How do people in Serbia inform themselves?

Where do citizens of Serbia receive information from? How do they gain information they need and how do they form their own opinion and their viewpoints? By reading newspapers? Or watching TV? Perhaps social networks are more influential? Or cafes and the rumors generated there?

Do they believe in the information they get? Maybe they receive more information than they believe in? I think this is the case.
But if the level of confidence in the media is low, and if people are convinced that they are controlled by the political and financial elite, how are the deep and seemingly unchangeable political opinions being formed? Most likely, it is a combination of mutual attraction and a selective choice regarding certain information, the media that publish them, and the individuals who consume them.

Media moguls and their stars often claim that people like and demand the things that are published or broadcast, which is an old and cheap populist trap used to justify the lack of rules and standards in the public and political scene. It is difficult to find a single cause of this situation, even in the realm of politics. It seems that a lot of various factors have been in play: the legal regulations and the definition of the media; the issue of non-transparent media ownership; the lack of a serious national policy with regard to the media; the physical, social, and existential dangers threatening most of the journalists; the arrogant attitude of local self-governments towards the media; the legal regulations that jeopardize the freedom of expression; inherited prejudices against journalists...

Being a journalist is certainly not prestigious or attractive anymore. Today, a decreasing number of young people is interested in studying journalism. Even if they do study journalism, most of them dream about jobs in the PR, not in editorial offices. Apathy is evident in most of the media outlets. The feeling that nothing can be done to make a difference and, at the same time, that journalists participate in the creation of an unprofessional and vulgar media system, are destroying the journalistic profession. An increasing number of professional journalists is leaving their profession.

At the same time, Serbia has seen the largest increase – within the region – in the number of people using various social networks (of course, Facebook is the most popular). It is estimated that more than two and a half million people are members of social networks! The number of computers in use has also significantly increased. These data justify an optimistic outlook and the hope that the need for information and communication is still very much present and unharmed by the general economic crisis, especially the one that has hit the media. However, the things do not look so bright if we analyze the information content and the form of communication in social networks, as well as forums and comments posted on major media web sites and portals. The media situation has been reflected, in its worst form, in the social networks themselves. This means that so-called "garbage" information and trivial contents form the core of the content on social networks. Apart from the common and useful usage aimed at finding "long-lost" friends and acquaintances, this form of communication largely reminds of the discourse in today's reality shows (Big Brother, The Farm, The Castle...). The need to escape anonymity but still remain anonymous, like in call-in shows on radio and TV, is a great challenge to many, especially young people. Without a responsible and professional moderation of social networks and introduction of certain rules to protect people's dignity and privacy and prevent hate speech, social networks are increasingly becoming a new generator of political extremism, trivialities and vulgarization of Serbian society.

Unfortunately, the current government (as much as the previous ones) is consciously or unconsciously contributing to this phenomenon. The reason is very simple: the lack of understanding of new technologies and the internet. Aiming only to increase the number of internet users, computers are being donated to schools, the availability of ADSL is continually increasing, as well as its bandwidth... but the content is completely neglected. Instead of investing even a small share of the money allocated to digitalization and the internet to create a meaningful and decent content, the state, the telecom providers and ISPs have not done anything in this regard. What do we mean by this? We are talking about educational, lexicographic or informative content, about online archives, dictionaries and encyclopedias that already exist on the internet but need to be promoted and supported, sometimes even moderated, as a form of information service. BBC in the UK is a good example because the content offered by the internet is a part of the public service that has its collective and a fully private, individual use. Finland is the first country in the world that has included the right to availability and usage of the internet in fundamental human rights, related to the citizens' right to receive timely and full information. This is an obvious example of a well-designed and wise official policy in this area.

There are no easy and fast solutions that can be applied to the media scene in Serbia. Unfortunately, it still largely depends on the political situation and political challenges. Major foreign companies that have entered Serbian market and captured a large share of it have failed to introduce new standards and professional principles that would have made journalism a dignified and reputable profession. In fact, it seems that these companies have been extremely successful in adapting to Serbian political arena. If these companies were to adhere to the principles and standards that are in force in their countries of origin, it is our firm belief that the situation would be much improved. However, Serbia is still a country in which rules and regulations can be easily changed and adapted to current circumstances and therefore there is no guarantee that any adopted strategy or agreement would be implemented. The same can be said of the media strategy. By the time it is prepared, many of the media outlets may be closed down.

Velimir Curgus Kazimir

About the authors

MC Newsletter, May 6, 2011