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From Terrorists to Traitors: Authorities' Rhetoric 'Threatens Journalists Like in the 90s'
๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ธ Serbia /Culture & Society

From Terrorists to Traitors: Authorities' Rhetoric 'Threatens Journalists Like in the 90s'

From N1 Serbia · (37m ago) Serbian Critical tone

Translated from Serbian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • Pro-government tabloids and officials in Serbia have systematically targeted journalists and critical media outlets with a campaign of dehumanization and accusations of terrorism and treason.
  • An analysis by the Slavko ฤ†uruvija Foundation found a synchronized pattern of attacks, with state officials adopting the same rhetoric used by tabloids against journalists.
  • The campaign aims to erode trust in professional media, silence criticism of the government, and suppress freedom of expression, echoing tactics used in the 1990s.

The Slavko ฤ†uruvija Foundation's latest analysis paints a grim picture of the media landscape in Serbia, revealing a coordinated and systematic assault on independent journalism. For months, as citizens took to the streets in protest, the narrative pushed by pro-government tabloids and echoed by state officials has been one of vilification, labeling critical journalists as terrorists, traitors, and foreign agents.

What the analysis showed is the synchronization of regime media and the authorities; it's no longer just rhetoric that tabloids use to insult and dehumanize journalists, but it's now something institutionalized, something state officials adopt and it's their vocabulary.

โ€” Danica ฤokiฤ‡Author of the analysis from the Slavko ฤ†uruvija Foundation, explaining the coordinated nature of media attacks.

This isn't merely heated rhetoric; it's a calculated strategy to delegitimize and intimidate. The foundation's findings highlight a disturbing synchronicity between the government's pronouncements and the tabloid headlines, demonstrating an institutionalized effort to silence dissent. Phrases like "pure terrorism" and "terrorist propaganda" are no longer confined to the fringes but are now part of the official lexicon used by the highest echelons of power.

What Nova S and N1 are doing is pure terrorism.

โ€” Aleksandar Vuฤiฤ‡President of Serbia, labeling critical media outlets as terrorists.

The parallels drawn to the 1990s are particularly chilling. Back then, journalists critical of the regime were similarly branded as foreign mercenaries and traitors, a smear campaign that tragically preceded the assassination of Slavko ฤ†uruvija himself. This historical echo serves as a stark warning of the potential consequences of such relentless attacks on the press.

For a blockading, terrorist, fascist television, I will not talk.

โ€” Gavrilo Kovaฤeviฤ‡President of the municipality of Zemun, referring to a critical television channel.

As Slobodan Georgiev of TV Nova aptly puts it, journalists are facing a wall, with the clear intention not to make them disappear, but to force them into silence. This systematic discrediting aims to dismantle public trust in professional media and extinguish the vital flame of free expression in Serbia. The goal is clear: to ensure that no critical voice can challenge the status quo.

Financing of Nova S, N1, Radar, and other propaganda terrorist garbage.

โ€” Milenko JovanovHead of the SNS parliamentary group in the Serbian Parliament, accusing media of receiving illicit funding.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by N1 Serbia in Serbian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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