January 2025.
As part of the program Regional Initiative to Combat Disinformation “Western Balkans Anti-Disinformation Hub: Exposing Malign Influences through Watchdog Journalism”, we present you a new monthly analyses of fake news and disinformation narratives.
Criticism of public broadcasting service reporting – Radio Television of Serbia – on student and civilian protests
Mass civil and student protests in Serbia have been ongoing for over three months. The collapse of the shelter at the Railway Station in Novi Sad on November 1st, which resulted in the death of 15 people, sparked the largest wave of protests in Serbia’s modern history. The student occupation of faculties at all state universities, which began in early December, gave a new momentum to the protests, with the student population effectively at the forefront of a broader societal wave of discontent. The socio-political situation in Serbia has changed significantly, and the crisis is deepening, presenting the greatest challenge to Serbian authorities in the past decade.
Throughout January, several large protest gatherings were organized in the capital. A series of incidents that occurred during symbolic 15-minute traffic blockades, as well as the increasingly aggressive rhetoric of the authorities and the pro-government media campaign against students and citizens participating in the protests, only further fueled dissatisfaction.
After the large protest on January 17th in front of the public media service building – Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) – which, according to the Public Gatherings Archive, was attended by around 55,000 people, a so-called general strike followed on January 24th. This was a combination of strikes, boycotts, and unprecedented protests across Serbia. On January 27th, students from the University of Belgrade organized a 24-hour blockade of a key traffic junction. The Autokomanda blockade was the first in a series of large, multi-hour blockade actions in the largest cities in Serbia. Two weeks later, on February 1st, three months after the tragedy in Novi Sad, a large student-civilian blockade rally was organized in that city.
The intense campaign by pro-government media and tabloids against the student-civilian protests, along with the promotion of previously established narratives, has been analyzed in the previous period. However, an equally important and open question remains regarding the reporting of the public media service – RTS. Radio Television of Serbia has often been the target of harsh criticism from various parts of the public, including opposition parties, civil society, independent media, citizens’ associations, and, in the context of the ongoing protests, the student community itself.
Dissatisfaction with RTS’s actions and its failure to report or biased reporting on the central social and political issue in Serbia – the student-civilian protests – progressively increased throughout January. Since the beginning of the protests and student blockades, three mass gatherings were organized right in front of the Radio Television of Serbia building. It was emphasized that “since the beginning of the blockades, students have called on RTS to report objectively and thoroughly on their demands and activities.” However, sources from various independent media outlets unequivocally pointed out that “it took Radio Television of Serbia three months to go from being feared by students for unscrupulously lying and deceiving the public it finances, to finally publishing its first fair report on the protests.”
In the informational programming of RTS during January, in addition to very limited reporting on the students’ demands and protest activities, there was frequent transmission of statements accusing “students of being foreign mercenaries, and actors supporting them were equated with Hamas terrorists.” As reported by other media outlets, “the problem with RTS’s reporting for students is not just the information it omits, but also what it airs… the equating of actors with terrorists, a topic that took up significant space in RTS’s news programming on January 14th… incites even greater division among the citizens.”
It is thus illustrative of the statement by informal student groups in blockade, which on January 15th emphasized that “our right to know everything (RTS slogan) seems to be our right not to know anything.” The justification for the criticisms of the public service was demonstrated just one day before the January 17th protest in front of Radio Television of Serbia, as RTS failed to broadcast the main news of the day – the serious injury of a young woman participating in a peaceful student blockade – as the central news story for most of the day. This was only covered in the evening news, after citizens across the country took to the streets in large numbers.
The Cenzolovka portal, in an article with the suggestive title “RTS at a Crossroads: Service to the Citizens or Vučić,” reports that “dissatisfaction among students and citizens… was evident even live during protests, when, on several occasions, part of the demonstrators booed, made noise, and obstructed the live broadcast of RTS reporters.” This situation occurred during the aforementioned protest in front of the RTS building on January 17th. According to media reports, for the first time, “some employees, during a live broadcast on Dnevnik 2, went out onto the terrace and displayed a banner reading ‘RTS Workers are with the Students.’”
Several unions of RTS employees, on January 22nd, submitted a request to the chief editor due to “inaccurate reporting on the student protests… and the inability to make the student voice heard on RTS programs.” Their statement emphasized that “reports on student protests… should be accurate and aired in all news programs, especially in a longer format on the most-watched show, Dnevnik 2.” In support of the students, these unions, a few days later, also submitted an official request for the dismissal of the chief editor of the RTS news program.
However, no significant changes in reporting were observed in the following days of January. On the contrary, the absence of adequate media space for announcing and explaining the largest protest gathering and the 24-hour traffic blockade in Belgrade up until that point was sharply criticized. In the students’ statement, it was highlighted that “RTS, through its previous actions, has shown that it does not consider student blockades… worth reporting, to the point that it did not announce the action to block the most important traffic junction in the capital… thus, we conclude… information is not being conveyed to the citizens of this country.” During the protest on January 27th, RTS reporters were present at Autokomanda, but some citizens and students hindered and blocked the live broadcast, which various critical-oriented media outlets assessed as “a refusal of a superficial report.”
According to analysts, more concrete signs of a shift in RTS’s approach were noticed only with reporting on student activities during the blockade of three bridges in Novi Sad on February 1st, marking three months since the tragedy at the railway station. “The public service increased the number of reports on student protests and their duration, and a blog about the march to Novi Sad and the bridge blockade was published on their website,” independent weekly Vreme noted. However, even this limited “shift” was met with condemnation from the ruling party. The Serbian Progressive Party issued a statement claiming that “the reports are unprofessional and scandalous, and that RTS violated all rules and values of impartial journalism.”
Pro-government media and tabloids, meanwhile, took every opportunity during January to harshly and unfoundedly criticize and stigmatize even sporadic acts of support from RTS employees towards students or the slightly increased media space dedicated to the student-civilian protests. The most widely circulated pro-government tabloid Informer reported that one of the RTS editors, Olivera Kovačević, “supported the students who, in collaboration with the opposition, are trying to overthrow the state… practically sending a message that she supports the attempt of a color revolution in Serbia.”
Alo followed up with sensationalist articles claiming that “Olivera Kovačević supported opposition protests and joined the destruction effort,” and that “RTS is just like N1 and that the public service should report as the opposition likes,” highlighting “contradictions in the public service’s reporting.” Večernje Novosti joined the pro-regime media mini-campaign, emphasizing the problematic reporting by RTS, which allegedly “sides with those who want to overthrow the order in the country,” and stating that “RTS is in a total campaign against the state.”
It is evident that Radio Television of Serbia, through its failure to report or its biased reporting on the student-civilian protests, has found itself under completely justified criticism. Under public pressure, some mild changes were made at the end of January and the beginning of February. However, RTS’s actions continue to provoke dissatisfaction among the wider public, which led students to call for a boycott of Radio Television of Serbia’s programming in February. In early March, a 24-hour blockade of the public media service was organized, with the immediate trigger being insults made by an RTS host directed at students and citizens.
Author: Igor Mirosavljević