. However, I think that expressed through words, colours, body that the purpose of a PR agent is On the other hand, public relations is a every success entails risk, but it entails movements or sound, the main message wider than that of a spokesperson. well paid job with 70 percent of PR offi- persistence and assiduity as well. It is always the same - the need of human It is also different to the purpose of cers in professional PR agencies and 68 seems to me that those challenges soul to express itself. marketing. Van der Meiden percent working in other companies state describes PR by breaking the most thought and enabled students for work that they are very satisfied. According to common of clichés: “PR does not on future projects. When you connect the power of art as a mean arranging the shop window, the survey, PR professionals typically have means of communication with creative or polishing the exterior. It is not a high salaries in comparison to Serbian Students attending this course are going ideas and energy of our students, who better word for propaganda, standards - 36 percent of interviewees through different development stages of a are the future of our society, then it nor beatifying for a purpose of employed by companies and 43 percent advertisement. It also isn’t a project, from creation through to creates one beautiful picture, giving us good-natured lying or not telling working for agencies make over 70,000 realisation, and what gives me joy is seeing something to run away to from our the whole truth.” RSD (around 700 EUR) per month. their persistence, assiduity and enthusiasm. everyday life.
Street advertising often compensate PR Photo by Kornelija Szabo Continuited on page 70

68 deScripto deScripto 69 MEDIA LANDSCAPE: Serbia in Transition

Continuited from page 69 cessful are marginalised more severely than privatisation and the introduction of market was the case in the previous system of so- economy in Serbia. They should emphasise A great number of interviewees express a de- cialistic wage levelling and directed economy. corporate responsibility of the companies and sire to keep the job and to improve their skills the government and illustrate the examples of through advanced training. Only 10 percent The transition to a market economy, even concrete measures taken in order to ensure would like to change their work post. Among if not preceded by a full-scale revolution, responsible market behaviour. the skills needed for the successful PR pro- carries in itself a powerful potential for fessional, at the top of the list are creativity public disagreement. It is up to public rela- The public relations campaign of US Steel and the ability of the PR employee to identi- tions managers to identify it, lessen its ef- Serbia using the slogan “US Steel Serbia for fy the cause of the problem and the solution. fect, rationalise it, and work toward resolv- a Better Life in Serbia” goes to show how a ing it in order to help companies run busi- well-planned campaign, which recognises Obviously, interviewed PR experts very nesses smoothly and in the environment and understands the local mentality, can much like and appreciate their job and that understands its needs and benefits. produce positive effect regardless of chal- Nada Popovic, Dean Photo by Snezana Skundric consider it to be important and creative. lenges in the market. Thomas R. Ferrall, PR Nevertheless, they are aware that that the Let us not forget that PR’s job includes acting adviser in US Steel and one of the noted PR public does not have a good opinion of inside the company, not just towards the busi- experts worldwide entrusted a local public their profession, so 54 percent of them, ac- ness and social environment. It is a difficult relations agency, New Moment, for the job. The campaign highlighted the workers of this privatised company encouraging their potential and the optimistic future that is to come. The campaign has changed the nega- tive perception of the privatisation of ’Sartid’ and placed an emphasis on the suc- cess of the company in the domain of pro- duction and its corporate activities. Results when it comes to production in other coun- Mirjana Stefanovic, Executive Director Photo by Snezana Skundric PR Week tries (like a steel-mill in Slovakia) are the lecturer at the key to the reputation of the company, but Faculty of Media and if it was not for good public relations then Communications the overall picture would not be as good. Photo by Igor Marovic That is the direction public relations in cording to the survey, consider the biggest job that sometimes calls for unpopular mea- Serbia should take. According to the PR problem of their line of work to be “lack sures to be taken. What makes things even manager of Erste Bank: “Public relations of understanding of the importance of more complicated is general lack of knowl- was brought to Serbia along with foreign in- public relations in society in general”. edge about the functioning of market econo- vestors and many instituted this service for my and crisis of value system since the de- the sake of fashion, but more and more people struction of socialism has not yet led to new understand the significance of this line of Over one third of people value system being instituted. Inevitable mea- work”. No PR officer can defend unsuc- Snezana Skundric, FMK Creative Director Photo by Igor Marovic working in PR have not been sures like layoffs, retraining and demotion of cessful projects or wrong ideas. The core of properly educated for the job the less competent have to be explained, jus- PR is not in building ’Potemkin villages’. tified and rationalised in a way that leaves at The development of PR will depend on the least some hope and a point to the right di- development of society as a whole, and es- rection for working population. The general pecially on economic development. PR will The development of the PR profession in public is quick to generalise mistakes in the not solve the global economy crisis, but Serbia is associated with the development of process of transition and to consider all suc- they can help good projects get public sup- a free market democracy. Like all other insti- cessful entrepreneurs to be tycoons and all port and not get shunned out of misunder- tutions of the market economy public rela- their consultants “mafia-type consigliore”. PR standing and resistance. In hard times that tions is a new occurrence as well. The mar- persons in corporate and public sector should are coming everyone needs good ideas and Student illustrator Aleksandra Petkovic Student Photographer Igor Marovic Student Photographer Kornelija Szabo ket favours the successful while the unsuc- point out to the public the positive sides of support for their implementation.
Photo by Igor Marovic Photo by Snezana Skundric Photo by Igor Marovic

70 deScripto deScripto 71 deScripto PRESENTS MEDIA COMPANY Get your news by SMS! - It is BGNES Story of Bulgarian Private News Agency

By Selma Koric, SEEMO news out efficiently as soon as they re- return the money invested in the necessary ceived it. On the other hand, he as a cor- changes. After that, like a snowball effect, respondent always had to wait for his sto- things started rolling. Soon after, BGNES n a cold winter day in December ries to be reviewed, approved and broad- started with the use of local correspon- 2002, the Director of Agence France cast on the news at 18:00 or 20:00. dents throughout Bulgaria, due to the lack OPresse (AFP) for Eastern Europe of event coverage in the provinces in visited the offices of a private news agency When BGNES first opened its doors its favour of events taking place in Sofia. BGNES in Sofia. The agency had no heat- business model was entirely based on a ing and people were working at their model copied from the big world news All the good work BGNES has done since desks dressed in winter jackets. An un- agencies. This soon proved to be a mistake its founding can be credited to the good pleasant meeting about the agency’s late due to the lack of resources and the capa- team at the agency. Neshkov is a journal- payments to AFP turned into a conversa- bilities agencies in Bulgaria have compared ist, well known amongst his colleagues, so tion about the future plans for BGNES to these large agencies. Therefore, the even though there were times when his and the business model that the agency is copied business model presented many product was not of the best quality, his using. At that moment the BGNES own- problems for the agency during 2002. colleagues, journalists, understood his sit- er understood that practicing journalism Everything Neshkov owned, personal as uation. Many of them signed the contract is one thing, but running a successful well as family possessions, he was forced to agreeing to work for BGNES and that business is something entirely different. sell so the agency could acquire some mon- helped the agency tremendously. ey to pay for the people working there. BGNES News Agency was established in The BGNES team has been through some 2001 by Lyubcho Neshkov, a Bulgarian jour- The old business model was completely changes since the founding years. In the be- nalist. After the post-1990 democratic changed in 2003 when Neshkov decided to ginning they employed many young people, changes in Bulgaria, he worked for several incorporate photos, audio, and video in the but then Neshkov decided to implement years in the newspaper Standard followed by services the agency offered. He understood some changes. That was a risky experiment five years at the Bulgarian National that one can sometimes be late with send- but he was confident that he could not work Television. During those five years, Neshkov ing out news, but if they are packaged well, only with young people anymore because in was a war correspondent for the Bulgarian sold well, and are of high quality then one journalism, like in every other profession, National Television with two years spent in can have a successful, profitable news practical experience is necessary. Therefore, Bosnia and Herzegovina and three years agency. The first five years were financially he started taking people who previously spent in Kosovo. After returning from his very difficult for BGNES. The hardest part worked for the state agency. Other people assignment in June 1999, when NATO was being unable to pay on time for news BGNES employs came from the state radio Kosovo Force (KFOR) forces entered to the agencies Reuters and Agence France that always had a good, strong tradition. Kosovo, he felt he has been changed as a per- Presse. The second problem for BGNES Recent recapitulation of employees showed son, as a journalist, and as a human being. was the inability to pay their journalists that BGNES has changed 95 percent of the well. This created additional difficulties, people working at the agency since its be- At the same time, he felt that the media because not having money for salaries can ginnings. All of them are journalists with house he was working for, Bulgarian mean not having good journalists, which many years of experience and are very well National Television became too small for affects the quality, the image, and the au- known in their profession. At the agency in him. In 2001, he decided to leave the tele- thority of the agency. The new business Sofia, there are about 70 employees includ- vision and start his own agency. model also called for establishment of a ing journalists, editors, administrative staff, photo agency. That was a risky investment, an accounting department and Neshkov. In The idea for the agency was born during because high-quality photo technology, al- the provinces the agency has around 40 Neshkov’s time as a war reporter in the though necessary, is very expensive. Three photojournalists and journalists, as well as 1990s when he saw the work of agency months after implementing the new busi- 10 cameramen. They work under the con- journalists and their ability to send the ness model, the agency was in a position to Continuited on page 74

deScripto 73 deScripto PRESENTS MEDIA COMPANY

Continuited from page 73 offer accordingly. Two years ago Vodafone As Lyubcho Neshkov explains: “BGNES resolution. BGNES sells this in a monthly Bulgarian Civil Society Battles Live started with their service in Bulgaria. is [a] 100 percent private and 100 percent package. In the year 2007, the biggest in- tract exclusively for BGNES and have no This service includes made-for-mobile web commercial agency and we must know what vestment for BGNES was purchase of cam- to Limit Data Retention right to work for anyone else. The key for pages on the mobile internet where one can people expect from us, because if we don’t eras and equipment for the work in the By Colin Peters them as well is to be well paid. In the early download music, games, video clips and ring know what people expect from us then we provinces. This enabled them to have special Press Freedom Advisor for Europe and Americas at the International Press Institute days, agency also had correspondents in tones and the BGNES offers it as well. In cannot offer them what is in demand.” category of news called “Obstina” Bulgarian human rights organisations are Rights require precise grounds on which data can be Balkan countries but that proved to be fi- addition, customers care about having ac- (“District”) focusing more on the domestic engaged in a battle to block the introduction of accessed, and the Court stated that even written nancially burdensome. Instead, they decided cess to exclusive material, so every time Obviously, for this type of business it is also market and offering information from 28 laws that give far-reaching surveillance powers to requests for data are not enough without specifying the Bulgarian authorities - powers that could these particular grounds,” explained Kashumov. to employ people who speak Serbian, Agence France Presse or Reuters have some very important to have good IT specialists districts in Bulgaria in the areas such as show threaten freedom of the press. So far they have Greek, Turkish, Romanian, and can read all special package, whether it is for the because a photo cannot take too long to business, politics, crime, and fashion. scored a couple of impressive victories, but the The potential for the authorities to abuse access to fight is not over yet. telecommunications data was exposed before the the information locally in Sofia, and inform Olympic Games or for the World Soccer download or a video cannot stop every three Supreme Administrative Court returned its Bulgarian public about important develop- Championship, BGNES is the one buying seconds, because no one will ever come back All news available on the BGNES home- The adoption of EU directive 2006/24 in March 2006 December ruling, following the gruesome attack on ments in these countries. that exclusive material. Every subscriber of to your website. Material has to be of good page is provided free of charge and since caused an outcry among media freedom journalist Ognyan Stefanov, editor-in-chief of online organisations. Introduced to ease police news site “Frognews”, in September 2008. Several www.BGNES.com is able to use the quality and it has to download quickly. September 2007 this content has also been investigations into terrorism and organised crime, it masked men armed with metal rods and hammers At the end of 2006, BGNES established its archives of more than 600,000 news articles available in English. In addition, BGNES obliges EU member states to pass laws ensuring that beat Stefanov unconscious outside a Sofia restaurant, telecommunications providers store - for a period of not long after the Bulgarian National Security Agency video service and it is the only agency in and about a million photos. The agency has The agency covers 10 percent of the infor- offers two videos free of charge as examples up to two years - information on the date, time, (DANS) claimed he was responsible for publishing a Bulgaria today that offers text, photos, the copyright for hundreds of photos, TV mation required by protocol and related to of the material that is available, so potential duration and user identity of all electronic DANS critical website, “Opassnite Novini”. Stefanov telecommunications traffic they handle. denies these claims. video, and audio. No state or any other pri- interviews of presidents, political leaders, the work of the parliament, president and customers can see what the quality of the vate agency provides such a diverse service ministers, popular public and cultural fig- political parties, but they also have to cov- material is before they decide to subscribe. The directive recognises and protects the In the official inquiry following the attack, to its customers. BGNES is also the only ures and athletes. er other areas of interest such as health, so- professional secrecy needs of defence lawyers, information came to light revealing that DANS had priests and parliamentarians, but no such protection been spying on the telecommunications of some 50 agency in Bulgaria working with the biggest cial life, sport, entertainment, and accord- As for the current media business climate is provided for journalism - a profession for which journalists, as part of an operation to find out which mobile operator in Bulgaria, MTel, to deliv- ing to Neshkov, this area is rapidly ex- in Bulgaria, according to Neshkov, the confidentiality is also a must. of their own agents had been supplying “Opassnite Novini” with confidential information. er top news from Bulgaria and abroad to Even today, when someone panding while 10 percent covering the pol- market is constantly changing. In 2008 The Bulgarian government transposed the directive tens of thousands subscribers on their mo- itics is shrinking. One of the problems for many new media companies started and into its domestic law in January 2008, through the It is not yet clear to what extent DANS spied on the talks about ’News by SMS’ promulgation of Regulation 40, issued by the State journalists, but the ability and readiness of them to bile phones via SMS and MMS. This way the the agency is that there is no real profes- many new websites were launched. “Not all everyone knows it is BGNES. Agency on Information Technologies and do so is itself a threat to investigative reporting. “The subscribers are always informed of the lat- sional sport in this part of Europe. Bulgaria of them will handle the pressure of news busi- Communication and the Ministry of the Interior. It more power they have, the more they use this power not est developments in the field of politics, has a problem with corruption in sports ness and in one to two years from now the sit- was not long, however, before Bulgarian human for the specified purposes,” says Kashumov, who rights organisations realised that Regulation 40 went points to a number of other cases where the police economy, sports, show business, and medi- like that which exists in Serbia, Croatia and uation should stabilise. Those that have the beyond even the controversial requirements have used these laws to uncover the identity of cine. They also receive the weather forecast, This is a model that currently works very other countries in the region. While private quality will survive”, says Neshkov. stipulated in the EU directive, bestowing far greater internet users expressing opinions on Blogs. power to conduct surveillance upon the authorities horoscopes, lifestyle news, stock exchange well for BGNES. However, when large news agencies in other countries world- and raising serious concerns about their freedom to Unfortunately, despite the Supreme Administrative news, etc. According to Neshkov, this type event take place or the big news story wide rely on covering sport for 40 percent One thing BGNES management have access personal data. Courts’ decision, the authorities desire to see the retention and use of telecommunications data of mobile service became the recognisable breaks, the agency sends their correspon- to 50 percent of their business, BGNES learnt is that achieving success in news “One of the paragraphs [of Article 5 of the regulation] applied as broadly as possible continues. characteristic of BGNES, so even today, dents to the location. For example, in can only dream about that number. business is in two things. Number one, a gave the Ministry of the Interior direct access, through a when someone talks about ’News by SMS’ 2008 BGNES covered five to six events in person has to work like mad, not one, two, computer, to all the data retained - which was really On 22 January 2009, AIP were again involved in very bad,” says Alexander Kashumov, head of the fending off an attempt by the Ministry of the Interior everyone knows it is BGNES. Serbia, among them the elections and the BGNES customers pay for all the news and or three days, but 365 days a year, and legal team at the Access to Information Programme to see the three overturned paragraphs of Regulation arrest of Radovan Karadzic. In addition, information including text, photo, and number two, person has to be objective (AIP), the organisation that led a March 2008 appeal 40 turned into law - this time the ministry attempted against Regulation 40 at the Supreme Administrative to persuade a parliamentary committee to introduce The agency has customers in every bigger or they also covered the development of video. BGNES asks for the IP address of a and stay true to the work they are doing. Court. amendments corresponding to the provisions into a medium-sized city in Bulgaria. Its largest events in Kosovo. On top of this, their subscriber and then the customer receives a draft law on electronic communications. “Another paragraph gave the criminal investigative customers today are media houses, which correspondents covered events other than password, which allows access to the mate- Unfortunately, many states in South-Eastern authorities access to the data, and the third paragraph The committee decided not to adopt the provisions take around 80 percent of BGNES news. In politics, such as entertainment and rial. The majority, around 80 percent, of Europe are still economically and politically gave the security services access to the data. In these in the face of the public pressure from AIP and others. Sofia that is all nine or ten daily newspapers, lifestyle that are garnering increased in- BGNES customers pay for the content unstable. The biggest problem in Bulgaria two cases the access could be exercised on the basis of a They did, however, make changes that weaken written request,” continued Kashumov. safeguards contained in the original EU directive - one state-owned TV station and four private terest from the audience. For example, a monthly, while a very small number, 10-15 right now is not unemployment, but cor- such as the requirement that all data be deleted ones. Customers also include many region- video of a Madonna’s concert in percent of those who can afford it pay in ad- ruption, which also affects the work of the AIP’s appeal resulted in the overturning in December automatically after the 24 month retention period 2008 of all three disputed paragraphs of the expires. al TV stations, radios, newspapers, state au- Montenegro was watched by 80,000 visi- vance. Video is available in two formats: web news agencies. People in this business some- regulation, the Supreme Administrative Court finding thorities, international news agencies, bank- tors to the BGNES website in only three format and TV format. If a customer is a times have to choose between receiving cor- that they contravened Article 32 of the Bulgarian Given these developments, AIP, for one, intends to Constitution and Article 8 of the European take the battle further. “These amendments have been ing and financial institutions in Bulgaria and hours, while presidential elections in website portal or a radio with its own web- rupt money and enjoying financial security, Convention of Human Rights. adopted by the committee, but they are not yet voted from abroad, Bulgarian embassies abroad, as Serbia had the audience of just 1,000 peo- site, they will receive a password that allows and not having extra money, but enjoying on at the second reading, so our intent is to continue well as foreign diplomatic missions in ple in 3 days. Those are substantially dif- access to the web version of the video. If a editorial freedom. BGNES has chosen to “Basically the Court interpreted that both the with this,” says Kashumov. Their success so far leaves Constitution and the European Convention of Human room to hope that their efforts will pay off.
Bulgaria. Subscribers’ interests change and ferent numbers. This shows how much customer is a TV station, they will receive have less money and be independent. That is BGNES always tries to change what they such business depends on the audience. access to the TV version of the video in high the answer as to what BGNES is today.

74 deScripto deScripto 75 PR IN FOCUS PR IN FOCUS

“Vienna is Special” - City’s Communications The Official Gazette of the City of Vienna, Amtsblatt, is published weekly every and Public Relations Philosophy Thursday in 6500 copies. It provides infor- mation about the meetings of administra- By Selma Koric, SEEMO City Councillors, including the Mayor The City of Vienna bases its communication tive councils and committees, and it is also Michael Häupl. and PR work on a Contemporary used to give notifications, announce official Communications Philosophy, which boils visits, inform about regulations, planning he City of Vienna is considered to have The City’s communications work is orga- down to three main messages: get into dia- projects, building licenses, etc. This publi- one of the best functioning city admin- nized in such a way that the press logue with public, present customized infor- cation is distributed mostly to businesses T istrations worldwide. Its complex polit- spokesperson of each city politician is em- mation, and do the city branding. Dialogue and business owners. All official announce- ical and administrative structure, counting ployed at the Press and Information with public works through the city’s ments by the city also have to be published around 60,000 employees, gives city’s man- Services department. Since, these press Compliance office. Here, Viennese can com- in the WienerZeitung for the general public. aging body feeling of a small ‘city within the spokespersons are working very closely municate with city officials by presenting Michael Häupl, city’. Vienna is divided into 23 residential dis- with politicians in different departments, their wishes and complaints over the phone Mayor of Vienna Vienna’s monthly info magazine, wien.at, tricts, each ruled by the District Chairman. they meet once a week to discuss and co- or via mail. These requests and complains are is distributed to all 950,000 households in The City Administration is subdivided into ordinate their activities, press confer- regularly read, registered and answered. rate identity, and corporate communica- pages and 25 million page impressions per Vienna. It is being delivered by the post, eight Administrative Groups headed by an ences, and events. The presentation of customized informa- tion. According to Andrea Leitner, using month. It is also available in English, but but the electronic overview of the most Executive City Councillor oversee- tion works through strategic placement of corporate design and corporate logos for this version offers limited amount of in- interesting articles is also available online. ing housing, education, finances, information at the right time to the right various city services allows workers per- formation compared to its German lan- heath care, cultural affairs, and envi- audience groups, using topics of interest forming these services to feel more likely guage counterpart. The City of Vienna also In 2006 the city started with the lifestyle and ronment, among others. These to the citizens and topics that require as part of a larger city community. Also, owns 18,000 apartment buildings special interest publications in order to tar- Administrative Groups comprise a long-term focus. for the residents it is now easier to associ- (Gemeindebau) and provides wall newspa- get communication to specific groups such total of 70 Municipal departments. ate services being performed by the city pers within the entrances to these buildings as kids, seniors, animal lovers, and others. with the City of Vienna. for their residents. New project in devel- Under the motto “Providing information The Press and Information Services The City of Vienna bases its opment includes TV sets/screens inside exactly at the time when people need it”, (PID), the central communication communication and PR work When this corporate identity project these city buildings that will be used to in- these magazines are published four times a office or Communications Centre on a Contemporary started in 2000, the city printed an inter- form residents about what is going on in year and are free of charge. Included in this of the City of Vienna is a home to nal publication called Communication their neighbourhood and the city. group of publications are magazines City & vibrant and innovative activities. Communications Philosophy, Handbook targeted at employees of In addition, an effective way for the city Life (for young people between the ages of PID is working in close coopera- which boils down to three Vienna’s 70 municipal departments. to communicate with its employees is an 10 and 16), Forschen & Entdecken (devoted tion with city’s political decision- main messages: get into Communication philosophy is strength- outlet called City Hall TV. It is a program to research and science developments in makers and other municipal depart- dialogue with public, present ened by the comprehensive training pro- for internal broadcast, shown within the Vienna), Hund, Katz & Co (all about pets), ments. Communication Centre is customized information, and gramme offered to PID employees. intranet, with the content mainly includ- Kinder & Co (for children up to ten years the central editorial office for all do the city branding. Training is offered as basic, intermediate ing weekly presentations of new city pro- old and their parents), Leben & Freude (for City of Vienna media. This is also and advanced, and the spectrum of topics jects via videos. senior citizens), and Welt & Stadt (for mi- the place in charge of knowledge covers all aspects of PID’s work including grants). These publications are available management that includes market Fred Vavrousek, Head of Press and advertising, public relations, event man- The City of Vienna regularly distributes a mostly by subscription, but copies can also Information Services research, trend research, and Customer The city branding aspect of communica- agement, press releases, media relations, variety of publications, external, aimed at be picked up at the Vienna City Hall. Relationship Management. Led by the Andrea Leitner, responsible for coordina- tion philosophy started in the year 2000 and communication strategies. the media and general public, as well as in- Head of Press and Information Services, tion of international activities at PID, ex- with the goal of having target audience ternal, published for the city employees. International visitors to Vienna are welcomed Fred Vavrousek, its list of tasks is extensive plains the importance of well-organized ac- groups associate a project or a campaign Examples of city’s communication philos- by a bilingual publication Enjoy Vienna that and includes media cooperation, public re- tion as important task for the department with the City of Vienna. The aim was to ophy are found in various communication RK - rathauskorrespondenz, is a daily mu- comes out 12 times a year on 16 pages with lations work for the city, image building and “...because each of the Executive Councillors develop a comprehensive tool to convey outlets used to promote its work. One of nicipal newsletter published by the city ten pages devoted to the City of Vienna. advertising work in Austria and abroad, dis- is promoting different areas of interest and Vienna’s image, but also to strengthen the many success stories for the city is its web- that covers compilation of latest press re- Magazine covers places to visit and events to semination of information to the public, each municipal department is conducting pro- city’s corporate culture and improve in- site located at www.wien.at. Designing this leases and daily-politics items through the attend in Vienna, and it is available at various support for print media publications, and jects year around, so teamwork prevents the ternal communication and contacts website was a challenging project due to news agency run via network of the visitor entry points such as the airport, train support and training for the department launching of multiple campaigns simultane- among the city personnel. This led to a the amount of information and documen- Austrian Press Agency (APA) to the and bus stations, and hotels. One of the new staff. There are about 105 people working ously and in uncoordinated way, and helps to corporate umbrella branding covering all tation that needed to be presented in the Austrian media. The newsletter is pub- projects for international community in for the Communication Centre, including avoid the danger of overwhelming the public 70 municipal departments. This branding electronic format and made available on- lished in a hard copy and it is also available Vienna is publication of brochures in English 20 press spokespersons for eight Executive with the amount of information provided.” effort includes corporate design, corpo- line. The site currently consists of 43,000 electronically. Continuited on page 78

76 deScripto deScripto 77 PR IN FOCUS PR IN FOCUS

Continuited from page 77 Another aspect of the city’s The Advertising work of PID includes Vienna’s green areas cover about 50 per- memorable ones, not an easy task consid- comprehensive PR strategy is many innovative campaigns to emotional- cent of city’s overall territory. The cam- ering the number of other commercial ad- that cover various areas of interest, such as its well-developed ly involve target groups with clever ap- paign was launched during one of the po- vertisements the city has to compete with Business Location Vienna, Medical international program that proaches, such as those against discrimi- litical election periods and with the sign every day. Excellence in Vienna, and many others. includes partners such as nation based on people’s fear of immi- reading: “Green: 50 percent” caused an Vienna Business Agency, the grants or the one promoting building of avalanche of protests and negative reac- Bearing in mind the complexity of city’s ad- For city’s seniors over 60 years of age, PID the thermal power plant in Vienna that was tions from the residents. After the cam- ministration and the intricate coordination also practices direct mailings of individual Vienna Economic Chamber, opposed by the majority of city residents paign in its initial form attracted more work needed to bring projects and cam- birthday cards, printed in circulation of and Vienna Tourist Board. for a very long time. The campaigns are than enough attention, the original poster paigns to fruition, it is little wonder that the over 5,000, congratulating Vienna’s oldest developed by advertising agencies in con- was replaced by a new one reading: City of Vienna and its Press and Information residents on reaching milestone birthdays. sultation with PID staff and can some- “Green: 50 percent - Vienna has more green Services serve as a model for other European The department also has a network of 11 times cause quite a stir among city resi- areas than most big cities”. Now, Vienna cities on how to run successful public rela- In addition to publications for external au- Press and Information Services liaison offices dents, providing a testament to their ef- residents knew what their city was trying tions platform and how to stay engaged in dience, the city also publishes wien.at ak- in the region of South East Europe, specifi- fectiveness. One such example was an at- to communicate to them and the cam- good communication with its residents, tuell, a magazine for all city employees dis- cally in Belgrade, Bratislava, Bucharest, tempt by the city to advertise the fact that paign turned out to be one of the most neighbours, partners and customers.
tributed in 130,000 copies. Under the Budapest, Krakow, Ljubljana, Moscow,

motto “Information is motivation”, the Prague, Sarajevo, Sofia, Zagreb. These offices 50 people attending lectures, 20 of them are there to get a stamp and another 20 be- city uses this channel to inform its em- serve as mediators and contact points for Municipal Department for cause they have interest in the topic.” ployees about current internal develop- economic, tourist and press requests. Liaison Integration and Diversity The department has good connections to many immigrant organizations in Vienna, ments, new job openings and more. Many offices program started in the mid-80s, dur- which have an opportunity to come to every event organized for immigrants and journalists subscribe to this paper, and it is ing the ’Iron Curtain’ period, to enable an How the City of Vienna communicates with provide useful information. also distributed to all former city employ- easier exchange of information or enable lo- immigrant communities For example, all immigrant organizations were invited by the department to the ees, now retired. cal offices in different cities to offer help launch of the Start Vienna program and were asked to advertise and promote the when a delegation is coming for a visit or a One probably little known fact among the residents of Vienna is that about 500,000 program in immigrant communities in which they work. These connections and co- people, or 32 percent of the Viennese residents, have another country of birth. operation with different immigrant organizations exist for 15 years, and are helping Another aspect of the city’s comprehen- new project is being planned. People em- Similarly, about 310,000 residents of Vienna have foreign citizenship. These num- to establish good connections to all immigrant communities. sive communication and PR strategy is its ployed at these liaison offices are knowl- bers are a reason enough for the city of Vienna to take its work with immigrant com- The department also has connections and contacts to immigrant mother-tongue well-developed international program. The edgeable about their local city administration, munities very seriously. The department that works with immigrant communities in Vienna is the Municipal Department for Integration and Diversity and it is one of 70 media such as press (newspapers), TV, radio, and Internet. They provide these me- Press and Information Services have many economic, and the media situation, and are municipal departments. This department works closely together with the Press and dia organizations with information on what is new with department programs and partners included in the international strat- acting as ambassadors of the City of Vienna. Information Services, as both departments acknowledge the importance of good different actions they take in Vienna. Immigrant media outlets are interested in pro- communication practices with local immigrant communities. moting this information, often at their own initiative and without paid advertise- egy, among them the Vienna Business One of their tasks is to assist in organizing ments. They also frequently attend press conferences organized by the department, Agency, the Vienna Economic Chamber, cultural and social events. Next to liaison of- The department for Integration and Diversity has about 54 employees, speaking 23 and, according to Novakovic, it is overall a very good cooperation. and Vienna Tourist Board. When Vienna fices, the Vienna House in Brussels enables languages and coming from 14 different countries. Central department office hous- es the Press Department, in addition to two other centres in the East and the West Important websites for immigrants in Vienna include www.startwien.at (available in officials visit a city abroad, they and their easier access to the European Union admin- part of the city charged with covering districts in these areas of Vienna. Each centre 15 languages), and www.integration.wien.at. These sites contain the most important partners market different platforms to- istration and it is run by the City of Vienna. has eight to ten employees speaking different languages. information for starting a new life in Vienna. Information focuses on finding German gether and in doing so create stronger mar- Representative Offices in Hong Kong and courses, finding living and childcare options in Vienna, and other information im- The Department’s website is available in main languages of the largest immigrant portant for starting a new life here. keting presence. In describing a new mar- Tokyo, whose task is to strengthen foreign communities (Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian, Turkish and English). According to Goran keting tool created for PID and its part- and economic relations and improve com- Novakovic who is responsible for coordinating the work of the department, the Important information resource for immigrants is the magazine Welt & Stadt, a joint largest immigrant community in general is ex-Yugoslavian (123,000), and the largest publication of the Press and Information Services, the Immigration, Citizenship and ners, Andrea Leitner explains how the city munications, are also primarily run by the among those is the Serbian community (90,000), Bosnian (16,000), and Croatian Registry Offices, and the Department for Integration and Diversity. It is available free officials recognized the importance of cul- City of Vienna in cooperation with the (16,000). Turkish community in Vienna counts 49,000 people. of charge, and published mainly in German language with short excerpts in lan- tural exchanges and networking for the Vienna Business Agency and the Vienna guages of main immigrant communities: Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian, Turkish and The Department for Integration and Diversity provides information and orientation for English. It is being printed in 60,000 copies and provided to new immigrants during city promotion and came up with a prod- Economic Chamber. The website that serves immigrants through the program called “Start Vienna” (Start Wien). This is a special the first three to four years after their arrival in Vienna. Welt & Stadt comes out every uct consisting of 18 video spots called The 11 liaison offices is available at www.wienin- coaching service for every new inhabitant of Vienna and it is available for those resi- three months. According to Goran Novakovic, immigrants are the special target Vienna Collection: “The film offers all the ternational.at, and the information on this dents who obtained living permit for Austria. This program offers services as diverse as group for this publication, as they always look for information on what is going on providing a Vienna education booklet and the Vienna language vouchers worth 300 in Vienna, city activities or any new regulations coming up. Such publications are clichés one would expect about Vienna, but portal is provided in all 11 languages. EUR, helping with finding a suitable German integration course, offering recommen- available in local immigration offices and immigrant organizations and are a good re- presents in a slightly different way, showing, dations for counselling centres (finding a job, getting your qualifications recognised, source for new immigrants to stay informed on what is going on in the city and their community. for example, the Vienna Boys Choir playing etc.), discussing basic questions (registering your child for school, compulsory school- > Welt & Stadt, special interest publication ing, etc.), and providing information on a variety of other relevant topics. football.” City officials use this video as a for migrants In addition, the department joined with the above-mentioned partners to bring promotional material on their visits abroad. > Enjoy Vienna, magazine for international The program also offers orientation sessions about housing options in Vienna and Multilingual Glossary of the City of Vienna to residents, translators or counselors who visitors the mentality of Viennese, but it is not just for new immigrants. As Novakovic points need to translate the city administration terminology from German to “The Vienna Collection” has already re- > Business Location Vienna, brochure for out “orientation sessions are also opened to “old” immigrants, not just new, so out of 40- Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian, Turkish or English. ceived five international film awards. English-speaking Business community

78 deScripto deScripto 79 INTERVIEW INTERVIEW

State of the Media fined in target group research as the most essential part of the newspaper’s trademark. The newspaper involves its readers and the society in general, often in cooperation with electronic me- Axel Schindler, the CEO of the Newspaper Group Bulgaria, shares his views on the print dia, into attractive and important projects and enterprises. media landscape in Bulgaria and the daily newspaper 24 Hours. Who was the owner of dailies such as 24 Hours and Daily Trud By Selma Koric, SEEMO Schindler: The already-mentioned competitive patterns influ- before WAZ took over? How did these dailies change since ence not only the field of the daily print media, where more than WAZ took over the ownership? 14 newspapers with national coverage exist with a combined print-run of more than 400,000 copies, but also the segment of Schindler: The first private Press group (“168 Hours”) was the Mr. Schindler, how would you describe the print media envi- the weekly and monthly publications. Despite the inevitable owner of 24 Hours before WAZ entered the Bulgarian print mar- ronment in Bulgaria? What is the quality of print media in print-run drops and the existing of new titles and free newspa- ket in 1996. In 1997 WAZ bought a minority share of the pub- general? pers, our dailies, Daily Trud and 24 Hours continue to defend lishing group “Media Holding”, which was owned by several jour- their position as market leaders with a combined market share of nalists of Trud. Later on WAZ became a majority shareholder. Schindler: The print media market in Bulgaria is facing the same more than 50 percent. Many of the dailies are trying to support global issues, which affect most of the print media in the world. higher print-runs with additional products like DVDs and books. WAZ introduced a successful economic model, which guarantees The print media compete with other information channels - news the economic independence of the publications, the freedom of have been covered in an increasingly professional manner at the Market leaders, in their respective segments, are many of our speech and reduced the possibilities for external interference in ed- Bulgarian private television stations with national coverage in re- weekly publications: 168 Hours, Autobild, etc. There are many li- itorial work. It is very important for the publications in our group cent years, and online journalism is developing rapidly. censed newcomers in the magazine sector and the competition is to have a strong commitment to the ethical and quality standards growing especially in the categories Women’s Interest (more than of journalism. We will also support these processes through our The Bulgarian media environment begets a highly competitive 20 different publications) and Home Design Magazines. own Journalistic School, which was established in October 2008. Axel Schindler, CEO of the Newspaper Group Bulgaria market approach, especially on the daily newspaper market, but also unequal chances for the competitors due to the several fac- Please tell us a little bit about the daily 24 Hours. When and Going back to Bulgarian print media landscape, what is your tors. First, the financial background of some publications is un- how was it founded, and is there anything different about it cision to issue a daily newspaper as well. 24 Hours was the news- take on the problem of anonymous journalism in Bulgaria? clear. The audience has been constantly spoiled with add-on distinguishing it from other daily newspapers? paper that introduced modern professional standards to the This issue was brought up frequently at the South East Europe products for free in recent years. Two free daily papers have been Bulgarian press after the 1989 change in political landscape, such Media Forum held in Sofia in November 2008. launched in September 2008. On the other hand the VAT on Schindler: 24 Hours was launched on 18 April 1991 by the Press as the clear separation of facts from comments, verification of in- print products has not been reduced, which affects the prices in group “168 Hours”. With regard to the very successful and prof- formation by using at least two independent sources, mandato- Schindler: We have already a number of absolutely unprecedent- a low-income country and is still important for those publishers itable 168 Hours weekly paper, the publisher made the logical de- ry provision of news space to aggravated parties, etc. ed cases of anonymous journalism, solutions to which have yet who are willing to pay taxes. to be sought. Due to these completely new principles in the post-1989 news- Second, all of the news formats compete with reality-shows, tun- Interesting facts about 24 Hours paper publishing in Bulgaria, and because of its lively language Looking back at a recent case at hand, we can see that it was from ing the audience to a spectacle and entertainment mode. Also, and informative headlines the 24 Hours achieved an enormous the forum of a very popular site that a rumour of problems in a  Poll’s data show that 24 Hours has a particularly great ’yellow press’ weeklies are flourishing. number of readers among the younger audience and success. Within a few weeks it has become the largest-circulated certain bank spread out and caused almost a run on the bank. Third, the economic or political interests of several print media’s people in active age living in the cities. and authoritative newspaper in Bulgaria. This successful model Afterwards a discussion on the responsibility of forum adminis- owners are a natural restraint on providing information of public pushed the other dailies to take up these principles as well. trators started, since this media can easily be used for getting even  interest in its completeness. In 2004 24 Hours developed in close partnership with a in business and political fights, for discrediting competitors, etc. team of university instructors and sociologists the first The shortest description of the 24 Hours concept is provided in Bulgarian media rating of the universities in the country Nevertheless print media still have the opportunity to establish using European criteria - a ranking similar to those ones a sentence under the newspaper’s masthead - “A Daily for the In the last case we had, some completely unfounded, however sen- themselves as trusted and deeply focused sources, where more made by well-established western publications. News as They Are.” sational stories about politicians, businessmen, etc. got reprinted details and an analytical approach is needed. Through online and by non-anonymous sites, with reference to the anonymous one  On tens of thousands motor vehicles in Bulgaria there are mobile phone extensions of the trademarks print media are faster It is very important for 24 Hours to present rich and pluralistic and started circulating as stories “if not 100 percent accurate, then the 24 Hours stickers, distributed during initiatives aiming at than ever. In compliance with these developments we launched reducing road accidents, with the following appeals: “Drive commentaries, to seek different, interesting viewpoints on events, somewhat true”. The anonymous site was stopped upon an inves- the NEWSMOBILE-service, the mobile sites of Daily Trud and wisely, come home alive!”, “If you have drunk, come off, I to aim at an attractive way of developing and presenting current tigation by the State Agency for National Security on the matter. 24 Hours at the end of October 2008. want to go home alive!”, “No TIRorism in my days off “ (for topics and investigations, and to comply with the reader’s needs limiting heavy trucks “TIR” on the road during weekends). providing useful information regarding people’s day to day life. Perhaps this problem just reflects the situation with profes- What is the current situation with the print media market in  The series of booklets about popular traditional healers, sional and ethical journalism standards in Bulgaria? How Bulgaria in terms of the number of publications available, cir- distributed by 24 Hours is particularly successful. However, there is one more point to be highlighted - the 24 culation numbers, readership structure, etc? Hours’ initiatives of public importance, which are invariably de- Continuited on page 82

80 deScripto deScripto 81 INTERVIEW NEW! BOOK REVIEW Continuited from page 81 The latest Golden Decades of Bulgarian much and how successfully are they publication of Electronic Industry, Documentary being followed, in your opinion? Danas and Milena Dimitrova, Sofia, 2008, Trud Publishing house, 270 pages Schindler: Competition on the market and SEEMO - lthough it may seem strange, it is in fact no The book also includes twenty first-hand stories told by the ’yellow press’ factor mentioned, provide „Journalists surprise that a sudden computer revolution the real heroes of this achievement. For example the the natural ground for decisions in favour of A occurred in Bulgaria while the world was living in first Minister of Electronics in Bulgaria recounts his two divided parts. During the Cold War this country took experiences. This is followed by a report from the unverified sensation instead in favour of stan- Investigators“ first place in computer production among the other constructors of a series of electronic calculators ELCA dards. The economic and political interests of eastern European countries. According to UN statistics, exported in the 1970s from Bulgaria to Switzerland, Bulgaria became a world leader in exports of computing France and even to other counties. There is also an several publishers beget pressure against the machinery per capita in the 1970s and 80s. account from a chief engineer who created the very first provision of objective information, honest electric appliances plant in Bulgaria. Several general comments and independent investigations. From only seven megabytes of disk memory Sofia used managers, including a general from the intelligence The second edition of to import seven cars. The profitability of the factories service and five astronauts also share their experiences. Esad Hecimovic’ book reached an unlikely level of 400%. The statistics In fact, they are still operating in orbital stations. A large part of the Bulgarian media (including demonstrate that each dollar invested in this branch Their stories answer the following questions: Nowadays, the Japanese scientists still seek to buy those brought a 20 times bigger return.  devices for their new modifications. Mentioning Japan, 50 from the print media sector) have already Why exactly was Bulgaria the first to attain proficiency in high technologies among the former this book offers amazing disclosures about the real trade signed to a Media Code of Ethics, developed GARIBI: Mud`ahedini u BiH 1992-1999. In the book Gold Decades of the Bulgarian Electronic socialist countries? balance of Bulgaria with the Japanese company Fujitsu. Industry, the author Milena Dimitrova, combines in accordance to the European standards and  (Mujahedeens in Bosnia and Herzegovina) documentaries with her own unique analyses. A How was the path forged so quickly, starting from For the first time the book relates how the President supported by National Council on Journalism considerable industry, recognised world wide, has the manufactories, going through the new factories, Francois Mitterand came to Sofia on 20 January 1989 grown in John Atanassov’s fatherland and a skilled and eventually evolving to trade holdings and even Ethics. The Council for Journalism Ethics has and requested an extraordinary meeting with Bulgarian Lot of articles, comments and books have been written about generation has emerged and ripened in the years to striking sales operations during the embargo? scientists and academicians. He insisted on taking a bow already reviewed 15 cases. The outcome is a Garibi, mujahedeens who came to Central Bosnia in 1992 as following his ground-breaking innovations. Dimitrova  Who was the strategist of the revolution in in front of them because it was due only to Bulgarian reveals the essential facts and factors that led to the relatively high degree of awareness of ethical Islamic volunteers and missionaries. How did they come, what Bulgarian electronics? navigation appliances that the French astronaut Jean- flourishing computing industry in Bulgaria. She  Lou Chrétien managed to land alive and well after his norms in the journalistic guild. identifies the cleverly chosen priorities and the inventive What helped to keep the leadership and what have they been doing and whom they terrorized there? impeded the growth in late 1980s? second flight into space. In fact, Mitterand is not the And, even more important, with whose approval? strategy of success which ultimately led to a leap into a only one among the heads of state who paid tribute to previously unexplored branch of science.  How did Bulgarian electronics reach the open space? the Bulgarian computing achievements.
The weakness of the judicial system and Too many questions, not many reliable answers. the corruption are also factors working against journalistic standards. As a result Who are Garibi? Find out finally in a book recently published aggravated economic or political interests jointly by the Belgrade daily Danas and South East Europe may achieve a verdict, or at least harass Media Organisation (SEEMO) from Vienna. By Mirjana Milosevic, SEEMO journalists and publications through end- Garibi is, undoubtedly, the book we have waited long for. less litigation, even for accurate, socially The book with many elements of striking thriller, but with “Democracy begins in the towns and villages of Europe. There is no democracy without local democracy” important, however critical information. content made of documents about real events and real people. Giovanni Di Stasi, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities Misterious deaths, enigmatic societies, ritual beheadings, of Europe from 2004-2006 What does the future of 24 Hours and people with countless names, organisation that covered the whole planet with its net. other dailies look like? Are you fore- The book starts with this interesting quote by Giovanni Di Stasi. According to the author, local and regional democracy is a pillar of democratic societies. seeing any new challenges, which The book of prominent reporter from Zenica Esad Hecimovic is Serbia is facing specific domestic difficulties since the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia. The difficulties compromise mainly would require some changes? the first one in the new Danas-SEEMO Edition „Investigative structural, historical, cultural, political, socio-economic as well as legal challenges. These complexities are indentified with regard to the distribution of power and the book analyses the reached achievements on the basis of various examples. The book presents a Journalists“. comprehensive evaluation of the situation on Serbia’s competence to comply with internationally set standards as one of Serbia’s Schindler: The changing media consumer’s Decentralisation and objectives is to join the EU and to be considered as a reliable player on the international political scene. attitudes, the competition through elec- Regionalisation in The analysis is mainly focused on the Council of Europe commitments to be fulfilled by Serbia (initial obligations were originally designed for tronic media and new communication Serbia: Compliance the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). What is very interesting is that the author describes the efforts towards decentralisation and channels (internet, Mobile Virtual Network regionalisation in Serbia and provides an overview of different initiatives. The book is particularly useful for international organisations, Esad Hecimovic was born in Zenica in 1963. with International governments, journalists and media workers dealing with Serbia. The book is also recommended for readers with a genuine interest in Serbia. Operator - MVNO) are among the issues, Studied philosophy and sociology in Standards in the light The references used include, next to a large number of specialist literatures, a list of specific official documents, reports and data provided which are to be considered in the further Sarajevo. Worked for different printed and of the European from the Serbian government as well as from various domestic and foreign organisations. development of the print media in general. electronic media in former Yugoslavia, Integration Process, Anita Kocic was born in 1980 in Berlin, Germany. Kocic has Serbian nationality and she graduated from the Free University in Berlin The audience is increasingly demanding vi- today’s BiH and abroad. As co-author and majoring in Political Science and International Relations. written by sion, entertainment, different news and author, published the books „Quiet, they The book was published by VDM Verlag Dr Müller Aktiengesellschaft &Co.KG in the year 2008. The book has total of 81 pages (including news approaches, without lowering jour- are killing“ (Ti{e, ubijaju) about the Anita Kocic references). ISBN: 978-3-639-08161-9
nalistic quality. This is the direction in genocide over Bosnian Muslims in the area of Prijedor and which newspapers are going to change.
Kozara (Preporod, Zenica 1992); and „How they sold out Srebrenica and saved the power“ (Kako su prodali Srebrenicu i sacuvali vlast), special edition of magazine BH Dani, Sarajevo, deScripto 83 82 deScripto September 1998. BOOK REVIEW COMMUNITY MEDIA The Body of War. Media, Ethnicity, and Media Scene for Gender in the Break-up of Yugoslavia the Bulgarian Community Dubravka Zarkov, Duke University Press, Durham and London, 2007, 287 pages in Vienna by Brigitte M. Holzner Zarkov asserts that the construction of the disintegration In some cases, the author compares how the same incidence of Yugoslavia was in the beginning portrayed as a ‘civil is portrayed differently by different media and thus reveals By Tunde Kiss war’, but was labelled quite soon internally as well as the political message behind the interpretation. For n the Body of War, Dubravka Zarkov analyses the outside the country as an ‘ethnic war’. Ethnic example, when in the summer of 1991 the JNA Student, University of Vienna representations of female and male bodies in the homogeneity in a territory of the former Yugoslav (Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija), the Yugoslav National I Serb and Croatian press of the late 1980s and during republics became the goal of war, with the expulsion of Army, after return from Slovenia fighting in Croatia, street the 1990s. Her central thesis is that the media produced ‘minorities’ through force and violence as consequence. demonstrations against the fighting occurred all over the ethnicity and nationalism and did this by intersecting In order to make the nationalist goal successful, rape and country. Among the demonstrators were women/mothers n this as well as future deScripto introduces representations of female and male bodies as central sexual violence – about 1,000 cases were documented, who demanded the release of their sons from the army. numbers several media scenes made by and for symbols. The actual violation and killing of women and 600 of those in detention camps – were the instrument Women lined up in a so-called ‘Wall of Love’ in cities in all I men was then a result of the meaning they have of terrorising the ‘others’, of establishing dominance, and Yugoslav republics and protested against the fighting and immigrants and minorities living in Vienna. acquired as ethnic human bodies. making sure that the amount of suffering would prevent for peace. The Croatian press portrayed those women as reconciliation. But without the media that reported such either Fierce Mother, Mother of Tears and or as vulnerable The book builds on primary research through interviews acts of sexual violence in the form of articles, woman, whereas the Serb press portrayed women as In this issue, the article focuses on media for with women from Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia & testimonials, pictures and cartoons, the link between sexualised bodies, as manipulated and False Mothers of Bulgarian community in Vienna. An estimated Herzegovina, and secondary data in the form of texts ethnicity and gender would not have been successful. non-Serb origin, or the Serb True Mother of a son-soldier-hero. and visual material (cartoons, caricatures and press The site, where those notions of gender and ethnicity 13,000 to 15,000 of the Austrian inhabitants have a photographs) from the main daily newspapers and conflate, is the human body, female and male. The ethnic This book demonstrates accuracy in the collection, Bulgarian background, although this number is weekly magazines of Croatia and Serbia (Vjesnik, Danas, heroes, defend their own citizens and attack those from body becomes the target of war on which power is selection, and use of records, sensitivity to language, Politika, NIN). Although the focus of the book is on the other countries, provinces or regions, and heavily exerted and yet, the body is also a construct, a product of linguistic expressions and meaning, and ingenuity in the just an estimate, because accurate demographic fig- Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, some reference is also made engage in portraying members of the own ethnicity as imagination infused with meanings. interpretation of visual material (pictures, cartoons). It is ures for the Bulgarian minority, especially in to other regions of the world (India, Pakistan, Rwanda, particularly interesting for social scientists with a focus different in comparison with members of other Vienna, do not yet exist. Iraq) as well as to historical periods of colonialism and communities, then the media are part of war machinery. The author shows various constructions of the human on international relations, politics, conflict studies, and the Second World War in order to confirm similar This creation of ‘other’ is not just a description of female body, the maternal body, the victimised body, gender studies. It is also a rich source of information for representations of women’s and men’s bodies in times of differences, but immersed with values and hierarchies, the armed body (women fought as soldiers in all historians providing them with many pieces for the Research into publications and other media for Bulgarians in Vienna revealed a small, but armed conflict. the own community always as the better, more armies!), connotations that are titles of separate puzzle of the break up of Yugoslavia. sophisticated, more heroic, or greater suffering. This chapters. She also draws attention to the sexualisation very dynamic mix of products and projects put together for and by this community. Zarkov shows how male and female bodies were used media war had another core element – it brought so- of the male body through rape, sexual violence and For journalists, Dubravka Zarkov’s book should be symbolically for the construction of meanings around called women’s issues like maternity, childcare, castration in a chapter titled ‘The body of the other obligatory reading, making them more careful to gender and sexuality, of ethnicity, nation and the sexuality, sexual violence, rape and abortion into man’. Raped men, quite different than the raped identify the discourses they are serving and the The magazine Bulgaren in Österreich was founded by Elitsa Karaeneva and her col- state. She asserts that there were two wars - a media discussion in newspapers, journals, TV, booklets and women, never caught the attention of the international metaphors they are using, and making them aware of leagues for a class in Project Management at the University of Vienna in spring 2006. war, starting much earlier than the actual fighting, and posters. This particular discourse framed sexuality and press, and only found little coverage in the Croatian and the responsibility they have in contributing to peace and an ethnic war, the latter not possible without the motherhood with population statistics and nation Serb press. Although men of all ethnicities suffered non-violence instead of hatred, violence, and war. From that time on it has been published every two months and is available free of former. And both had produced ethnicity that ended in building, and questioned abortion rights and the right sexual assault, only the sexual assault of Moslem men charge by subscription, and for pick-up at the Bulgarian cultural centre Haus the construction of new states along ethnicity, caught some media attention, allowing for a symbolic At last, for politicians as well as for peace activists, this to paid work, achievements of the socialist government Wittgenstein or at any of Bulgarian churches. Every circulation contains at least 5000 although those states still struggle with ethnic of Yugoslavia. Raising sexuality and reproduction as ‘feminisation’ and ‘homosexualisation’ of men whose book can also function as a guide for early warning: compositions and border demarcations as the actual issues of survival means ‘engendering’ nationalism. But religion is associated with the orient, which has for a when the media portray national symbols with images copies. Around 49 percent of its subscribers live in Vienna, 12 percent in northern problems in Kosovo tell us. in the break-up of Yugoslavia, this mechanism was, as long period and especially in colonial times been of the gendered body, whether male or female, one Austria, 11 percent in Upper Austria and 28 percent in other Austrian states. The ed- Zarkov shows, also reverted: “nations and territories portrayed as a female, non-masculine territory. This should be alerted for the emotional power of such So what is a media war? When media engage in were referred to as raped or pregnant, as virile or virginal; attention to men as victims is one of many examples in images in preparing the mindset for the feeling of threat itorial staff is made up of freelancers who work mostly free of charge while the rev-
nationalist politics, portray living or dead leaders as states became mothers or step-mothers” (p.4). this book that challenge gender stereotypes. and the willingness to fight. enue for the magazine is collected through advertisements.

Since one of the editors’ aims is to improve both intercultural communication and language exchange between Austrian residents and people with a Bulgarian back- Shaping the future of the ground, most of the articles are written in both Bulgarian and German. As a result, newspaper – Analysing World Digital Media Trends 2008 the magazine aims to contribute to better understanding between the two groups and strategic developments and to make the information about Bulgaria available to Austrian audience. opportunities in the press By Mirjana Milosevic, SEEMO industry, The annual Regarding the magazine format, every edition consists of five parts devoted to dif- yearbook is a special he World Association of Newspapers’ Shaping the mend this report for everybody working in the media in- ter highlights some savvy newspaper companies ferent topics: People, Nations, Law/ Business/ Finances, Projects and Culture and report published by Future of the Newspaper program (SFN) continues to dustry. that would serve as role models for the whole in- Information. T examine the ever-changing digital media landscape The first two chapters describe the media advertising land- dustry in the digital era as they are achieving suc- WAN (World Association and the various ways newspaper companies can take ad- scape with a focus on digital media. The third chapter goes cess with digital revenue-making and an audience- vantage of emerging trends while digital media is becom- into deeper detail about media consumption and con- building strategy. One to two articles in each issue cover news from Bulgaria and are mostly reported of Newspapers) ing more mature. The World Digital Media Trends 2008 sumer usage patterns, continuing on what factors drive The report was published by WAN in May 2008. The by local correspondents. In addition, the editors publish at least one interview per (WDMT) includes highlights from 71 major digital media the revenue that are described in the previous chapters. report has five chapters, consisting of 125 pages, studies from leading research companies showing statis- The fourth chapter focuses on the impact of digital trends and when including the appendix the book consists number. As Elitsa Karaeneva, the editor-in-chief of Bulgaren in Österreich points out: tical facts and projections. Therefore, we would recom- on the global newspaper industry as such. The fifth chap-
of in total 128 pages. “Ideas for the topics come from magazine contributors, but also from the readers and Continuited on page 86

84 deScripto deScripto 85 COMMUNITY MEDIA COMMUNITY MEDIA

Continuited from page 85 Year of Intercultural Dialogue and the ten- Bulgarian community, regardless of his or culture. Those interested can read about his Brigada, it primarily supports Bulgarian Apart from media published in Vienna, year long project youthNET South East her social status, can and does read as well career at http://dunkov.slaviaverlag.com/, immigrants by keeping them informed there are also online platforms for students friends of the Bulgarian community”. In ad- Europe (2001- 2011). According to the in- as understand the articles. For Austrian or German listeners the pro- about obtaining certificate of employ- like www.bg-student.org where students dition, readers are encouraged to give formation on the project’s website gramme goes with Brigitte Allerstorfer, ment, scholarships for students, and so mainly exchange information, but also feedback, which is mainly positive. http://www.iz.or.at, youthNET is a network In the interview, Zhurkov also mentions who finished her Slavonic and Bulgarian on. Apart from this, they also report contribute to discussions about media offer for European SEEtizens created by the in- the effort to achieve better mutual under- studies in Salzburg and has participated in about general cultural life in Bulgaria and for Bulgarians in Austria. An interview with The magazine covers various topics inter- tercultural centre in Vienna. The aim of the standing and therefore a better integra- projects of KulturKontakt Austria. of the Bulgarian community in Austria. Aleksandar Iliev, a Bulgarian student of esting to both Bulgarians living in Austria project is to establish better relationship be- tion on the part of inhabitants with Brigada content is also available on the in- Economics, revealed that students also use and German speakers interested in tween NGO leaders and youth workers Bulgarian background. For this reason The radio programme is made up of three ternet at http://okto.tv/brigada/. the online discussion forum of the Bulgarian society and culture. Front page and to develop successful network of non- they write their articles bilingually as well. parts: magazine Bulgaren in Österreich, available stories always introduce portraits of im- governmental organisations between coun- The articles are written by editors living in at http://www.bulgaren.org/forum. migrants who successfully integrated into tries of western and eastern Europe, as well Austria, but also by correspondents, who  Hallo Landsmann (Hello Fellow), Austria and its culture. They moved to as support intercultural communication. are sending their reports from Bulgaria. which applies to Bulgarian nature, In the opinion of Luydmila Handjiska, Austria for mostly cultural reasons, like The magazine is available at different people, religious communities and Bulgarian students mainly support the the scientist Ludmila Cichon, who was Bulgarians in Austria also promotes pro- firms, information centres or travel agen- folklore. media scene, but at the same time they born in Bulgaria but raised and educated jects involving some local members of cies, but also in restaurants like Pleven or  Hallo Nachbarn (Hello Neighbour), notice a lack of information about in Cuba. There she learned Spanish and Bulgarian community. One example is the Weinstudio in Vienna. which focuses on culture and on Bulgaria. “This is for the most part blame Russian, and still cultivated her Bulgarian cultural project Pangaea, which has been topics about the nearness to lands of of Bulgarian immigrants- there should be culture and language. After her studies in created by the community called IDEA of Apart from publishing online and print Balkan. more advertisement or information about English and Spanish language and litera- society, a society for international devel- magazines, the Bulgarian community also  Dudelsack und Jodeln Bulgaria”, says Luydmila. ture in both Cuba and Sofia, she started to opment and enhancement of arts whose produces one radio programme called (Bagpipes and Yodel), which work as translator in several embassies members want to promote intercultural Radio Bulgaria- Linz, and one television elaborates on interrelations Apart from the media created by the and was also teaching Bulgarian to diplo- exchange. With this in mind, artists in- programme called Brigada. between Bulgaria and both Bulgarian community in Vienna, mats. Two years after her move to Austria volved in this project act as ambassadors Austria and Middle Europe. one can also read newspapers and in 1987 she started her doctorate in phi- of cultural heritage. By means of their Radio Bulgaria was founded in Linz in magazines, and receive radio and losophy. Now she is living and teaching works they promote intercultural dia- 2004. It is still the first and only broadcast Bulgarian and German periodicals satellite TV channels coming di- Spanish at the University of Economics logue as well as better appreciation for programme in Bulgarian and German lan- and further scientific publications set rectly from Bulgaria. One such and Business in Vienna. different traditions. Pangaea is financially guage in Austria. The editorial staff, in- ideas for themes of current interest. channel is Kanal 1, the national supported by UNICEF. Apart from es- cluding Dimiter Dunkov and Brigitte Contributions by Dunkov and Bulgarian satellite channel, which also has In one other magazine number, the edi- tablishing close contacts, relationships Allerstorfer, broadcast on the first Allerstorfer frame the broadcast, which a website that offers the most important tors interviewed Ilija Trojanow, a famous with many artists and galleries are sup- Saturday of every month from 18.00 to is accompanied by Bulgarian and other Also worth mentioning in this review is the news. On http://www.bg-televizia.com author who moved to Vienna in 2006. He ported and furthermore extended. As a 19.00. The main motivation for its start Balkan lands’ folk music. The broadcast cultural institute Kulturinsitut- Haus those interested can listen to radio and was born in Bulgaria in 1965, but lived like saying goes “We are most afraid of what we was, for the most part, the lack of infor- can be received via the internet at Wittgenstein. As the information on the watch television programme. Another Ludmila Cichon in different countries, do not understand”, Pangaea is supposed mation about Bulgaria and its culture. www.fro.at or on MHz 105.0. homepage http://www. haus-wittgenstein.at broadcast from Bulgaria is radio Horizon, that is to say in the former Yugoslavia, to diminish such fears. Even if there some appeared, it was main- points out, the institute offers its physical which in Austria can be received via the Italy, Kenya and Germany, where he stud- ly one-sided. The information- and culture- magazine space for exhibitions and events concerning internet at http://www.bnr.bg/. ied law and ethnology. Nevertheless he WIEN heute- Die Bulgarische Zeitung programme Brigada is broadcast on the Bulgarian culture, sciences and arts. decided to drop university and set up a (Vienna today- the Bulgarian newspaper) is The team thematically focuses on present, Okto Channel by Bulgarian students liv- Recently they also increased the number of The wide range of print media offer in publishing company. As a result of his a print and online magazine published past and historical events in Bulgaria. This ing in Vienna. Okto is a non- commercial discussions, conferences and congresses Vienna includes daily and weekly newspa- writing he won the Book Fair Prize of monthly and it has about 500 subscribers. also includes part about cultural life and de- television channel that aims to complete held at their premises. Like the media scene, pers, as well as magazines and yellow press Leipzig (Preis der Leipziger Buchmesse) Its first edition came out in summer 2008. velopments in southern Europe. In addi- and extend the offers of commercial and the institute also aims at better exchange publications. Bulgarian dailies that can be in 2007 for his work The Collector of As one can find out on the magazine tion, Dimiter Dunkov presents his contri- television under public law in Austria. and cultural interrelationship between bought in Vienna include 24 Chassa Daily, Worlds (Der Weltensammler), which also homepage www.viennadnes.com and as the bution about European civilisation. He is Austrian inhabitants and the Bulgarian Sega Daily, Monitor Daily, Standart Daily, became an international bestseller. Director Sawka Zhurkov maintains, the also creator of Radio Bulgaria- Linz and Brigada creates content for all types of au- community. Almost all famous artists, au- 7 Dni Sport, and Meridian Mach. Weeklies editorial staff attaches importance to im- moderates the programme in the Bulgarian diences that are interested in the thors or musicians, who visited Austria, available in Vienna include Capital Weekly, Apart from the immigrants’ portraits, partiality and variety of topics. Magazine language. As a former lecturer at different Bulgarian community. Cultural and artis- presented their work in Haus Wittgenstein, 168 Chassa Weekly, Politika Weekly, and Bulgaren in Österreich also focuses on dif- content focuses mostly on every day life of universities, including the university in tic works in Bulgaria constitute the main which was renovated in autumn 2002. Trud Weekly. Magazines selection includes ferent projects concerning intercultural ex- Bulgarian immigrants in Austria. Articles Vienna, he found his way to Austria. His topics. According to Luydmila Handjiska, Visiting hours are Monday to Thursday Paraleli, Biasak and Tema. Popular yellow change and communication. For example, cover local culture, laws and history of the theories concentrate upon eastern and student of journalism and political sci- from 10.00 to 12.00 but one can also book a press publications available in Vienna in- they reported on the so- called European host country, so that every member of the southern Slavic languages as well as their ence, as well as former contributor to tour. clude Shock Show, Paparak, and Weekend.

86 deScripto deScripto 87 SEEMO AWARDS SEEMO AWARDS Erhard Busek and SEEMO Award Brankica Stankovic

By Selma Koric, SEEMO Perhaps the more adequate answer would be They need to work on discovering the truth that, in my opinion, it is the most important about everything that took place, because to be true to yourself in every sense. that is perhaps the only way to break with all he VI “Dr. Erhard Busek-SEEMO the crimes that have happened in the past, so Award for Better Understanding in Where does your interest in investiga- the future can be different and better. T South East Europe” was presented to tive journalism come from? You grew Brankica Stankovic in Vienna on 16 up in Belgrade in a time of crisis and How difficult is it to make a good seri- November 2008 by Dr. Erhard Busek for- wars, and the items you investigate al or one broadcast of The Insider? mer Vice-Chancellor of Austria, former are part of your life. Back then many How much time do you need to do Coordinator of the Southeast European things that happened within society your research and get the information Cooperative Initiative (SECI), Chairman were hidden from the public. Were that will make a big impact? of the Institute for the Danube Region and you even then interested in what was Central Europe (IDM) and President of hiding behind all the secrecy? Stankovic: We work on one serial for a the European Forum Alpbach, and by the long time, sometimes for months. We in- SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic. Stankovic: Investigative journalism is im- vestigate, talk to several dozen individuals, portant segment of every society, and espe- make analyses, crosscheck information, and Stankovic, born in October 1975 in cially the one that strives to be democratic. then we start to record. It is very demand- Brankica Stanckovic accepts the award from Erhard Busek and Oliver Vujovic Belgrade, Serbia, has been working as an Journalists exist for the public and the duty ing work considering it involves only three Prior to The Insider you produced a published and do not feel the need editor for TV B92 in Belgrade since 1997. of a journalist is to discover everything that people: the producer, journalist, and myself. broadcast about a cooler truck that for specialisation. Her outstanding efforts in journalism representatives of government, public insti- Lawyers first view every broadcast we make sunk in the Danube next to the town Stankovic: Unfortunately, I think all have contributed towards a better under- tutions, privileged individuals and many busi- and we have established this procedure of Kladovo, Serbia. Can you tell us Stankovic: I think that constant improve- countries in the region have similar prob- standing and the removing barriers be- ness people are trying to hide. That is the way since the very beginning because we cover something about this case, what ex- ment is needed in this type of work, and lems to Serbia. I believe there are many tween nations in Southeast Europe. to discover and prevent embezzlement, cor- complex topics and the credibility of the actly happened and what were you even more important is an ongoing ex- journalists in this area who would like to ruption and crimes because there is a public broadcast is the most important to us. That able to discover? change of experiences with colleagues do this kind of journalism, but simply In the course of her work, Brankica interest for it. That is the only reason I do is the reason nobody ever contradicted in- from the region and the rest of Europe. have no possibilities. The fact is that to- Stankovic introduced new and improved this kind of journalism. I think this is my formation presented in our broadcast. On Stankovic: That was the radio show back day there are many people with different standards of professionalism to Serbian obligation and I believe journalists have very the contrary, information we presented in 2001 when we actually uncovered two- You have received “Dr. Erhard Busek - connections in this business. The survival journalism and has addressed in her TV important role in making sure justice is done. was, in time, officially confirmed. year old state secret that, during bombing SEEMO Award for Better Understanding of many media companies depends on the show, The Insider (Insajder), important is- of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in South East Europe”. What does this money of business people, the lack of ad- sues that have been either concealed or (Savezna Republika Jugoslavija - SRJ) in award mean to you? equate laws, and a good will of state rep- sidelined by Serbian authorities. The Insider Former recipients of 2002 – Denis Latin, Croatian journalist 1999, bodies of Albanians from Kosovo resentatives. Therefore, the investigative has attracted much attention and, as a con- “Dr. Erhard Busek - 2003 - Kemal Kurspahic, former were transported in cooler trucks to Stankovic: The SEEMO Award is very journalism is less and less popular. For ex- sequence, the authorities have often resort- editor-in-chief of the Sarajevo Serbia. We were able to convince witness- important for me as well as the entire ample, if you work on a certain story, SEEMO Award for ed to launching investigations, pressing daily Oslobodjenje. es of this terrible event to publicly talk Insider team, because SEEMO is an or- during investigation you will inevitably charges and issuing warrants based on the Better Understanding 2005 – Brankica Petkovic, Head of the about what happened and how the entire ganisation that promotes real values in uncover names of people involved in information presented in the show. in South East Europe” Center for Media Policy at the town of Kladovo lived for two years in a journalism. In the last several years we something, who are, for example through Peace Institute in Ljubljana, conspiracy not to reveal witnessing the have received numerous awards, so this advertising, financing the media compa- On this special occasion, Brankica Slovenia. cooler truck falling into the Danube full one is additional proof we are doing im- ny you work for. That is where, unfortu- Stankovic shared what motivates her as a 2006 - Danko Plevnik, international of bodies of children, women and men. portant work, and of course, the obliga- nately, the story about investigative jour- journalist and as a person. relations columnist for the tion for us to do even better job. nalism ends. Croatian daily Slobodna You are currently within a profes- Who is Brankica Stankovic? Dalmacija in Split. sional specialisation. How impor- How do you see the future of inves- That is the situation in Serbia and, I as- 2007 - Milena Dimitrova, commentator tant is it for you to learn and im- tigative journalism in Southeast sume, in the region as well. We, The Stankovic: One completely normal person, for the Bulgarian daily newspaper prove in your work? Often times, Europe? What kind of challenges do Insider team, have it somewhat easier be- I’m joking... I don’t like to talk about myself Trud in Sofia. journalists think they accomplished you predict for you and your col- cause the medial house we work for, B92, this way, so I really do not know what to say. everything once their stories are leagues in the region? supports the type of journalism we do.

88 deScripto deScripto 89 SEEMO AWARDS SEEMO AWARDS

SEEMO Award for Human Rights second-class citizens. Other citizens who also opposed the pow- er of one party received the same treatment. You see, the revela- presented to Spomenka Hribar tion of that crime and the taboo-style of hiding it is what, in our case, started destroying the totalitarian pyramid of those in pow- By Selma Koric, SEEMO ety, and her endeavours aim to further respect for all minorities, er. As you know, the communist rule was based on the victory in equality of the sexes, as well as more tolerance and conciliation the liberation struggle of the Second World War and the victory in Slovenian society. of revolution, which was presented as error-free and completely he 2008 “SEEMO Award for Human Rights” was presented “pure”. The Communist party used that “purity” argument for its to Spomenka Hribar on 10 December 2008 in Ljubljana by Speaking at the award presentation in Ljubljana, Oliver Vujovic absolute, a priory legitimacy and legality of its rule. When the hor- T Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General, at the event emphasised the importance of speaking openly, using certified facts rible, post-war elimination of tens of thousands people became a hosted by Joze Mermal, president and CEO of BTC company. and scientific studies, about the past and events in history, as well part of public consciousness, revolution was not innocent and as the danger of fabricating history and presenting false claims un- “pure” anymore...and if it is not “pure” anymore, then the party The „SEEMO Award for Human Rights“ is an annual award ded- der pressures of ideology, politics, nationalist tendencies or some has to legitimize its power in free elections, and they require par- icated to International Human Rights Day, on 10 December, and other reason. “Unfortunately”, said Vujovic, “the past events in ticipation of more parties. And that was the beginning of the end SEEMO has been presenting it since 2002. Former Yugoslavia showed that often times journalist, but also histo- for the ethical, principle and political foundation of one-party sys- rians and school textbook writers, became part of a propaganda, in- tem. Of course, on the level of practical advocacy for democracy This year’s recipient, Spomenka Hribar, is a Slovenian journalist, struments of politicians, certain ideologies or political parties, whether there were many people, groups and movements asking for the writer and human rights advocate born in Belgrade in 1941. She they did it purposefully or were not even aware they are doing it”. end of one-party system and installing of democracy. received much publicity in the 1980s with her essay The Guilt and the Sin, which critically exposed the post-war liquidation of Nazi Following the award presentation, Dr. Hribar talked about her Going back to human rights of different minorities and under- collaborators by the communist regime. The essay described all life and work in a brief interview. privileged, in all democracies, and so here as well, there are many liquidations as a crime, demanded an apology and emphasised the Spomenka Hribar accepts SEEMO Award injustices and difficulties people face. Therefore, I still strive for importance of public remembrance of these events, especially for How would you best describe yourself? removal of those injustices, of course mostly through my writ- purposes of national reconciliation. The essay was initially for- the core of the social structure if it obstructs those human rights ing and public engagements. bidden in the former Yugoslavia, then published three years later Hribar: This is a difficult question, perhaps the most difficult of of any minority. Therefore, in our society it was necessary to in 1987. Ever since, Hribar has been active in the media with her all. I can just describe what I do. I am mostly a housewife with change the authoritative, even totalitarian, structure of society. What do you read in your free time? What kind of literature in- critical analyses, first of aspects of communist rule and later of two wonderful granddaughters, ages three and nine. That meant abolishing latent civil war that is typical for one-par- terests you? Do you have a hobby that occupies your free conservative, fundamentalist and nationalistic tendencies within That is the most beautiful part of my life, all in my family are ty systems. In that context was my first public controversy at time? Slovene society. luckily healthy and good people, and we understand one anoth- the end of seventies. er very well. Otherwise, I am 68-years old and I am currently re- Hribar: I read professional literature from the fields of philoso- Her endeavours and criticisms are based on a consistent respect tired. I still write an article or a political analysis here and there, My strongest influence on public and on politics itself was with phy, sociology, politics, as much as I can, because honestly, I have for human rights, human dignity, freedom and responsible au- because the one who writes based on his or her conviction and my essay Blame and Sin (Blame and Sin, 1984), which was under very little time for reading. From the rest of the literature, I like tonomy. She strives to promote ethics amongst all levels of soci- conscience actually never counts on receiving an award, and nev- an “embargo” for three years. In that essay I analysed the post- poetry the most. Sometimes also a crime novel... er stops writing. war elimination of the returned domestic fighters and civilians, and I asked for the merciful treatment for them. Not because they What are you working on right now? Are you researching any Former recipients of the What was your strongest motivation to, continue your strug- were fighters and collaborators but because they were human be- new areas or preparing something for a publication? “SEEMO Award for Human Rights” gle for the respect of human rights and ethical standards in ings. The Bolshevik-style government of that time eliminated all spheres of society, in spite of constant difficulties? them without fair trials and was hiding that crime for thirty plus Hribar: Yes, I am trying to write a study, an analysis of spiritual, 2002 - Christine von Kohl, editor-in-chief of the Vienna-based years including the locations of their graves. I think that the mer- totalitarian sequences in our history, which caused the civil con- Balkan- Südosteuropäischer Dialog magazine. Hribar: The strongest motivation... I think it was the fact that I cy for those who are dead is the basis for any civilisation. On a flict here during World War II. Those chapters are exclusivist 2003 - Nebojsa Popov, founder of the Belgrade-based don’t tolerate blaming and humiliation of people... and my desire for symbolic level this principle exists from the time of Antigone and Catholic ideology at the end of the Nineteenth Century and, on magazine Republika. things to change. My condolence with people, I think, led me to say onwards. The man became a man when he started burying his the other hand, Communism, Bolshevism. The crash of the two 2004 - Fatos Lubonja, an Albanian author and do something myself... at least and foremost for my own soul. dead. And of course, since we were not in peace with the dead, exclusive ideologies and mutual revenge-seeking relationship 2006 - Abdulhalim Dede, a journalist and member of the there was no peace among the living. Until today there are around brought the bloody conflict at the most critical time for all our Turkish-Muslim minority living and working in Which results of your struggle for the respect of minorities, 600 locations evidenced as possible gravesites, of course not only nations, including Slovenian. To avoid making the same mistake Western Thrace, Greece. gender equality, and tolerance in the society you live in are graves of Slovenians because post-war eliminations did happen on twice, we needed to end the civil war here, so in the same essay I 2007 - Seki Radoncic, author of the book ‘The Fatal Freedom’ you the most proud of? Slovenian ground but also to members of other Yugoslav nation- asked for national reconciliation, which on the society level and active in investigating war crimes in the former alities. Relatives of those eliminated, who were mostly Catholics, means democracy and equality of all ideological beliefs as such, Yugoslavia. Hribar: You see, if you want to attain the respect of minorities, because Catholic Church here collaborated with occupation and of course, the right of political organisation for everybody gender equality and tolerance in the society, you have to change forces, and Catholics in general were in Socialism treated as the Continuited on page 92

90 deScripto deScripto 91 SEEMO AWARDS REPORT / REVIEW Central European Initiative: Promoting Cooperation and European Values in Continuited from page 91 Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe A Review: resulting in the multi-party system. This The Central European Initiative (CEI) was established in 1989 as an Contemporary would, of course, require the readiness on intergovernmental forum for political, economic and cultural co-operation everyone’s part to live in tolerance with among its Member States (currently 18). Serbian people whose ideological and political set- The CEI’s main objectives are to bring the countries of Central, Eastern and up is opposite of their own. I hope that South-Eastern Europe closer together and assist them in their transition to Photography with publication of such study, analyzing stable democracies and market economies as well as in their preparation how the right side conditioned the reac- process for EU membership. During the last years, the CEI has undergone a in Vienna tion of the left, and vice-versa, there transformation from being predominantly oriented towards policy dialogue to would be less possibility to, as is the case an organisation emphasizing transfer of know-how and technology, business by Christopher G. Wastian today, transfer responsibility always to the facilitation, investment promotion, promotion of scientific research, Student, University of Vienna other side. Neither side is ready to justify postgraduate training and of civil society. Priority regions for CEI assistance are its actions, to see itself and admit its share the countries of the Western Balkans and those part of the EU’s neighbourhood “With that expression (Land of Promises, NB), one may link another, alien country, but not of responsibility for everything that hap- policy, namely Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. “Land of Promises”: For a long time, the the Serbian art scene are found at this that country in which he or she actually lives,” pened. Still, today we can talk and write USA was probably associated with that small but subtle exhibition as well as elab- explains Ana Adamovic. about it more openly. The graves are be- The CEI Presidency 2009 is held by Romania. expression. Within the same-named exhi- orate interpretations of the title, which ing revealed, accessible for visitors, grave In a recent interview, Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cristian Diaconescu bition, curator Ana Adamovic introduces, turn out to be symbolic on the one hand Generally speaking, it is about identity. stones are being erected and even the expressed his views about this important role. In describing the benefits such a task in addition to herself, seven Serbian artists and endowed with a massive dose of irony Identity through future, the past? “The past grand monument for those who were liq- could bring to Romania, he stated that ”before becoming a CEI Member State in 1996, some of whom indeed gained their expe- on the other. doesn’t exist as a fact – it is a construction,” uidated. In that sense, I can say that there Romania received valuable support from the CEI by working together for a common riences in and with America, especially says Vienna-based Dejan Kaludjerovic, is less and less transfer of guilt taking purpose as well as by complementing Romania’s efforts in the European integration due to studies overseas. Contributing As the main importance is attached to so- who, with his photo project, proposes the place and the “past” is somehow outside process.” According to Diaconescu “the CEI Romanian Presidency is a new opportunity artists included Uros Djuric, Dejan cio-political and social issues, the pho- question: “What did tomorrow bring us?” of the daily political fights. But I don’t to promote cooperation and European values beyond the borders of the CEI Member Kaludjerovic, Zoran Naskovski, Tijana tographers’ chosen topics are multifari- know when and if I will finish this work States as well as to consolidate cooperation between the CEI EU and non-EU Member Pakic, Vesna Pavlovic, Vladimir Peric, and ous and range from (childhood) memo- The exposition “Land of Promises – because it is voluminous and I have very States.” This would ”facilitate know-how transfer and give non-EU CEI Member States Ivan Petrovic. ries, basketball (one considers the repeat- Contemporary Serbian Photography“ was little time... and I am becoming a little bit assistance in specific fields such as transport, energy, agriculture etc. in order to boost ed parallels between Serbia and the US), featured in France (Strasbourg, Paris) and tired of everything. their relations with the EU”, he added. Notwithstanding, this exposition is rather the “other”, Balkan-style, private gar- recently, January-February 2009, in Vienna a matter of contemporary photography dens, populism and pop culture to atom- at Galerie ArtPoint (KulturKontakt You are recipient of “SEEMO Award for Diaconescu finally pointed out that the CEI Romanian Presidency will focus in from Serbia. Recent themes and ideas of ic shelters. Austria).
Human Rights”. How much this award particular on: means to you?  cooperation between the CEI and other regional structures (e.g. SEECP, RCC, BSEC), a key factor for establishing political stability, security and for promoting Book Presentation Hribar: It means a lot to me, but I also feel good-neighborly relations; humble because on the territory covered  activities in the field of transport, economy, agriculture, environment and Bauer, Thoms A./Ortner (Hg.): Bildung für Europa. Politische Ansprüche by SEEMO there are many journalists and cross-border cooperation. und Anregungen für die Praxis, Düsseldorf: B+B MEDIEN 2008. media people who deserve this award. I feel especially honoured because this award was For more information: www.ceinet.org From the author: previously given to my long-time friend Dr. Nebojsa Popov, who gave me support “Europe is often considered to be an ‘educational space’, which means that education is 30-years ago and who, almost single-hand- CEI News: somehow an important category in defining the challenge for Europe’s future. This will not edly publishes the magazine Republika, and CEI Fellowship for Writers in Residence - Call for Proposals 2009 be so easy, since in Europe education policy is responsibility of the member states. There is through his analysis and commentaries The Slovene Writers’ Association has recently launched the Call for Proposals 2009 hope that this self-containment is taken as a treasure of diversity, but there is also the keeps open at least one window of light for a CEI Fellowship for Writers in Residence. The fellowship is endowed with a cash challenge of developing systems of cooperation. As far as media and media education is shining from human and scientific intelli- award of 5.000 EUR offered by the CEI for a three-month stay in a CEI Member State gence and mutual tolerance, everything we chosen by the candidate. Eligible applicants are writers under 35 years of age from concerned, the book discusses through theoretical concepts, through analyses and through think of when we say “European spirit”. non-EU CEI Member States. The award will be presented on the occasion of the models for the educational practice the position of Europe within the media education And now, I have also received this SEEMO opening of the Vilenica International Literary Festival on 2 September 2009. discourse and it outlines media-education frameworks for the discourse on Europe.” award. In that sense I feel a special honour Deadline for submission: 1 June 2009 as one of the recipients.
The book can be ordered at the deScripto editor’s address. The Call for Proposals and Application Form are available at: www.vilenica.si

92 deScripto deScripto 93 CONFERENCE REPORTS

SEEMO In June 2008, the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) organised, in cooperation with the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC)/ Austrian Regional Meeting: Development Agency (ADA) the SEEMO Conference “Private News Agencies in South East Europe”, in Belgrade, Serbia. “Private News During the conference, representatives of various news agencies from the South Agencies in South East European region were present and they introduced their news agencies. Eric Nyièn from the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) introduced East Europe” EANA and spoke about the tasks of the organisation. After this conference the representatives of private news agencies, supported by SEEMO, sent a letter to leading political representatives in the region, asking for the equal position of private news agencies on the market.

SEEMO Regional Conference: “Public Broadcasting in South East Europe”

By Mirjana Milosevic, SEEMO broadcasting in South East Europe”, “Future of new media activities and PBS”, From 9 to 11 December 2008, the South “EBU and PBS in the region”, “ERNO East Europe Media Organisation and the future of the trans-border cooper- (SEEMO), in cooperation with the ation”, and “The experience of the gov- Austrian Development Cooperation erning bodies of the PBS in the region”. (ADC)/ Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and with the local partner Radio Boris Bergant from RTV Slovenija men- Televizija Slovenija, organised the SEEMO tioned, for example, that the Public everybody needs to help each other, learn Regional Conference “Public Broadcasting Broadcasting Service (PBS) is under per- from each other, learn from more experi- in South East Europe”, in Ljubljana, manent threat as everybody wants gains enced public service broadcasters, but also Slovenia. and advantages so the PBS has to anticipate from the positive examples that are there. changes and requests in advance. Problems Benchmarking is necessary. Jean Reveillon, During the conference several topics were are many faceted and of both a legal and fi- Director General of the European discussed as all participating countries are nancial nature, as well as being affected by Broadcasting Union (EBU), stated that dealing with similar issues concerning the economic crisis and replicable adver- EBU is committed to answering freedom public broadcasting. Therefore this con- tisements but problems are also of a nature of expression and is very concerned about ference was a good opportunity to brain- of principle. The South East and Central journalists’ safety. All conclusions from this storm together on how to deal with cer- European region are countries still in tran- meeting were put together in a document tain issues in the best possible way. Topics sition. The region has a difficult history, a called the ’Ljubljana Recommendations on during the conference included; “The cur- recent history of hate and war and transi- Public Broadcasting’ and have been distrib- rent state of affairs in the field of public tion will take longer here. That is why uted to all the participants as a guideline.

deScripto 95 PREVIEW RECENT SEEMO PROTESTS AND PRESS RELEASES **** SEEMO General Information Your SEEMO PRESS RELEASE: The current SEEMO staff members in Vienna are: Krasimira Upcoming Events Upcoming SEEMO Events and Publications Plachetzky, SEEMO assistant; Sara di Pede, SEEMO assistant; Vienna, 30 September 2008 Sladjana Matejevic, SEEMO conference and financial coordi- III South East Europe Media Photojournalism - practical with the UN, NGOs, government and Therefore, the Romanian Cultural Excellencies! nator; Elva Hardarson, press freedom and fundraising coor- The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation dinator and Selma Koric, coordinator De Scripto magazine. Forum (SEEMF) training diplomatic missions. Institute awards grants to foreign (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and lead- Tirana, Albania Prague, Czech Republic cultural journalists who submit September 2008 ing journalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of The SEEMO Board members are: Radomir Licina (senior editor 2-4 November 2009 4-7 August 2009 More information available at: working projects dealing with the International Press Institute (IPI), would like to an- Danas daily, Belgrade), Agron Bajrami (editor-in-chief Koha Serbia - BETA - Press Release nounce the following upcoming SEEMO events and publi- Ditore daily, Pristina), Boris Bergant (deputy director RTV www.media21geneva.org Romanian and Romanian culture. Vienna, 9 September 2008 cations. Slovenia, Ljubljana and EBU vice-president), Pavol Mudry Like all TOL courses, the (Source: Media 21 - Global Journalism (founder and board member, SITA news agency, Bratislava), Regional Conference on Human Photojournalism course will be light on Network, Geneva) Deadline for submitting the The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation The II South East Europe Media Forum (SEEMF) in Sofia, Marta Palics (editor, RTV Novi Sad, Novi Sad), Jorgos (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading Bulgaria Papadakis (journalist, Athens) and Zrinka Vrabec Mojzes (ed- th Rights, Social Inclusion and theory and heavy on practical training. applications: May 15 2009 journalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of the itor, Radio 101, Zagreb). Social Cohesion You’ll learn how to choose a saleable Grant’s value: 1 500 euros/person International Press Institute (IPI), is deeply concerned about The topic of the II SEEMF is „Media and Democracy in South actions directed against the media in Serbia by members of East Europe: Professional Standards and Education of The SEEMO Coordinators are: Albania - Frrok Cupi (director, subject, take and edit photographs, International Conference: ICR awards 10 grants on a yearly basis. the hard-line nationalist movements „Obraz“ and „1389“. Journalists.“ The II SEEMF will be held in Sofia, Bulgaria, Agon newspaper, Tirana), Bulgaria - Ognian Zlatev (director, „Integrating Differences - Human and then how to sell them. New Media & Information: The field for which the evaluation and from 5-6 November 2008. This annual event is organised Media Development Center, Sofia), Bosnia Herzegovina - Rights, Social Inclusion and Social Convergences and Divergences selection is performed: journalism According to information provided to SEEMO, members of by the WAZ Medien Gruppe, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Samra Luckin (director, BORAM, Sarajevo), Croatia - Ante „Obraz“ and „1389“, wielding a placard that read, „Zuta (KAS), and SEEMO. The local partners of this year’s SEEMF Gavranovic (former president of the Croatian Journalists Cohesion in the Balkans on its Road For more information about these 6-9 May 2009, Athens, Greece Length of the grant: max 1 month novinska agencija Beta“ („Yellow News Agency Beta“), forced are the Newspaper Group Bulgaria and the Media Association (HND), Zagreb and of Croatian Publishers to the EU“ courses, please contact Joann their way into the offices of the Beta news agency in central Development Centre, Sofia. Over 150 participants are ex- Association, Zagreb), Greece - Jorgos Papadakis, Moldova - The Conference is organised by the Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia - FYR Plockova: plockovajŸtol.org For more details please visit: Belgrade on 30 August and demanded the coverage of their pected, including editors-in-chief, media executives, and Alina Radu (director, Ziarul de Garda newspaper, Chisinau), Department of Communication, ongoing protests against the arrest on 21 July of Radovan representatives from media education centres and univer- Romania - Marina Constantinoiu (editor-in-chief, Jurnalul Macedonia For more information please visit: http://www.icr.ro/icr/burse/ Karazdic, the Bosnian Serb wartime leader. sity schools of media and communication in South East National, Bucharest), Serbia - Veran Matic (editor-in-chief, Media and Culture of Panteion 28-31 May 2009 www.tol.cz Burse_jurnalisti and Central Europe. Radio TV B92, Belgrade), Montenegro - Zeljko Ivanovic (di- University with the support of Commenting on the incident, SEEMO Secretary General rector, Vijesti daily, Podgorica), Kosovo - Haqif Mulliqi (RTV (Source: Transitions Online) (Source: Romanian Cultural Institute) Megaron Plus. Oliver Vujovic said, „SEEMO condemns these aggressive ac- Presentation of the VI Dr. Erhard Busek - SEEMO Media Kosovo, Pristina), Ukraine - Aleksey Soldatenko (Programmes For more information please visit: tions taken against the independent news agency Beta. Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe Director, International Institute for Regional Media and http://www.seesoc.org.mk There are other, more peaceful, ways of ensuring that one’s Information, Kharkiv). Conference will address questions voice is heard by a media outlet.“ He went on to urge the au- The VI Dr. Erhard Busek - SEEMO Media Award will be pre- (Source: The Euro-Balkan Institute for EU for Journalists UNICEF Events of influence of economic and thorities „to take all possible measures to ensure the safety sented in Vienna on 16 November 2008 by Dr. Erhard Busek, The SEEMO Ethical Committee includes: Danko Plevnik (com- Social and Humanities Research) of media practitioners in Serbia.“ former Vice-Chancellor of Austria, Coordinator of the mentator, Slobodna Dalmacija daily,Split - Karlovac). political conditions on digital media, Celebration of World Press The EJC has launched a website to Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI), Chairman connection between new media Freedom Day **** of the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe The SEEMO Advisers are: Hari Stajner (former director Media help journalists reporting on the (IDM) and President of the European Forum Alpbach, and by Center, Belgrade), Boro Kontic (director, Media Centar, Sarajevo), and traditional ways of informing, Doha, Qatar, 3-5 May 2009 Transitions Online Journalism European Union. The EU for SEEMO Expresses Concern at Several Recent Legal Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General. Donika Shahini (OSCE Media Department, Pristina) and Mitja and socio-economic consequences Mersol (former editor-in-chief, Delo daily, Ljubljana). Training Courses journalists - Brussels in brief website Developments in Moldova of these processes. Information Society Forum Vienna, 17 September 2008 SEEMO Conference: Public Services in South East and simplifies the maze of information Central Europe France, 3 May 2009 **** Foreign Correspondent available on the EU so reporters can The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation Information available at: (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading The SEEMO Conference on Public Services will be held in SEEMO PRESS RELEASE: BULGARIA Training Course easily get a grip of the key issues and www.media2009.conferences.gr (Source: UNICEF Communication and journalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of the Ljubljana, Slovenia, from 9-11 December 2008. SEEMO is or- IPI/SEEMO Condemns Brutal Attack on Bulgarian Editor Prague, Czech Republic players. The site also has a Forum for International Press Institute (IPI), is concerned about several ganising the conference in cooperation with Radio- Vienna, 30 September 2008 (Source: Media Centar Online) Information Sector) 26 July - 3 August 2009 EU-related questions, comments recent legal developments in Moldova that contain threats Television (RTV) Slovenia and the Austrian Development to press freedom, freedom of expression, and the right of ac- Cooperation (ADC) - Austrian Development Agency (ADA). The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation and to advertise your services. cess to information. The directors of public services, representatives of regulato- (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading This is a highly popular 9-day course ry agencies and media experts from South East Europe are journalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of the Deutsche Welle Master’s Council of Europe expected to participate. This is the third conference organ- International Press Institute (IPI), condemns the recent vio- brings together students from Visit EU for journalists - Brussels in According to information before SEEMO, Moldova’s Parliament has passed an amendment to the Law on Editorial Activity that ised this year by SEEMO and ADC-ADA. Two successful con- lent attack on Ognyan Stefanov, editor-in-chief of the on-line Program „International Media st around the world and features brief at http://www.eu4journalists.eu 1 Council of Europe Conference came into effect on 26 June 2008. The Law on Editorial Activity ferences were already held in Belgrade in June 2008: the news site, Frognews, in Sofia, Bulgaria. Studies“ practical training and advice from (Source: European Journalism Centre) of Ministers in charge of Media now includes a ban on printing material that challenges or de- conference on „Media, Marketing and Business“ and the Deadline for applications: fames the state and the people, incites war, aggression, national, conference on „Private News Agencies in South East According to information before SEEMO, Ognyan Stefanov experienced foreign and New Communication Services 31 May 2009 racial or religious hatred, discrimination, territorial separatism, Europe“. was beaten unconscious by several men in masks with correspondents, whose careers Reykjavik, Iceland, 28-29 May 2009 public violence or in any other way that threatens the constitu- hammers and rods as he was on his way out of the restau- include stints at The Economist, Human rights workshop, (Source: COE Media and Information tional regime. SEEMO supports the Publishers’ Union of Moldova Presentation of the VI SEEMO Human Rights Award for rant „Kiparisite“ on the evening of Monday, 22 September The International Media Studies in their claim that this amendment could result in self-censorship. Media Professionals in South East Europe 2008. Reuters, CBS and the BBC. Geneva, May 2009 Master’s Program is a four-semester, Society Division) full-time program for further SEEMO is also alarmed by the recently adopted restrictive The VI SEEMO Human Rights Award for Media Professionals Ognyan Stefanov was taken to the Military Medical Academy Investigative Journalism Experienced, open-minded, English- regulations concerning the assessment, selection and publi- in SEE will be bestowed upon a media professional from in Sofia with serious head injuries and broken limbs. education. The program combines cation of textbooks for pre-university education, which South East Europe on 10 December 2008. The SEEMO Human According to information from the Bulgarian News Agency, Prague, Czech Republic speaking journalists are invited to topics like media and development, International Conference: favour the state publishing houses subordinated to the Rights Award is presented annually on the occasion of BGNES, the director of the Military Medical Academy, Stojan 19-24 July 2009 apply for workshops on human journalism, communication science Culture and Security Sector Ministry of Culture and Tourism over other publishing hous- International Human Rights Day. Tonev, said Ognyan Stefanov underwent a crucial operation on 23 September 2008. rights in Geneva from 4 - 8 May 2008. Reform: Political, Strategic and es. In recent years, several Moldovan publishing houses in- and media economics, while vested money and human resources in projects concerning Upcoming SEEMO Publications More than just theory, the developing practical skills and Military Culture in Transitional textbooks and created a complex editorial system. The gov- Commenting on the incident, SEEMO Secretary General In the coming weeks, a new edition of the media magazine Oliver Vujovic said that „heinous attacks on media represen- Investigative Journalism course Journalists from the following competencies that are important for Countries ernment, however, has discounted these efforts by intro- ducing the new regulations, which could negatively affect De Scripto will be published by SEEMO. In addition, SEEMO tatives such as this one against Ognyan Stefanov must be- offers practical training. Learn to put countries are encouraged to apply as the world of media. It is a joint project Sremski Karlovci, Serbia 7-10 May 2009 the education system in Moldova. will soon publish the „SEEMO Investigative Reporting come a thing of the past in a democratic society.“ together a piece of investigative soon as possible: Cameroon, Nigeria, from the University of Bonn, the Bonn Handbook“, a book on „Media and PR“ and a book on Furthermore, he called on the authorities to „initiate an im- journalism, use sources and build a Senegal, Bangladesh, China, Saudi Organization: Centre for Civil - Furthermore, SEEMO would like to express its concern at a „Media, Marketing and Business in South East Europe“. mediate and thorough police investigation to bring to justice Rhein-Sieg University of Applied worrisome draft law, the Law on Preventing and Fighting Furthermore, publications on „Public Broadcasting in those responsible for this crime.“ publishable case from a team of Arabia, Cuba, Canada, Germany, Sciences and Deutsche Welle, Military Relations, Belgrade Crimes Committed by Means of the Information System, South East Europe“ and „Women, Men and Media“ are in highly respected journalists. Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, Germany’s international broadcaster The aim of the conference is to which is soon to be passed by Parliament. According to the planning. **** Central African Republic, Chad, explore the linkages between draft law, internet service providers will be required to store with its headquarters in Bonn the personal data of users and provide this information to the Finally, SEEMO would like to announce the publication in two SEEMO PRESS RELEASE: ROMANIA New Media Essentials Congo, Vietnam, Yemen, Afghanistan, political, strategic and military culture authorities upon request. volumes of the 2008 edition of the „South East and Central IPI/SEEMO Condemns Violent Attacks on Sports Europe Media Handbook“ („SEEMO Media Handbook“) in Journalists in Romania Prague, Czech Republic Uruguay, Chile, Malta and the former For further details please visit: in post-Communist states, and in Moreover, the draft Law on State Secrets, which is soon to be October 2008. The Media Handbook includes media reports Vienna, 30 September 2008 12-17 July 2009 Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,2692,12276,00.html particular in the Western Balkans. adopted by Parliament, would result in a limitation of public and contact details of selected radio and TV stations, news- (Source: Deutsche Welle) access to official information. The draft would provide far- papers, magazines, media organisations, media schools, jour- The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation This intensive five-day course will The workshop will be held during the If you are interested to attend the reaching powers to public authorities and the Security and nalists’ organisations, and internet service providers and oth- (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading Information Service by enabling them to declare as classified er new media from Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, journalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of the teach you everything you need to UN Human Rights Council session conference, please send us a short any information they consider to be a state secret. Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, International Press Institute (IPI), condemns the recent vio- know about new media techniques focusing on the Universal Periodical Grants for cultural journalists motivation letter together with your Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia, lent attacks on sports journalists in Romania. and tools - including blogs, Review. The journalist will get an CV to officeŸccmr-bg.org SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic expressed concern Albania, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and Bulgaria. SEEMO pub- about these recent legal developments in Moldova. He em- lishes this book annually in cooperation with its partners, the According to information before SEEMO, sports editor Ionel podcasts, video, social networks, opportunity to cover the Council for The aim of this programme is Application forms available at: phasized that „a free and independent media is a crucial Central European Initiative (CEI), the Austrian Federal Ministry Lutan, working for the newspaper Monitorul de Prahova, was RSS feeds, online promotion, their respective media. The workshop promoting the Romanian cultural www.ccmr-bg.org component of a modern democratic society“ and that „it is for European and International Affairs, and the ERSTE physically and verbally attacked by Stefan Chitu, president of Foundation. consists of briefings and interactions phenomenon in the foreign media. (Source: Centre for Civil-Military Relations) important to ensure a pluralist media environment, since it Twitter, and much more. contributes to an educated and informed public.“ Continuited on page 98

96 deScripto deScripto 97 RECENT SEEMO PROTESTS AND PRESS RELEASES RECENT SEEMO PROTESTS AND PRESS RELEASES Continuited from page 97 **** Commenting on the proposed amendments to the public **** **** **** broadcasting law, SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic the football club CSM FC Ploiesti and a member of the exec- SEEMO PROTEST MOLDOVA said, „It is essential that the legal framework governing pub- SEEMO PROTEST: MOLDOVA IPI/SEEMO Condemns Deadly Car Bomb Attack on SEEMO/IPI Concerned About the Potential for Further utive board of the Romanian Football Federation (FRF), on 2 lic service broadcasting ensures editorial independence and Publisher of NACIONAL Weekly in Croatia Violence against the Media in the Region August 2008. H.E. Zinaida Greceanii institutional autonomy. Before adopting the draft law, it Zinaida Greceanii Vienna, 24 October 2008 Vienna, 28 November 2008 Prime Minister would be important to take into account the relevant Prime Minister Journalists were again attacked on 6 September 2008, the Government of the Republic of Moldova European and international documents relating to public ser- Government of the Republic of Moldova The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a regional The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation day of the World Cup qualifying game between Romania and 1 Piata Marii Adunari Nationale vice broadcasting.“ 1 Piata Marii Adunari Nationale organisation of editors, media executives and leading journal- (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading jour- Lithuania in Cluj, Romania. Players of the Romanian national Casa Guvernului Casa Guvernului ists from South East Europe, and an affiliate of the International nalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of the International team threw stones at several media representatives and ver- Chisinau, Moldova **** Chisinau, Moldova Press Institute (IPI), strongly condemns the car bombing that Press Institute (IPI), is deeply concerned about a string of threats bally abused them. The incident happened after the FRF al- Fax: +373 22 242 696 Fax: +373 22 242 696 killed Ivo Pukanic, journalist and owner of the NCL Media Group issued against journalists in the region, rendered particularly omi- legedly incited football players to act aggressively against the SEEMO IPI PRESS RELEASE SLOVENIA in Zagreb, and Niko Franjic, marketing director of the weekly nous by violent attacks on journalists throughout 2008. media. H.E. Valentin Mejinschi Vienna, 8 October 2008 Valentin Mejinschi newspaper Nacional, which is published by NCL. Yesterday, Drago Hedl, a columnist for the Croatian Jutarnji list, Minister of Internal Affairs Minister of Internal Affairs received an SMS threatening to „massacre“ him, just as a parlia- SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic stated that in the last Government of the Republic of Moldova The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network Government of the Republic of Moldova According to information before SEEMO, Pukanic and Franjic ment member accused of war crimes was holding a press con- few years „sports journalists have frequently been victims of 1 Piata Marii Adunari Nationale of editors, media executives and leading journalists in over 1 Piata Marii Adunari Nationale were killed, and the two other Nacional employees injured, ference during which he singled out for criticism Hedl’s writings. violent attacks in South East Europe. The recent attacks in Casa Guvernului 120 countries, and its affiliate, the South East Europe Casa Guvernului at 6.20 pm on 23 October 2008, when a car bomb exploded in Romania are a worrying reminder that this problem needs to Chisinau, Moldova Media Organisation (SEEMO), condemns efforts by Chisinau, Moldova front of the offices of the NCL Media Group in the centre of Other threats included those made against Hrvoje Appelt, a be addressed urgently, so that media representatives are able Fax: +373 22 242 696 Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša to initiate criminal Fax: +373 22 242 696 the Croatian capital Zagreb. Croatian journalist for the Zagreb-based weekly Globus. On to report on sports events in a peaceful and non-violent en- proceedings against Finnish journalist Magnus Berglund 20 November 2008, Appelt found a device that turned out to vironment.“ Vienna, 2 October 2008 in Slovenia. Vienna, 11 October 2008 SEEMO views this bombing as one of the most serious attacks be a fake bomb under his car. Appelt has in the past pub- on press freedom in the past years, not just in Croatia, but in lished several articles about smuggling activities in Croatia. **** Your Excellencies, „This latest development represents yet another unneces- Your Excellencies, the entire South East European region. sarily aggressive attempt to redress the Finnish media’s han- Also on 20 November, a verbal threat was issued against edi- SEEMO PROTEST BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation dling of the Patria Affair,“ said IPI Director David Dadge. „We The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation Pukanic had in the past repeatedly informed SEEMO about tors of Story magazine by a Croatian football player. IPI/SEEMO Alarmed at Death Threats Against Media (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading call on Mr. Janša to drop the threat of criminal proceedings (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading threats he received, starting in 2002. On 9 April of this year, an According to sources from Story, the football player made his Representatives in Bosnia-Herzegovina journalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of the and to pursue his claim in a manner that supports freedom journalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of the unidentified assailant carrying a gun with a silencer approached threats during a visit to the magazine’s newsroom, where he Vienna, 30 September 2008 International Press Institute (IPI), wishes to express its con- of the press and editorial independence.“ International Press Institute (IPI), wishes to express its con- Pukanic on the street in front of his apartment, threatened to harassed Vladimir Milinovic, the editor of the magazine’s web- cern at the recent harassment of journalists working for the cern at the violence recently perpetrated against media rep- kill the journalist, and then shot at him from a distance of several page, as well as a photojournalist Tino Banic. The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation investigative newspaper Ziarul de Garda. According to information before IPI, on 7 October 2008, Mr. resentatives in Moldova. metres. Pukanic fortunately escaped injury at that time. These threats follow several physical attacks against journalists (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading Janša’s attorneys filed a request with the Slovenian state in Croatia during 2008, underscoring the seriousness of the risks journalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of the According to information before SEEMO, journalists from prosecutor’s office, seeking the initiation of criminal According to information before SEEMO, in the late evening of Pukanic started his career with the weekly Start and, beginning faced by the media in that country. The violence peaked with International Press Institute (IPI), is concerned about death the weekly investigative newspaper have suffered from charges against Berglund under sections I, II and III of 8 October 2008, Mihai Sambra, a cameraman for PRO TV, a tele- in 1991, worked for the weekly Globus. He was the co-founder, the 23 October murders of Ivo Pukanic, journalist and owner of threats against several media representative in Bosnia. continuous harassment by phone and e-mail since the pub- Article 171 of the penal code. These code provisions pe- vision station, was arrested by a police patrol in Chisinau. He in 1995, of the weekly Nacional. Pukanic was named journalist the NCL Media Group in Zagreb, and Niko Franjic, marketing di- lication of an article on 4 September 2008. The article dis- nalize assertions, circulated through the press, radio, tele- was detained, and beaten during the night. Sambra was re- of the year in Croatia in 1999, and received several other awards rector of the newspaper Nacional, which is published by NCL. According to information before SEEMO, several media rep- cussed Moldovan students’ misgivings about the fact that vision or other means of public information, which may leased the following morning, without receiving any explana- for investigative reporting, among other achievements. Over resentatives from eFM Studentski Radio, Radio Sarajevo, BH their personal data was given to the Security and cause „grave consequences“ for the defamed individual. tion for his arrest. He suffered trauma from the incident, and the years he built a media company with several regular publi- Threats have also been issued in Serbia. Vukasin Obradovic, Radio and the magazine Dani received death threat letters Information Service (SIS) by the Ministry of Education. The The maximum penalty imposed for such a violation is im- sustained a broken nose. Other PRO TV staff was reportedly al- cations, and last year also opened the NCL Journalism School. owner of the weekly Novine Vranjske, and his family, who live following media coverage of the „Queer Festival“, which was threats against the journalists included anonymous phone prisonment of one year. so intimidated by the police while reporting on a trial in Orhei in Vranja, Serbia, have received several threats during the last held in Sarajevo from 24-28 September 2008 and focused on calls and entries on the newspaper’s internet forum warn- during the morning of 8 October 2008. SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic condemned the few months. In one incident, an unknown person warned the issues of identity, sexuality and human rights. ing Ziarul de Garda’s staff that they should stop discussing The charges stem from the 1 September 2008 broadcast of a killings in the strongest possible terms, noting that he was Obdradovic’s daughter that her father would be killed within the SIS in their articles. segment entitled „The Truth about Patria“, by Finnish public SEEMO calls on Your Excellencies to initiate an immediate in- „alarmed about this heinous crime.“ He emphasized that ten days. Obradovic has been the target of numerous death Commenting on this incident, SEEMO Secretary General broadcaster YLE, which alleged that members of the vestigation into these incidents, and to send a strong signal many Croatian journalists were attacked or seriously threat- threats during the past years. Oliver Vujovic state „It is unacceptable that media represen- SEEMO is deeply concerned about this intimidation of jour- Slovenian government, including Mr. Janša, accepted bribes that such violence against the media will not be tolerated. ened during the past year, and that Croatian authorities had Also in Serbia, Slavko Savic and Cedomir Savic of RTV tatives fall victim to intimidation and harassment simply for nalists and calls on Your Excellencies to initiate an immediate from the Finnish defence contractor Patria. The allegations not yet found those responsible. He said this made it partic- Kursumlija were threatened by a group of local politicians doing their jobs.“ He further said that „a free media, educat- investigation into this case. We further urge Your Excellencies have been vehemently denied by Mr. Janša. Berglund, a jour- We thank you for your attention. ularly important for „Croatian authorities to initiate a swift and five army reservists. The men, who were unhappy about ing the public and raising awareness of diversity, is an im- to do everything in your power to create a safe media envi- nalist for YLE, authored the report. and transparent investigation into the incident, and to bring a particular report aired on the station, entered RTV portant benchmark for a modern democratic society.“ ronment and to prevent incidents like this one from occur- Yours sincerely, those responsible to justice.“ Kursumlija’s premises during the evening and threatened to ring in the future. Last month, the Slovenian government used diplomatic chan- Oliver Vujovic murder Savic, the station’s editor. **** nels to exert pressure on the Finnish government in response SEEMO Secretary General November 2008 We thank you for your attention. to the broadcast, sending a diplomatic note to the Finnish Harassment against journalists also continues to come in other forms. Cristina Dumitrescu, a Romanian journalist for Radio October 2008 Embassy in Slovenia warning that the documentary „could **** SEEMO / IPI PRESS RELEASE GREECE Yours sincerely, shake mutual confidence between the two states“. (See the Vienna, 3 November 2008 Romania, the country’s national public radio broadcaster, was in- SEEMO PRESS RELEASE: MONTENEGRO Oliver Vujovic IPI 11 September statement: „IPI Concerned at Slovenian IPI/SEEMO Expresses Its Concern at the Recent formed by telephone that the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of IPI/SEEMO Expresses Concern over Hostile Media SEEMO Secretary General Government’s Use of Diplomatic Pressure in Response to Detainment of Journalists in Greece The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation Moldova had declined to issue her an accreditation card. She ap- Environment in Montenegro Finnish Media’s Handling of Patria Bribery Affair“ at Vienna, 15 October 2008 (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading plied for accreditation, which is necessary to work in the Republic of Moldova, on 13 October, when she arrived in Chisinau. SEEMO Vienna, 1 October 2008 **** (http://www.freemedia.at/cms/ipi/statements_detail.html?ct journalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of the xid=CH0055&docid=CMS1221125917435) The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation International Press Institute (IPI), condemns the assault on condemns this decision, which comes after several other jour- The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation SEEMO PRESS RELEASE: MONTENEGRO (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading jour- Makis Nodaros, a local journalist for several media in the re- nalists working for Romanian media faced denials and delays when seeking accreditation to be able to work in Moldova. (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading SEEMO/IPI Expresses Concern at Proposed **** nalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of the International gion of Ilia (also known as Ileía or Elia ) on the Peloponnesian journalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of the Amendments to the Public Service Broadcasting Law of Press Institute (IPI), is alarmed at recent restrictions on reporters’ Peninsula of Greece SEEMO is concerned that these developments, which further International Press Institute (IPI), is concerned about recent Montenegro SEEMO PRESS RELEASE: SERBIA ability to freely carry out their work in Greece. tarnish the region’s press freedom record, could lead to further incidents concerning the media in Montenegro. Vienna, 3 October 2008 SEEMO/IPI Voices Support for Amendments Proposed to According to information before SEEMO, Nodaros was beat- violence against the media. It urges the relevant authorities to the Draft Law on Personal Data Protection in Serbia According to information before SEEMO, four journalists from en by two unidentified men at 11 am on 23 October 2008 in take seriously the potential risks these incidents represent. According to information before SEEMO, on 21 September, a The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation Vienna, 9 October 2008 the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia/Republic of his home town of Lechaina (also known as Lechena or demonstration by supporters of the Montenegrin and the (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and lead- Macedonia, Goran Momiroski of A1 TV, Meri Jordanovska of Lehena). The men first asked the journalist if he was Makis December 2008 Serbian Orthodox Churches in the region of Niksic was bro- ing journalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation Nova Makedonija newspaper, and two other crew members Nodaros before beating him and attempting to destroy his ken up by the police, who prevented reporters from taking the International Press Institute (IPI), is concerned at sever- (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading of A1 TV, were arrested in the afternoon of 13 October 2008 laptop. The attackers also stole his mobile phone. Nodaros SEEMO&IPI PRESS RELEASE CROATIA photographs of the incident. The police also confiscated cam- al proposed amendments to the Public Service journalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of the by Greek authorities. The journalists had intended to cover a was taken to hospital, treated for injuries to the head, arms Vienna, 19 December 2008 eras and other equipment belonging to the journalists from Broadcasting Law of Montenegro. Although the draft International Press Institute (IPI), voices its support for pro- protest against a disputed army training site and gunfire ex- and legs, and then released. the Belgrade-based newspaper Vecernje novosti and the amendments are generally in line with international stan- posed amendments forwarded to the Serbian National ercises by the Greek Army in the village of Lofi, near the The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation Podgorica-based Vijesti and Republika. The police later dards on public broadcasting, a number of provisions are Parliament on 18 September 2008, altering the Draft Law on Greek-Macedonian border. In the past, Nodaros, who works for the Athens-based daily (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading claimed it was not possible to identify the journalists in the problematic. Personal Data Protection. Eleftherotypia and the local daily Imera, as well as for the radio journalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of the crowd, although their press badges were clearly displayed. Despite carrying valid press cards and visas for Greece, the me- stations Radio Gamma and Ionian FM and the television sta- International Press Institute (IPI), is concerned about the con- The confiscated equipment was later returned, although Radio Televizija Crna Gora (Radio and Television of SEEMO particularly welcomes the proposed amendment to dia representatives were detained because they did not have a tion Teletime, has been the target of several defamation ac- tinuous pressure exerted on Denis Latin, editor and host of some pictures were erased from the cameras. Montenegro) (RTCG) should be able to decide more freely remove section 2 of Article 45, which restricts the role of the special filming license and requested to hand over the materi- tions. On February 2006, he appeared before a court to face the television programme, Latinica, by the management of over the use of its own budget, except from funds from the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance, who al they had gathered at the demonstration. After their release, a defamation charges stemming from his 11 September 2004 ar- the Croatian public broadcasting company HRT. At the same event, Miodrag Baletic, a representative of the state budget that are earmarked for certain functions, such generally acts on behalf of Serbia’s citizens. Under this Article, police escort strongly advised them not to talk to eye witness- ticle about the sexual exploitation of a minor. This was only one Montenegrin Orthodox Church, verbally attacked a corre- as minority-language programming. the Commissioner is prevented from scrutinizing information es of the protest and eventually escorted them to the border. in a series of trials against Nodaros since 1999 related to his in- According to information brought to the attention of SEEMO, spondent of the daily newspaper Dan, sources said. collected by State representatives for purposes of clarifying vestigative reports on corruption among local authorities. HRT prohibited Mr. Latin from inviting an investigative jour- The procedure for appointing members of the governing whether such information was appropriately collected if SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic voiced his concern over nalist on his show. After expressing his disapproval of the de- Commenting on these incidents, SEEMO Secretary General RTCG Council is problematic, as it does not ensure the inde- State representatives have classified this information as im- this clear infringement of the free movement and freedom of Nodaros recently published several articles about corruption cision, Mr. Latin lost an exclusive contract as editor of the pro- Oliver Vujovic said, „It is intolerable that journalists are pre- pendence of the public service broadcaster. Candidates for portant for national security. Such a restriction on the expression of journalists and hoped the Greek authorities will involving a local politician and the mismanagement of relief gramme and was prohibited from making appearances in sev- vented from performing their professional duties.“ He went the RTCG Council are nominated by various institutions, in- Commissioner’s oversight capabilities potentially facilitates adopt strong measures against such interference with media efforts for victims of the Greek forest fires in 2007, which de- eral other radio and TV programmes in Croatia. on to say that „this incident demonstrates that Montenegrin cluding academic bodies, NGOs, sport organisations, and illegal and uncontrolled activities by State representatives, efforts to report on a story of public interest. stroyed parts of the Peloponnesian peninsula. SEEMO has reported about the pressures exerted on Latin in journalists continue to operate in an often hostile environ- unions, but Parliament has the final say in deciding the can- including against journalists. the past. Commenting on this latest incident, Oliver Vujovic, ment“ and recalled the unsolved murder in 2004 of Dusan didate for each position. Since Parliament is responsible for Speaking about the assault on Nodaros, SEEMO Secretary SEEMO Secretary General, said that HRT’s actions were an un- Jovanovic, publisher and editor-in-chief of Dan, as well as sev- an important decision that could be influenced by party af- SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic lauded the pro- General Oliver Vujovic said, „SEEMO views this attack as an ap- due interference in the editorial process. SEEMO regards such eral other unsolved attacks against journalists during the past filiation, mechanisms that ensure transparency and fairness, posed changes, emphasizing that,“journalists in Serbia are palling example of how journalists are being targeted for speak- interference as an attack not only on Croatian investigative year. such as open hearings and the possibility for members of the particularly vulnerable to State efforts to access their per- ing out about problems in local society. SEEMO joins Nodaro’s journalism, but on freedom of speech in general, he said. public to voice their opinion, are essential. sonal data for inappropriate purposes, and so we welcome colleagues in Greece in calling for a full investigation into this this effort to ensure that they are better protected from such incident to find out not only who attacked the journalist, but al- SEEMO hopes the issue will be resolved to the satisfaction of activity.“ so the identities of those who ordered the attack.“ both sides.

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