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BATTLE AGAINST TERRORISM IN DAILY PRESS IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA:
DIFFERENCES IN DOMESTIC POLITICAL FIELD
by Radenko Udovičić, Bosnia and Herzegovina
We
monitored the issue of international terrorism in two daily newspapers in
Bosnia-Herzegovina on October 8-24. Such a wide issue encompasses coverage of US
intervention in Afghanistan and overall international relations after September
11, the day of terrorist attacks against the United States. Bosnia-Herzegovina
also has a strong internal component regarding this issue, primarily due to the
fact that Bosniaks who are of Islamic faith make up a relative majority in the
population of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Although Western countries are denying this,
it nevertheless places this country in the spotlight. This is reinforced by the
fact that the United States accused this country of providing shelter for people
from Islamic countries who may even be linked to Osama bin Laden. Such a grave
accusation caused a real political shock in Bosnia-Herzegovina and resulted in a
wave of arrests of former Islamic volunteers who now live here. These events
were obviously reflected in newspapers, so it should not be surprising
that Bosnian dailies published the largest number of articles on the issue of
terrorism in the monitored period.
The
subject of monitoring were the highest circulation daily Dnevni Avaz,
seated in Sarajevo, and Nezavisne Novine, the highest circulation daily
in the Republika Srpska. The latter is very important because, although its seat
is in Banja Luka, it has a strong bureau in Sarajevo and covers events in the
whole of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Dnevni
Avaz: Supports arrests of Islamic citizens, insists on arrests of Karadzic
and Mladic
Dnevni
Avaz, as most news media in the world, pays a lot of attention to the
situation following terrorist attacks in the United States and military
intervention in Afghanistan. Different journalistic forms are used in reporting
on these issues depending on the segment reported on. For example, with regard
to coverage of the war in Afghanistan and overall world situation in connection
with this, the paper carried agency items from foreign sources almost 100
percent. However, with regard to reflections on Bosnia-Herzegovina, i.e.
coverage of how terrorism is combated inside the country, the paper’s own
articles are dominant, mostly in the form of reports, as well as interviews and
commentaries.
Here
are some statistical indicators to complete this first, so-called formalistic
part of the monitoring.
Dnevni
Avaz published 285 articles in the monitored period dealing with terrorism
and the situation in the world and the country resulting from the struggle
against terrorism. Of this number, the vast majority are agency items – as
many as 208. Also present is a form that we will call ‘combination’ (16),
which means a journalistic synthesis of information, mostly agency items, from
different sources. Although we cannot say so with certainty, these articles
appear to be smaller reports written by staff room journalists by combining
different, often opposing sources. There were 52 articles written by the
paper’s own journalists. Five press releases were carried, as well as four
advertisements paid by SFOR (international peacekeeping forces in
Bosnia-Herzegovina).
At
the top of the paper, meaning the first three pages, 44 items were published.
Practically not a day passed without some important event being announced on the
front page and developed inside the paper, sometimes already on the second page.
The concept of Dnevni Avaz is not to publish entire articles on the front
page, but only headlines and a several-sentence summary of the main event. That
is why we chose the ‘top consisting of the first three pages.’ Still, the
inside pages of the newspaper, with regard to our issue, were the most exploited
– 239 items. We noted only two articles on the last page, normally used for
human interest stories from the world.
As
we emphasized at the beginning, the very wide issue of terrorism coverage, in
the example of Dnevni Avaz, can be divided into two large categories. The
first, more numerous one, consists of coverage of attacks against Afghanistan
and world reactions and predictions with regard to the war. Anthrax may be
regarded as a sub-group of this category as a potential new world plague, whose
appearance is linked to terrorist attempts to hurt the United States and the
West. These issues, with the exception of the first day of intervention, were
featured in the middle part of the newspaper on world pages.
The
paper covered these events solely through agency items and foreign media reports
(which agencies also often carried) and a combination of different media sources.
In the monitored period the paper did not have any correspondents, for example
in Pakistan or some other territories related to the conflict. It did not have
‘live reports’ from the United States either, which is not true of other
Bosnian media who covered events there by hiring many journalists from the large
Bosnian diaspora. But, one must admit, this did not affect the quality of
describing the newly-arisen situation in the world. Dnevni Avaz, by
skillfully and timely using agency items, managed to describe the conflict and
portray what it is causing in the world. The paper carried everyday agency
reports on air strikes and their effects from Western sources, reactions from
the Western and Islamic worlds, as well as reactions from Afghanistan itself,
i.e. Al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden. This does not mean that the paper was
balancing between the warring factions by using sources from both sides. All
sources from most of the world were coming from just one side – the side
fighting terrorism. However, thanks to the fact that these sources, namely
numerous foreign agencies and media, were carrying Afghanistan Islamic Press
(AIP) and Al Jazeera reports, this created room for information not to be unison
and one-sided. Dnevni Avaz had a very good feeling for this. For example,
a White House request made to television stations on October 12 to stop
broadcasting bin Laden’s recorded messages was followed by reactions from Al
Jazeera that it will not do that and CNN that it accepts the request. Or, on
October 18 following an article in which President Bush calls for a long war
against the Taliban, the paper publishes the Taliban reaction calling for a long
jihad against the United States.
But
what is not fair is that Dnevni Avaz generally does not indicate agencies
that are used as sources of information. At the start of a news item there is no
line saying who the item originates from. True, the source is mentioned in some
news items inside the article, but this is not the case with most articles.
Still, even from these few articles, we will list the sources cited: CNN, BBC,
Voice of America, AP, Reuters, AIP, Al Jazeera…
Dnevni
Avaz published an impressive article written by British Prime Minister Tony
Blair, which the paper says was exclusively sent to it. The article was
obviously written with the intention of vividly explaining to Islamic countries
why they should support the fight against bin Laden. The fact that the article
was given to Dnevni Avaz shows that Britain sees some elements for
uneasiness among the Bosnian Muslims, partly generated by the presence of
mujahideen in this country, but it also indicates that Britain knows which
ethnic group the paper’s most faithful readers come from. Blair says clearly
in the article: ‘Throughout history, Islam has always been tolerant to other
religions. The Muslim world was a beacon of civilization when Europe was in the
dark ages. Let’s be clear. If we don’t stand up against Osama bin Laden and
his puppet regime in Kabul, he will try to overthrow other Muslim countries and
install regimes of fear, terror and intolerance. I believe that everyone, both
Muslims and non-Muslims, wants to live in peace, not under a threat of fear of
terrorism. That’s why we are working so hard now to achieve that.’
Interesting
and politically more significant is the segment of writing about reflections of
the current world situation on Bosnia-Herzegovina. Articles of this kind are
reserved generally for the first pages. The content of these articles shows a
strong, but not propagandistic, effort to topple the picture created in some
international community circles and Bosnia’s immediate neighborhood that
Bosnia-Herzegovina, that is to say its Bosniak part, has something to do with
terrorism. Articles objectively present all facts related to identification and
arrests of naturalized citizens from Islamic countries who, according to foreign
and domestic intelligence services, may be connected to different terrorist
networks in the world. In addition, prime space is used to present conclusions
made by state bodies and statements by senior officials who stress the necessity
of fighting international terrorism or announce concrete measures for these
activities. A lot of space is given to local and foreign political
representatives who present their views on the current situation in
Bosnia-Herzegovina from different angles. However, unlike coverage of the war
itself, in this segment we can find that a certain position is taken towards the
context that Bosnia-Herzegovina has found itself in, which, of course, is the
legitimate right of any newspaper. For example, in a commentary published on
October 9, the paper praises the incumbent central government for fully
supporting US intervention in Afghanistan. However, the author stresses that
Bosnia-Herzegovina’s central institutions, along with arresting potential
terrorists from the Middle East, must also arrest the two top indicted war
criminals – Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. We may say that this view was
present in different forms throughout the 15 monitored days. Emphasis was placed
on statements giving full support to the international struggle against
terrorism, but also regretting that the danger of war criminals who are still at
large in Bosnia was brushed aside. For example, on October 11 the paper
published on the front page a statement by Mark Wheeler, International Crisis
Group director, who says: ‘The greatest terrorist of all is still somewhere
around Foca or Han Pijesak,’ referring to Radovan Karadzic’s hideouts. A
characteristic opinion was also voiced by former Bosniak leader Alija
Izetbegovic on October 9, also on the front page. This is what he says about
allegations that he cooperated with the mujahideen: ‘I have never supported
terrorism or terrorists. I have said this many times long before September 11.
In my opinion, mujahideen cannot be equaled with terrorists.’
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Nezavisne Novine: Showdown with Izetbegovic
and Silajdzic
Nezavisne
Novine published 246 pieces in the monitored period on the current situation
regarding terrorism and the fight against it. Of course, agency items are in
majority – 180, followed by articles written using a combination of different
foreign sources – 20, and the paper’s own articles – 33, of which three
were commentaries and the rest reports. Two integral press releases were also
published, as well as 10 advertisements paid by SFOR (international forces in
Bosnia-Herzegovina) quoting statements made by Muslim leaders condemning
terrorism.
These
articles and items have an important place in the newspaper. Almost every day
the front page announces articles speaking about terrorism and the war in
Afghanistan. In the monitored period 47 articles were published on the first
three pages (including the front page), while 210 items were published in the
middle part of the newspaper – on world pages.
In
the case of Nezavisne Novine we can again make a global division of
articles into those speaking about the war (bombing) itself and its
international implications, including the appearance of anthrax, on one hand,
and those speaking about the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina in light of the new
situation in the world on the other. The majority of articles written by the
paper’s own journalists deals with this Bosnian segment, while agency items
mostly focus on world news.
As
with Dnevni Avaz, we can also commend Nezavisne Novine for good
usage of agency news and reports. The war, as well as everything else happening
in the world, is well covered. Readers have a chance to read about the
development of military operations, reactions from the pro-Western
anti-terrorist camp, as well as reactions from the Taliban regime. Of course, we
must underline once again that this balance is not a result of using sources
from the two opposing camps. It is a result of the fact that the vast majority
of foreign agencies and media are using Taliban sources and media close to the
regime – Afghanistan Islamic Press and Al Jazeera – which provides an
apparent balance. Dnevne Nezavisne Novine indicates the source of
information in articles and news items much more often than Dnevni Avaz.
Local agencies carrying foreign services such as Beta, Srna and Tanjug have a
considerable presence, conditionally speaking. The newspaper also directly used
Reuters, AFP and DPA. Sources such as the television stations CNN and ABC,
Pakistan News, Times and others were quoted in what we have marked as ‘combinations.’
These so-called combined reports are very comprehensive in Nezavisne Novine,
which gives readers the impression that they are reading an article by
correspondents from Kabul, Karachi and Islamabad instead of long agency reports.
Nezavisne Novine uses a bigger format of photographs from the
battlefields, which adds to the effectiveness of the issue. Also, almost every
day the paper published an item or article on the situation in Serbia, Croatia
or Macedonia in light of terrorism, which is consistent with the paper’s
concept of covering the wider region.
With
regard to Bosnian reflections of the terrorism fight, the paper reported in a
balanced fashion, mostly in the form of reports written by its own journalists
and correspondents, about arrests of former foreign Islamic volunteers,
diplomatic activities of senior Bosnian officials in the fight against terrorism
and reactions of the international community in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Particular
attention was given to the dismissal of Federal Police Minister Muhamed Besic.
According to the paper’s interpretation, the dismissal came as a result of his
harsh fight against ‘suspicious’ Islamic elements in Bosnia-Herzegovina,
which does not suit the Party for BiH, member of the ruling coalition. It seems
that Besic’s dismissal afforded Nezavisne Novine an excellent
opportunity to attack the Party for BiH founder Haris Silajdzic. The author of a
commentary published on October 17 says: ‘By uncovering an arms smuggling ring
and the connection of certain Bosnian officials with the Taliban, Besic came
dangerously close to the ‘mastermind behind the action,’ which according to
some speculations, is Haris Silajdzic himself.’ A commentary on October 12 is
written in a similar tone, slamming Alija Izetbegovic together with Silajdzic.
The article analyzes the fact that Bosnia-Herzegovina is strongly criticized by
the United States over the mujahideen who still live here. ‘Bosniaks in
Bosnia-Herzegovina are today hostages of the insane policy of Alija Izetbegovic
and Haris Silajdzic, who dragged Bosnia-Herzegovina into a network of suspicious
Islamic organizations, gravely ignoring its complex historic, political and
legal structure. By bringing to Bosnia fighters from Islamic countries under the
pretext of fighting for the state of Bosnia-Herzegovina, they promoted war in
the name of religion, thus destroying the wounded soul of the country that
required legitimacy of a different kind.’ However, with the exception of these
two commentaries, the rest of the articles speaking about this issue were
written in a neutral tone, just stating facts with no opinion on the part of the
author.
Nezavisne
Novine tried to give a lighter tone to these war reports and confusion in
Bosnia and the world caused by the fight against terrorism by publishing a
photograph on October 11 of a girl holding her naked breasts with the caption:
‘If I drop my bombs’ as an allusion to US bombing. Funny. But if we take
into account the fact that only two pages before, the paper published an article
with a big headline saying that 70 people were killed in bombing, the photograph
becomes black humor.
-
Commentaries determine the side
Finally,
here are some characteristics of the two newspapers’ coverage. Both papers
made excellent use of agency items to present the war in Afghanistan and the new
situation in the world. An illusion of balance is created by featuring President
Bush and bin Laden’s statements side by side, quoting both Taliban and Western
sources and comparing reactions from the Western and Islamic worlds. Of course,
a deeper analysis would show that all this information is coming solely from
Western sources, not directly from Afghanistan. However, the relative liberalism
of Western sources, who give a chance to both sides in the conflict, is
reflected in these Bosnian newspapers.
As
for differences in this segment, they are primarily contained in the fact that Nezavisne
Novine usually indicates the source of an agency item (mostly at the bottom),
unlike Dnevni Avaz, which does this less often, and if so, inside the
article. The Banja Luka daily also uses larger format of photographs, which is
more effective and clearer. Agency reports in this newspaper are more extensive
and sometimes they give the impression that they are real reports (reportages)
written by the paper’s own reporters.
Both
papers featured the fight against terrorism in Bosnia-Herzegovina on the first
pages. In the foreground in both papers are arrests of former Islamic fighters
and the scandal of granting them Bosnian citizenship. Both newspapers publish
all relevant details and statements regarding this issue. However, political
differences become clear in commentaries, which have two characteristics. The
prevailing position in Dnevni Avaz is that too much significance is
sometimes attached to former Islamic fighters while it is being ignored that two
men who are also terrorists, Karadzic and Mladic, are still at large in Bosnia.
On the other hand, Nezavisne Novine through commentaries on the current
situation uses the opportunity for a showdown with political opponents
Izetbegovic and Silajdzic, whom it accuses of harboring mujahideen and
extremists.
What
suggests itself as a general conclusion is that both newspapers dealt well with
the foreign policy segment of the crisis, but well known political differences
in the country were evident in the domestic field.
Radenko Udovicic is
editor-in-chief of the SAFAX news agency and editor of the 'Media Online' news
column. Translation by: K.H. Media Online 2001. All rights reserved.
source: MHxJU
published by: Roland Brunner rbr@medienhilfe.ch
date of release on this site: 27-11-2001
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