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Medienhilfe Ex-JugoslawienProfessionelle
Solidarität gegen Nationalismus und Chauvinismus
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IWPR & MEDIA PLANMONITORING REPORTVOL II/No 10THE B&H MEDIA FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW: 17.FEBRUARY - 2.MARCH
As implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA) progresses further, the intrigues, plots and complications pile ever higher. Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Day of Independence was celebrated only in those parts of the Federation under the control of Bosnian Muslim authorities, and ceremonies in Sarajevo took place without the presence of political representatives from the other two constituent nations. Media in the rest of B&H displayed little inclination for historical remembrance: the Croatian media were apparently pre-occupied with establishing a critical distance towards the frequent incidents relating to the Federation, while following a long estrangement, RS and Serbian media celebrated one event together - the signing of an "historical agreement" on special relations between the FRY and RS. In this issue we will focus on:
NEW MEDIA LAWS: PREMIER EDHAM BICAKCIC’S REPLYIn Monitoring Report No.8 we posed a question to Federation Premier Edhem Bicakcic: "Is your government preparing proposals for new media laws in the field of information and the electronic media ? Are there any initiatives or proposals to determine the status of Radio Television B&H in agreementance with the new BH constitution?" Below we publish the most important parts of his answer: "Within the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, an approach has been made towards laying foundations for the preparations of a draft law on information, and a broadcasting law in agreementance with the Dayton treaty and the Constitution of B&H…the function of public broadcasting is to encourage social integration, national equality and understanding between people and nations. Its work must be based on the principles of respect for freedom, civil rights and the free movement of information. It must be imbued with cultural values and diversity of opinion, and ensure the equal representation of all legitimate interests. This is a concept that must be followed even by RTV B&H, whose programme aims should satisfy all of Bosnia’s constitutive nations and their interests…because of the range of authorities involved, the transformation of the broadcasting system will have to be solved in the context of the whole state apparatus, coordinating the interests and authorities of the Federation, the cantons, Republika Srpska and the state of Bosnia & Herzegovina. All the issues mentioned will be discussed at federal level within the Special Group for media, established in accordance with the conclusions of the most recent meeting of the Federation Forum (3.2.97). The task of this committee is to solve all questions relating to the status and organisation of the media, forming the base for further activities of the responsible federal and canton organs in preparing regulations for this field. Premier Edhem Bicakcic THE FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION: REPLIES FROM THE EDITORS OF FEDERATION AND REPUBLIKA SPRSKA PRINT MEDIAIn the last bulletin (No.9) we posed the following question to the editors-in-chief of Oslobodjenje, Dnevni avaz, and Vecernje novine (Sarajevo), and Glas srpski and Nezavisne novine (Banja Luka). "What, briefly, do you think should be done to enable your paper to go on sale at news-stands in the other entity?" Sead Demirovic, editor-in-chief, Vecernje novine, Sarajevo: "For a long time Vecernje novine, in collaboration with the OSCE, has been sending some 350 copies to Republika Srpska on a daily basis… An RS edition of Vecernje novine occupies a special place in our development plans. Within the standard paper we plan to allocate four pages for information, news, features etc. that are related to RS, as well as two pages of sport..." "In order to realise this project we must find premises in Banja Luka, engage staff and connect them technically to the main editorial office in Sarajevo. The distribution problem could be solved by our distributor transporting the papers to several places on the inter-entity boundary. At present, the only limiting factors are financial ones…" Zeljko Kopanja, editor-in-chief, Nezavisne novine, Banja Luka "In order to distribute papers from Republika Srpska to the Federation and vice versa, we first need a firm agreement at the level of the B&H Council of Ministers. In fact, two months ago Nezavisne novine and Slobodna Bosna began to co-operate in this area, and 2,000 copies of each paper are distributed each month in the Federation of B&H and Republika Srpska respectively. These are pioneering steps, not a long term solution: it is more the attempt of two editorial offices to co-operate in this field. The Council of Ministers of B&H should agree, and make clear to the authorities in both the Federation of B&H and in RS, that it will punish every obstruction to the sale of newspapers. I am afraid that the free movement of information suits neither authority and (the present situation) keeps them in power, maintaining their positions for the next elections". Mehmed Halilovic, editor-in-chief of Oslobodjenje "We are particularly interested in making this happen, but there are two obstacles - political and material. If one is removed, you still have to solve the other. First of all distributors must be found to carry out the work on the other side, secure regular payment and organise the transportation of papers over there. These obstacles can be overcome, but I’m afraid they too require the necessary political will". THE LINGUA FRANCA OF THE MEDIAThe war in Bosnia caused tectonic deformations even in the field of language. Before the war the ijekavian (western) dialect of Serbo-Croatian was officially in use in Bosnia, and the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets were placed as equal. Today, in the Bosnia of Dayton, there are three official languages: Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian. Within the Federation, Bosnian and Croatian, using the Latin alphabet, are officially in use, depending on who controls certain areas. According to the Federation’s constitution the other language/s may be used as an instrument of communication and education. In Republic Srpska the official language is Serbian, using the ekavian (eastern) dialect that is found in Serbiia, and the Cyrillic alphabet Most linguists agree that all three languages have uniform substance - that they form "one language that is not uniform" - and the insistence on difference is not always a result of the cultural and traditional peculiarities of the three nations, but often of the manipulation of the language for political or national ends. During the war a kind of tyranny was inflicted upon it: a ethnic cleansing of the lexicon comparable to that undertaken on the ground. Below we deal with only one aspect of language: the terminology of the media viewed through the prism of the Dayton Peace Agreement. The language of news and current affairs programming was radically transformed after the signing of the agreement, and particularly after the September elections. The offensive, abusive and foul language of the war largely disappeared, though those who once used it remained in place. The vocabularies of war have temporarily been put aside, but not destroyed, a point best illustrated by looking into the recent flare-ups that have followed rising political tensions.
SRPSKA RTV (SRT): DELIBERATE MISNOMERS As the subject of our monitoring is primarily the main evening news bulletins, it is necessary to emphasise that the tone and terminology found elsewhere in SRT’s programming rarely compares with that of the news. Many documentaries (particularly those shown as repeats) and audience-participation programmes remain full of crude rhetoric and propaganda (see below: "And what do you say?"). This duality of language not only destroys the consistency of editorial policies but is a serious obstacle to the implementation of both the spirit and the letter of the peace agreement. The vocabulary SRT employed during the war has changed substantially, and their rich arsenal of offensive and propagandising language has been withdrawn from daily use. The language of war has been substituted by that of "Dayton", though coded messages can still be detected beneath the surface. The present tendency in the media to misname or rename things is the cause of present, and the seed of future misunderstandings in the implementation of the peace agreement. SRT has replaced the "former B&H" with "Dayton B&H" or "the Union of Republika Srpska and the Moslem-Croat Federation". By the addition of "Moslem-Croat" to the "Federation of B&H", SRT seek to emphasise the national principal around which the other entity is organised. All this makes obvious the official media’s efforts to avoid the use, simply, of "Bosnia & Herzegovina" and it’s implications of a united and sovereign state. In an interview with RS Presidency member Momcilo Krajišnik, the SRT presenter insisted that her guest choose one of two names: the "Union" or the "Confederation" of B&H ? (Intervju, 4.2.97). There followed an unexpected answer: "I think that it should simply be called Bosnia & Herzegovina, and let everybody understand what ever they wish to by that …" Serb radio and television categorise news from the Federation in different ways: while SRT regularly puts news from the Federation under the heading of international news, Srpska Radio no longer does so. SRT’s main evening newscast, Novosti, reserves prime position within its international news for those incidents and mutual accusations involving the Bosnian and Croat federal partners. By placing these issues among foreign politics, and on a imaginary geographical plane, the station operates to strengthen an impression of self-sovereignty. SRT rarely uses the national definition "Bosnjak", though of late this term has been heard occasionally in the statements of Serb members of the Council of Ministers of B&H. By using the pre-war definition "Muslim", SRT emphasises its religious basis and implicitly negates the existence of a Bosnian nationality. The print media in Republika Srpska, for example Glas srpski, use the term "muslim" with a small "m", again denying the existence of a Muslim nationality as recognised under the former Yugoslav constitution. After Aleksa Buha’s name, SRT regularly adds the title "Minister of Foreign Affairs of RS" or "Head of Diplomacy", despite the fact that the Dayton Peace Agreement places foreign and diplomatic relations exclusively at the level of the state of B&H. How can the RS media be challenged on the use of this term when it was the RS Law on Government that created this position ? The phrase "our enemies", used to refer to Muslims and Croats, has all but disappeared from newscaasts. It is sometimes heard i the statements of military representatives but without the old emotional charge. While the description of Alija Izetbegovic as "muslim leader" is usual, his function in the Presidency of B&H is rarely mentioned by SRT. The language of war has blazed recently in Brcko, and with the attempted re-settlement of Bosnjaks in the Zone of Separation (ZOS) currently being obstructed by Serbs already living there. Among the phrases that have emerged are "Muslim invasion", and talk of "clandestine attempts at occupation" (24 & 25.2.97). But ignorance, or words unspoken can be as offensive. SRT for example, did not deem it appropriate to congratulate members of the Muslim religious community on the occasion of their greatest feast, Bajram. CROATIAN RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA: THE LANGUAGE OF AGGRESSIONThe vocabulary of Croatian Radio Herceg-Bosna’s news presenters and journalists became more vigorous in the last two weeks, mirroring rising political tensions in the Federation. However, this only reinforced and enriched the language they have long employed with regard to their federal partner. For some time now, relations between Bosniaks and Croats in Travnik and Tesanj have been tense, fuelled by beatings, the obstruction of attempts to celebrate Christian holidays publicly, and the desecration of Croatian graves. Radio Herceg-Bosna described the Muslim authorities involved as those "who profess to believe in the Federation, but are in fact working to establish a Jamahiriya (Muslim state)…" and who "increasingly play the role of a Bosnian Teheran, [and] do not recognise the most basic rights of Croats from Usora…" (4.2.97). Recent events in Mostar have made the greatest contribution to the increase in aggressive language and propaganda, with phrases like "Bosnjak extremists", and "the mass of armed terrorists from east Mostar" (10.2.97) being employed by the station. Echoing accusations made during the war, a February 11 commentary claimed that "the muslim political leadership had decided to use the tried and tested terrorist methods of their spiritual brothers Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban, and fundamentalists in Algeria in order to achieve its aims". A statement from the Croatian Pure Party of Right was also broadcast, alleging that: "the Islamic spirit of conquest through war and blood, that gave rise to fundamentalism and a theocracy, has infected the (Bosnian) muslim nation". The station’s language has become increasingly full of prejudice and scorn. Announcing fresh attacks on Catholic buildings, the presenter of Chronicle described "the Muslims" as "building the Federation through a dialectic of words and dynamite" (28.2.97). Chronicle also placed responsibility for many problems on the "muslim media, particularly the notorious television station which shamelessly calls itself TV Bosnia & Herzegovina" (Chronicle,3.3.97). And where previously Radio Herceg-Bosna had generally used the term "Bosnjak" (the term used in the Washington Agreement of 1994 that brokered the Federation) this has been replaced by "muslims" following intensified conflict within the Federation. The station tends to refer to international institutions by their official names, but the treatment of their representatives in B&H is slightly different. Carl Bildt is referred to as the "High Representative for B&H", but his deputy, following his harsh statements on the role of the Croat authorities in recent incidents in Mostar, is simply called "Steiner" (Chronicle, 27.2.97). Of all the media monitored during this period, Radio Herceg-Bosna represents the worst offender, deploying the aggressive language of propaganda and making unsubstantiated accusations. It has only one target in its sights: the SDA, the Bosnian federal partner. Such treatment is rarely used for the Bosnian Serbs, who only occasionally attract the station’s attention. The OSCE Media Experts Commission (MEC), should it really wish to analyse the language of this station, and it's influence, would have its hands full. RTV B&H: THE LANGUAGE OF ADJUSTMENTRTV B&H have, more than any other media, preserved a sense of tolerance, adapting their vocabulary to fit the spirit of the peace agreement. But while their language is adjusting more successfully to the circumstances of peacetime, it still lacks consistency with the official terminology. The term "Republic" with regard to Bosnia & Herzegovina has not yet disappeared, and "the Serb entity" and "Republika Srpska" (or more rarely "the part of B&H with a Serb majority") as specified by the Dayton agreement, are used reluctantly and under duress. The titles used by RTV B&H to designate members of state institutions are usually in line with those laid down by the new constitution. However, Alija Izetbegovic is referred to only as "President of the Presidency" and rarely as President Izetbegovic, while "Chairman of the Presidency" is avoided altogether. His two counterparts are referred to exclusively as members of the Presidency of B&H. Cantonal leaders are referred to as presidents, or more rarely as governors, while the leader of a municipality is more commonly termed "mayor". In reality it is the RTV B&H correspondents from certain municipalities, more than the programme presenters themselves, who employ the shrillest tones and inject the strongest emotion into their reports. The Tuzla correspondent twice employed the term "Chetniks" to describe the Serbs clashing with Bosniak refugees in the Zone of Separation (ZOS). Aside from this such irritants are rare, except when serious incidents elicit sharp condemnation from the politicians themselves. "AND WHAT DO YOU SAY?" - RTV SRPSKA (SRT)Instead of the evening news, our attention here is focused on the programme "And what do you say?", broadcast on Mondays at 8pm on SRT. Taking on a task for which they seem ill-equipped, the programme seeks to discuss important political and social issues with an audience. The resulting answers, especially on sensitive political and national questions, should make the editors and presenters very nervous. The pronouncements of senior RS leaders on important issues are used to kick off the discussion, and the TV audience, forced to listen to endless monologues with a nationalist refrain, are provided no opportunity to expand their knowledge of any real and current problems. In a media sense the programme is an unsuccessful imitation of a frequently used radio formula. Direct phone calls from vieewers - effectively monologue - run on without interruption, while the screen is filled with the presenter’s face looking out into nothing. There is no intervention, no mediator, and an abdication of any editorial responsibility. The programme can and does form a breeding ground for foul, threatening language and claims of every kind. It's populist character is clear in its sham democracy and a militant nationalist language which bears no other opinions and hides rather than debates problems. In an edition (3.2.97) dedicated to discussing the re-establishment of Serb authority in Mahala, Jusici and Dugi Dio, which are among the areas in the ZOS where Bosniak refugees are trying to resettle and rebuild, the following examples were found: "We can not live together, they have burned us"; "let them (Bosniaks) not come again and cause us trouble"; "Muslims in their dimijas (long trousers sometimes worn by Muslim women) are climbing onto tanks"; "Alija's state"; "they (Bosniaks) should be baptized"; "how was this (all) allowed to these stinking Turks ?"; "the muslims are a religious community, so we should call them poturica (converts to Islam)"; and so on. The remark that "the stinking smell of the invasion of balija (derogatory term for Muslims) should be at once erased" was followed by suggestion of the presenter, with regard to those making these comments, that "we shouldn't blame these people, as they have been overcome by their emotions". Such lonely linguistic "sallies", found in many radio phone-ins, form the main linguistic and ideological motivation behind some of these programmes. Here, a unique flavour is added by the many folk greetings directed at "Serb heroes" Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, who stand accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Those most delighted by the programme are the participants who regularly get free publicity, yet reactions from the "terrorized" part of the audience, demanding different professional standards, are becoming more frequent. In a programme on Serb solidarity (24.2.97), a viewer from Omarska noted that: " competent people, who can answer our questions, should be brought on the programme", while a viewer from Han Pjesak added that: "It is rather humiliating that that we speak only amongst ourselves". The programme is a strange example of sarcastic rhetoric and rosy nostalgia, with a new or revived nationalist language. A TV audience has the right to demand different standards from a public broadcaster, and the question "And what do you say ?" should be posed to the editors and presenters of SRT. MEDIA NEWS IN BRIEF
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