Demostat Executive Director: RTS Marginalized Student Movement in Dnevnik 2, Dominant Pro-Government Tone

Tamara Bajčić, executive director of Demostat, stated that RTS's central news program, Dnevnik 2, presents a selective view of Serbia's political and social reality, characterized by a pro-government bias and the marginalization of the student movement. Bajčić emphasized that RTS, as a public service funded by taxpayers, has a national frequency and must adhere to its legal obligations, which she argues it is currently failing to meet by not delivering quality media content.

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We would remind viewers that RTS, as a public media service, has a national frequency and must adhere to the obligations from the Law on Public Media Service. It is funded by the money of all of us. This is important because our monitoring has shown that we, as citizens, are still, unfortunately, not receiving quality media content for that money.

Demostat's monitoring revealed a significant imbalance in reporting, with a strong emphasis on content that favorably portrays the activities of state officials and institutions. Out of 307 analyzed segments, 132 were classified as pro-government. Critically, the analysis found no segments that offered a critical perspective on the work of either national or local authorities during the observed periods.

Bajčić further elaborated that this pro-government tone permeates all types of reporting, including foreign policy. She noted a distinct lack of criticism and a form of censorship regarding opposition parties, who, despite being represented in parliament, are largely absent from RTS's coverage. Even in domestic policy reporting, the program allegedly gives limited attention to both the ruling party and opposition parties.

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The pro-government tone is evident in all types of reporting. What is the biggest problem in reporting on foreign policy is that the reporting is predominantly pro-government. The absence of any criticism is visible, as well as a form of censorship for opposition parties that are in parliament. They are not present; we could say they do not appear, even though they are part of parliament.

The monitoring aimed to provide the public with insight into RTS's journalistic practices, especially pertinent given the current absence of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM). Bajčić added that Demostat believes the previous REM composition also failed to adequately address issues concerning the public service broadcaster's reporting. The delay in forming a new REM, a requirement for Serbia's European agenda, underscores the need for such independent monitoring.

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The goal of this monitoring was to give the public insight into the real situation at RTS, this time the focus was on Dnevnik 2. In the absence of REM, which has not yet been formed, and which is one of Serbia's obligations under the European agenda, in the absence of any REM, we tried to provide insight into the real situation.