FINAL REPORT ON EDITORIAL CULTURES: SERBIA National coordinator: Igor Z. Zagar, Educational Research Institute & University of Primorska Researcher: Katja Zeljan EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE, Ljubljana, Slovenia Project report prepared for EMEDIATE, WP3 Project title: EMEDIATE: Media and Ethics of a European Public Sphere from the Treaty of Rome to the ‘War on Terror’. EU Sixth Framework Program, Specific Targeted Research Project, Priority 7: Citizens and Governance in a Knowledge-Based Society. Project no. CIT2-CT-2004- 506027. 1 CONTENTS: Introduction (3) Literature review General description of the literature review (6) Literature review (6) Interviews Analysis of interviews (17) Conclusions (22) Annotated bibliography Annotated bibliography with short abstracts (24) Books (24) PhD dissertations (45) Articles (45) 2 1. INTRODUCTION Serbs settled in the Balkan Peninsula in the 6th and 7th century and accepted Christianity in the 9th century. Civil strife and constant warfare with their Bulgarian, Greek, and Magyar neighbors characterized the early history of the Serbs. Raska, the first organized Serbian state, was probably founded in the early 9th century in the Bosnian mountains; it steadily expanded from the 10th century. Bulgaria, meanwhile, challenged Byzantium for sovereignty over the Serbs. Stephen Nemanja, whom the Byzantine emperor recognized as grand zhupan of Serbia in 1159, founded a dynasty that ruled for two centuries. His son and successor assumed the title king of all Serbia in 1217 with the pope's blessing. However, the king's brother, Sava, archbishop of Serbia, succeeded in having papal influence eliminated from the kingdom; in 1219 he won recognition from the patriarch of Constantinople of an autocephalous Serbian Orthodox Church. The Serbian kingdom was at first overshadowed by the rapid rise of the Bulgarian empire under Ivan II. (Ivan Asen), but under Stephen Dusan who became king in 1331 and czar in 1346, Serbia became the most powerful empire in the Balkan Peninsula, much of which it absorbed. Its might contrasted sharply with the decadent Byzantine Empire. Even among European states, Serbia was noted for its high economic, social, and cultural level. After Stephen's death in 1355, however, the empire decayed and fell victim to the onslaught of the Ottoman Turks. In 16th century, Serbia became a Turkish province, with its pashas residing in Belgrade. Turkish reverses in 17th- and 18th-century wars against Austria and Russia 3 revived Serbian hopes for independence. The liberation struggle began in 1804, when Karageorge (“Black George,” Serbian Karadjordje) led a rebellion that eventually freed the pashalik (province) of Belgrade from the Turks. Russia, also at war with Turkey, then formed an alliance with Serbia. The Treaty of Bucharest (1812) forced Turkish recognition of Serbian autonomy, but Russian preoccupation with Napoleon's invasion allowed the Turks to renew their tyranny in Serbia. A revolt flared in 1815 under Milos Obrenovic, who in 1817 procured the assassination of his rival Karageorge and became prince of Serbia. Much of Serbia's ensuing history revolved around the bloody feud between the Karadjordje and Obrenovic families. With the accession of Peter I. in 1903, the Karadjordjevic dynasty entrenched itself. In 1912 the league declared war on and defeated Turkey, but the allies could not agree on division of the spoils. Dissatisfied with its failure to secure a major portion of Macedonia in the first of the Balkan Wars, Serbia in 1913 turned against and defeated its former Bulgarian ally in the Second Balkan War. Serbia's victory made it the foremost Slavic power in the Balkans but greatly increased tensions with Austro- Hungarian empire. When a Serbian nationalist assassinated Austrian archduke Francis Ferdinand in 1914, the empire declared war on Serbia, thus precipitating World War I. The Serbian army fought bravely, but in 1915, when Bulgaria joined the Central Powers and Germany reinforced the Austrians, Serbia was overrun. The Serbian troops and government were evacuated to Kérkira (Corfu), where in 1917 Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian, and Montenegrin representatives proclaimed the union of South Slavs. In 1918 the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, headed by Peter I of Serbia, officially came into existence. After that, the history of Serbia is essentially that of Yugoslavia. After the conquest and dismemberment of Yugoslavia in World War II, German occupation forces set up a puppet government in a much-diminished Serbia. The Serbs waged guerrilla warfare under the leadership of Draza Mihajlovic. Later, Marshal Tito and his pro-Communist partisans attracted the majority of the Yugoslav resistance fighters. The Yugoslav constitution of 1946 stripped Serbia of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro, which became constituent republics. In 4 the postwar years, Serbia had one of the more conservative Yugoslav Communist governments. The desire of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo for independence or for union with Albania resulted in periodic unrest. In 1986, Slobodan Milosevic became leader of the Serbian Communist party. He and his supporters revived the vision of a “Greater Serbia,” comprising Serbia proper, Vojvodina, Kosovo, and the Serb-populated parts of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In May 1991, Serbia blocked the ascension of Croatian leader Stipe Mesic to the head of the collective presidency, triggering the breakaway of Slovenia and Croatia and the end of the old Yugoslavia. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, established in 1992 by Serbia and Montenegro, was thoroughly dominated by Serbia, a situation that led by the end of the decade to a strong movement in Montenegro for increased autonomy or independence. Serbia was the main supplier of arms to ethnic Serbs fighting to expand their control of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In response, the United Nations imposed economic sanctions on Yugoslavia, which were eased in September 1994, after Yugoslavia announced it was cutting off aid to the Bosnian Serbs, and in late 1995 Serbia signed a peace accord with Bosnia and Croatia. Milan Milutinovic was elected president of Serbia in 1997, but most of the power remained in the hands of Milosevic, who became president of Yugoslavia (1997–2000). The Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) won early parliamentary elections held (December 2000) after Milosevic lost the Yugoslavian presidency to Vojislav Kostunica, and formed the first noncommunist, nonsocialist government in Serbia in 55 years. The DOS pledged to create a market economy and to dismantle the authoritarian state Milosevic had established, and subsequently (2001) turned the former president over to the UN war crimes tribunal at the Hague. In March 2002, a pact designed to preserve the federation was signed by Serbian and Montenegrin representatives. The pact, which was approved by the federal and republics' parliaments, gave both republics greater autonomy while maintaining a shared foreign and defense policy. The federation officially became the “state union” of Serbia and Montenegro in February 2003. 5 2. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE LITERATURE REVIEW Collection of literature regarding editorial policies of Serbian media presented the first phase of a survey. Serbian bibliographic system COBISS/OPAC and available services were accessed for this purpose. Many valuable sources and literature were found for Serbian case. Of course, not all sources were accessed on the Internet. A lot of literature was found during a visit to Serbia, especially in the National Library of Serbia. Books, articles and essays on editorial policies of Serbian media mainly refer to the period of the last decade and especially to the period after October 5, 2000 corresponding with national 'Resistance'. Some of the literature and magazines were generously donated by Veran Matic, editor-in-chief and responsible editor of B92, Media Centre in Belgrade and Independent Association of Serbian Journalists (NUNS). 10 books, 1 PhD dissertation and 39 articles matching this issue were found (see additional attachment with short abstracts on selected literature). The usability of matching results for this project’s goal is of great importance as it provides essential information on broader social and political contexts in which Serbian media operated and still operate. 3. LITERATURE REVIEW: NEWS-MAKING CULTURES It is almost impossible to consider editorial policies of Serbian media without understanding wider social and political contexts in which they operated in the last decades. According to Bjelica (1997) the period immediately after the Second World 6 War was significantly characterized by Yugoslav Communist Party raising its power and influence in the former Yugoslav state. Press was considered as an agitator, a mean of propaganda and an organizer of worker’s movement. At that time a system of public informing was formed, mainly based on the principles of bolshevist theory of the press. According to this theory, press was not only obliged to inform, but it also had to fight for the Communist party’s goals and programmes, which it had to serve. In practice this meant that editorial staff got concrete missions and directives, mainly connected with agitation and propaganda. Press was, in other words, an agitator and propagandist of the Communist party and although Yugoslav political system experienced different reforms and changes in the second half of the 20th century, agitating model of public informing has remained practically unchanged.