MEDIA FOCUS 8

London February 17,1999

Monitoring Period 27 January - 10 February 1999

ALL ROADS LEAD TO RAMBOUILLET

At the end of January and the beginning of February, Yugoslav media coverage was dominated by reports on the organisation of the international conference on Kosovo, which opened at Rambouillet Castle near Paris on Saturday, February 6. For this reason the armed incidents, some of the with fatal outcome, received less attention than usual. The coverage focused on speculation on attendance and the composition of the negotiating teams, as well as whether NATO might attack or deploy its troops on the ground. The Serb-language media outlets, especially those close to the authorities, made much of the disunity within the Kosovo Albanian team of politicians. The Albanian-language media stressed the possibility of strikes against Serbia in case the talks failed.

WAITING FOR THE CONFERENCE

The principal Pristina Albanian-language daily Koha ditore (Feb 1) front-paged the document of the Contact Group on which the talks were to be based under the tittle "Kosovo to have president, assembly, government, judiciary and administration". Interestingly, the superscript headline was a criticism of the Belgrade daily Politika: "Politika daily dresses up the Contact Group document", the subtitle explaining that "According to Politika, the free elections are to be held at two levels - municipal and provincial - although the document makes clear that the elections will be municipal and held at Kosovo level. There has been no mention of a province as a notion". Koha ditore carried a Reuters article saying that "... under the proposed peace plan of the Contact Group, Serbia may lose ist sovereignty over Kosovo..." to infer in a headline that "Time runs out for Serbia in Kosovo". In its headlines, the daily also stressed that Serbia was under pressure, i.e. "Gore and Blair confirm NATO readiness to use force" and "Europe is ready to dispatch tanks and infantry to Kosovo".

While Koha ditore on February 1 gave the integral text of the Contact Group document front-page coverage, another Albanian-language daily, Kosova sot, published it on its inside pages without any front-page announcement. Its attention that day focused on a hunger strike of Albanian students at the Pristina Faculty of Technology who demanded the unification of all Albanian political factions in order to negotiate successfully. Jedinstvo, the Serb-language Pristina daily, that day published the Contact Group document on p. 5, using the same formulation as Politika, i.e. "provincial elections" instead of "elections at Kosovo level".

The only reaction to the document published by the daily that day was the statement by the Pristina city board of the Yugoslav Left (JUL) – actually a Tanjug item - headlined "Disturbing contents of the Contact Group conclusions". Then, on February 3 and 4, Jedinstvo turned its attention to NATO threats.

A similar line was in evidence in Belgrade's state-controlled media. Though RTS Dnevnik 2 programme (Jan 30) failed to announce that the NATO Council had authorised Secretary General, Javier Solana, to decide on launching air-strikes on Yugoslav targets, on Monday (Feb 2) it carried a statement by the Federal Government which branded the NATO decision as an "open threat of aggression" and called for a meeting of the UN Security Council in this regard.

The statement was in effect an official reaction to Solana's letter to the Yugoslav leaders, the contents of which the audience of the state-controlled media was never informed about.

That day Dnevnik 2 also broadcast a statement by the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), which interpreted the NATO threats as "open support for the separatists and terrorists". Next day came the usual flood of "reactions by parties, associations and citizens who most strongly condemn the NATO threats". On February 3, Dnevnik 2 quoted the SPS Executive Board as saying in a statement that the international community's proposal to hold a peace conference had been discussed and a position on it taken. That was all.

On January 30, Politika front-paged Tanjug's item on the London Contact Group meeting below reports on Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's meeting with Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the National Patriotic Alliance of Russia, and on a bomb explosion in a Serb cafe in Pristina.

The dispatch from London was selective and made no explicit mention of any possible use of force. However, on p. 2, an article interpreting a statement by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was headlined "Solana's threats of force impermissible"; a report on the meeting between SPS General Secretary Gorica Gajevic and Zyuganov was published under the headline "Any imposition of force, dictate and blackmail impermissible"; and a round-up of Chinese official and media reactions carried the headline "Beijing: No use of force until a final solution".

NATO THREATS GO UNREPORTED

The Novi Sad daily Dnevnik also failed to publish the statement released from the ministerial meeting of the Contact Group though, but in a boxed item it quoted Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov as announcing that the meeting had passed in a "constructive spirit" and adopted a "plan for a political solution" to forestall the possibility of a military solution to the Kosmet problem ("Not a word on the use of force", Dnevnik-Tanjug, Jan 30, p.1).

The daily also failed to publish the statement read by Solana at the end of the NATO Council meeting and the reaction to it by the Russian Foreign Ministry. However, a boxed Tanjug item inserted into the front-paged London report underscored the sharp reaction of the Chinese media to "NATO's intentions" under the headline "NATO makes unnecessary threats".

The Belgrade daily Vecernje novosti's coverage of the London meeting of the Contact Group, which laid down a deadline for reaching a solution and a initial framework, was more professional. Under the title "They request 'Dayton' for Kosmet, too" (Jan 30, p. 5) the author, Dejan Lukic, outlined the conclusions reached at the meeting.

He used accurate quotes to present some of the conclusions, and a more complete information was given to the readers the following day when the integral text of the document, distributed to all those present including reporters, was published on p. 6 under the headline "Time is a key factor".

Radio B92 also kept its listeners regularly informed about the Contact Group's initiative and NATO's threats. However, in its Nocnik evening news programme on February 3, the news of the day - that the Kosovo Albanians had set up a negotiating team - was pushed into fifth place, after the speculation on whether or not Belgrade would dispatch a team to Paris.

The editors also omitted to specify that the Albanian delegation would actually comprise three separate groups (i.e. the Democratic League of Kosovo, the United Democratic Movement, and the Kosovo Liberation Army).

The Kosovo issue and the Paris peace conference also dominated the news pages of the private daily Blic. Its front-page reports (Jan 29) were published under the superscript headline "NATO Council in Brussels yesterday presented an ultimatum to Serbs and Albanians" and the headline "NATO: Contact Group plan must be accepted".

The daily gave priority to reactions from Serb opposition circles: "Special status suits Milosevic", said Nebojsa Covic, president of the Democratic Alternative, on solving the Kosovo crisis (Jan 28, p. 2); and "If Milosevic is to be a chief negotiator again, I am absolutely against that (Paris) conference", a quote of Zoran Djindjic, president of the Democratic Party, after a meeting with Gerhard Schroeder (Jan 29, p. 2).

Blic also carried the views of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), quoting Bishop Artemije of Raska and Prizren as saying that "the demand that representatives of the Kosovo Serbs should take part in the talks on their future has met with understanding by all in the world except the Belgrade authorities" (Jan 30-31, p. 2). Party reactions to the Contact Group proposal were summed up in the January 30-31, p. 3, superscript headline and headline respectively: "Party reactions to the Contact Group stands" and "Defeat of Milosevic's policy".

Although this time there were fewer reports by Kosovo Albanian sources, the daily published on January 28 a brief interview with Mahmut Bakalli, Albanian and onetime leading Kosovo communist official. The item was announced on the front page along with a photograph and the superscript headline on p. 3 said: "Mahmut Bakalli speaks to Blic about the formation of the Albanian negotiating team", and the headline: "Rivalries, not goals, at issue".

VIJESTI -THE DEATH OF YUGOSLAVIA?

The Novi Sad Hungarian-language daily Magyar Szo provided comprehensive and systematic coverage of Serb opposition leaders' views on the latest proposal of the international community to redefine the status of Kosovo. The daily also reported in detail the stands of Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic. Thus on February 3, it front-paged a Beta agency item headlined "Djukanovic: We will support the arrival of NATO troops".

Vijesti of Podgorica looked at the Rambouillet conference above all in the context of Montenegrin interests. Its February 1 front page carried the headlines "Birth at Versailles (a reference to the creation of the Yugoslav state), epilogue at Rambouillet" and "Montenegro's positions are not to be touched". A front-page article announcing an extensive report from Djukanovic's news conference (Feb 3), carried the headline "Montenegro will resume its seat at the United Nations very soon".

Significantly, certain foreign media hypotheses about Kosovo developments that were given low-key coverage even by Albanian-language media were treated by Vijesti as sensational stuff. Thus a front-page superscript headline on January 29 announced that "Citing Western government intelligence reports, The Washington Post claims: Sainovic (Yugoslav deputy prime minister) ordered the Racak massacre to be hushed up"; and a rather large article published on p. 3 carried the headline "Racak murder engineered by top FRY officials".

Similarly, on its front page on February 2, the daily aired the view of the British The Times that "Western diplomats fear that at the upcoming conference at Rambouillet the Yugoslav president might cause a confusion - Milosevic plans to divide Kosovo".

NATO IS COMING

On the eve of the opening of the Rambouillet conference, the Pristina Albanian-language media treated the gathering as an event of the utmost importance, viewing NATO's muscle-flexing aimed at ensuring compliance as being directed primarily against the Serbs.

On its front page on February 4, Koha ditore published an unofficial list of the members of the Albanian negotiating team under the headline "The last tango in Paris", while on p. 3 there was an article headlined "CIA... are for sending NATO troops to Kosovo". It also quoted Knut Vollebaek, OSCE chairman-in-office, as declaring, under the headline "NATO instead of verifiers", that it would be necessary to deploy infantry troops to support the mission.

The daily's next day's headlines were "After Rambouillet - troops in Kosovo" (quoting Javier Solana) and "USA ready to send 4,000 soldiers to Kosovo", p. 3. The headline announcing the decision of the National Assembly of Serbia to send a delegation to the conference had the word "Serbia" in quotation marks, something the daily had not done before.

Interestingly, at a time when the public's attention was focused on the discord in the Albanian delegation, Kosova sot (Feb 4) front-paged the announcement of an exclusive article headlined "What did Rugova, Bukoshi and Surroi discuss with Clinton in Washington?"

The article, supplied by the KLA Information Service, accused the three of attacking the government of the Republic of Albania and quoted Clinton as reassuring them that the government conducts a "wise policy". The daily published (Feb 5, p. 5) the results of a public opinion poll taken in Pristina including the following statements: "I think that the conference brings optimism, because I hope that we shall get a broad autonomy that will help normalise our lives here..." and "enough of bloodshed, enough of massacres!" But the headline summing up the popular view said that "You can't have peace talks with the Serbs".

On February 6, both Koha ditore and Kosova sot reported that the departure of the Albanian delegation had been delayed by the refusal of the authorities to admit the KLA representatives to Pristina airport. Koha ditore's front-page headlines announced: "Albanians: No Rambouillet without the KLA", "Hill: the KLA ought to be here" and "Markovic (Yugoslav deputy prime minister): We do not talk with the terrorists".

On the day the conference began both dailies laid emphasis on their front pages (Feb 7) on the unity of the Albanian delegation: "Albanian unity at Rambouillet" (Koha ditore) and "13:40 - an historic flight" (Kosova sot). The "Latest News" column alleged a "Fantastic atmosphere between Rugova and the KLA" while p. 2 predicted "Bombing to take place if the talks collapse".

NO SURRENDER

State RTS Dnevnik news programme in Albanian, broadcast from Pristina studios, was full of messages that one had to go to Paris to "defend the territorial integrity and state sovereignty". According to the programme (Feb 6), the Kosovo Albanian delegation on Friday put off its departure not because of any obstacles made by the state but because of disagreement between its members. Jedinstvo, the Serb-language Pristina daily, covered the opening of the conference solely on the basis of Tanjug dispatches.

The campaign in support of the Government delegation (started Feb 9, p 4) included even the following letter of the pupils of a primary school in Decani to head of the delegation Ratko Markovic: "The separatists have killed our friend's father, wounded the fathers of two others, killed the grandfather of yet another friend...they've been looting, turning out and expelling people, burning property. God, the very things we've been through! We love our homeland and are prepared to lay down our lives for it. Do not let us down at Rambouillet, let your hearts be filled with courage!"

NEW RTS METHOD TO SILENCE OPPOSITION

The moment the meeting of the National Assembly of Serbia confirmed Serb participation in the talks, state RTS TV channel switched from its fiercest anti-NATO campaign so far to a drive expressing universal and unreserved support for the decision. On the day the National Assembly met (Feb 4), RTS Dnevnik 2 broadcast a report on the meeting lasting 33 minutes and presented the reactions of parliamentary parties as a more or less unanimous approval.

The latter, of course, necessitated some rather heavy editing. For example, reporting on the reaction of Dragan Veselinov, leader of the Vojvodina coalition, it quoted him as saying that "Our message to you is - go to Paris" and insisting on the preservation of the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia.

These statements were taken out of context, because although Veselinov was in favour of the conference, he also severely criticised Milosevic and his method of sweeping problems under the carpet, something Dnevnik 2 conveniently failed to mention. Although the whole parliament session was broadcast live on RTS Channel 2, and rebroadcast the same evening, only dissenting passages from the government and Milosevic criticising speeches of Veselinov and Sulejman Ugljanin, deputy of the List for Sandzak, were muted to let a commentator interpret only their positive views of other MPs.

"AIRPORT DELAY SHOWS SPLIT IN KOSOVA TEAMS"

In the days that followed, the news broadcasts of state radio and TV stations were full of messages expressing support for the decision to take part in the talks. Thus, according to Dnevnik 2 (Feb 5), the Yugoslav Chamber of Commerce met for no other reason than to voice its approval of FRY's delegation going to Rambouillet.

The next day the messages of "support for the conclusions of the National Assembly of Serbia" included a Serbian Orthodox Church statement on the importance of the talks, although the Church had made the statement not having in mind the Parliament session. News reports from Kosovo not related to the talks as good as disappeared from the broadcasts.

About the the Kosovo Albanian negotiating team, only the disputes were underscored. For example Dnevnik 2 (Feb 6) announced that the Albanian delegation had left in two planes after some delay, showing authentic footage from the airport and attaching a commentary on the disunity within the team carried from the Belgian newspaper L'Belgique. It did not say that the delay had been due to obstructions from the Serbian side with regard to the necessary documents, security guarantees, etc.

The discord thesis was present in all state media commentaries and reports. The opening and the course of the conference were covered (Feb 5-7) in eight-minute reports from the venue by RTS front personalities: Milorad Komrakov, chief editor of news programmes, and Ljiljana Milanovic, editor and wife of the RTS general director.

The Hungarian-language RTS Dnevnik programme from Novi Sad on February 6, devoted nearly five minutes to the opening of the conference at the very start of its broadcast. It said that the conference had started late due to a delay in the arrival of the Albanian team and pointed out that the Albanians had flown out of Pristina in two groups.

Dnevnik stressed that "according to Tanjug's information, the members of the delegation are divided: one group supports Ibrahim Rugova and another Veton Surroi. Yet a third group is allegedly abroad".

On the eve of the conference, Politika switched over from an anti-American to a pro-conference campaign, assigning the major powers somewhat different roles. This time, the Europeans were portrayed as allies within an "anti-American movement".

"TALKS", NOT "NEGOTIATIONS"

The daily published (Feb 7, pp 1-2) a positively intoned and extensive report on the speech of French President Jacques Chirac and on the addresses of the ministers Hubert Vedrine and Robin Cook. Taking its cue from the news conference given in Paris by Ratko Markovic, Serbian deputy prime minister and head of delegation, Politika referred to the event only as "talks" or "dialogue", being careful not to use the words "negotiations" or "international conference".

At the beginning of an article headlined "agency reports", the daily wrote that "the state delegation of Serbia and the representatives of 'political parties' of Kosmet Albanians are to reach a political solution in talks on the crisis in Kosovo and Metohija".

It omitted to mention that the talks were being attended by representatives of the KLA, which certainly is not a political party. On February 7, it published on p. 2 a Tanjug item carrying a statement by Knut Vollebaek, Norwegian foreign minister and OSCE chairman-in-office, under the headline "Vollebaek: Military force unnecessary in Kosovo".

On the other hand, two days before it omitted to report that William Cohen, US defence secretary, had pointed out that the danger of air strikes remained a possibility if Milosevic failed to comply with the arrangements relating to Kosovo. It also failed to report as that Klaus Naumann, president of the NATO Military Council, said that NATO stood ready to pound exclusively military targets in Yugoslavia, as well as that the plans were ready and the targets already selected.

The abundance of information in the Novi Sad daily Dnevnik (Feb 5) on the meeting of the National Assembly of Serbia was so great that an observant reader could have found even something that had previously been carefully kept secret. For example, an extensive report on the speech by Ratko Markovic disclosed the following details from the conclusions of the Contact Group meeting in London: the Contact Group denounced the Racak killings, asked Yugoslavia to suspend the army and police commanders who took part in the operation, and called on Yugoslavia to cooperate with the Hague international tribunal.

PODGORICA TURNS UP THE HEAT

TV Crne Gore based its coverage of the preparation for, and the opening of, the peace conference on agency reports supplied by Beta, FoNet and Reuters (Feb 7). The National Assembly of Serbia's decision that Serbia should participate in the talks and the Serbian Government's appointment of a delegation the following day was accompanied on February 5 by an editorial by D. Sukovic claiming that no other couurse of action could have bee expected because the "experience of the behaviour of Slobodan Milosevic in the cases of the Republic of Serb Krajina and the Republika Srpska guarantees yet another concession".

TV Crne Gore was in no doubt as to which delegation will return victoriously from Paris: "The Serbian delegation is made up of second-rate officials condemned to sign something that would be too compromising for Milosevic himself". The Podgorica daily Vijesti (Feb 5) front-paged the decision of the National Assembly of Serbia under the headline "A trip to Paris without the Radicals".

The reporter wrote that as soon as the introductory speech had been delivered at the meeting, there was no longer any doubt as to what kind of decision it would be, and that the deputies had come down especially on the Contact Group, NATO, and the United States. On February 6, a commentary by P. Popovic suggested a possible outcome of the Kosovo crisis by predicting: "In all probability, the Belgrade authorities will very soon be able to congratulate themselves for creating a most secure country in the world without making any investment in new weapons.

By the look of things, Yugoslavia will be guarded by troops from all over the world, unfortunately for the benefit of the very people who have led her into its present predicament". A report on the start of the talks, headlined "The world wants peace", was given front-page treatment on February 7. Below it was a boxed article, headlined "We will not endanger Montenegro in any way", quoting Robin Cook as reassuring the republic that the conference conclusions would bring no harm to it. After this followed the words of Jacques Chirac and other details based on agency reports.

THE INTEREST IN THE CONFERENCE WANES

Once the conference got under way, RTS reports were placed behind the coverage of insignificant routine activities of FRY President Slobodan Milosevic and Serbian President Milan Milutinovic. For example Dnevnik 2 (Feb 9) released its Rambouillet report only in the 12th minute. Dnevnik programme in Hungarian (Feb 8) devoted 2'8'' to this topic, compared with 1'13'' the following day, when the announcement of a festival of ethnic Hungarian amateur theatres got 2'46''.

Radio Beograd continued to refer to "talks at Rambouillet" instead of "negotiations" or an "international peace conference". The contributions of its reporters were very brief, giving only the basic information and outlining the initiatives of the Serbian delegation.

Politika's coverage of Rambouillet boiled down to Tanjug reports published on the front page and the beginning of the second, under a regular superscript headline making clear that the talks are being held "behind closed doors". The second page was devoted to favourable assessments by foreign media and politicians, while pp. 14-15 were reserved for domestic party reactions and for the column headlined "Messages of support from political parties, associations, alliances and individuals to the participation of the state delegation of Serbia to the talks at Rambouillet on a political solution to the problem in Kosovo and Metohija", this again being mostly reserved for party local board statements.

On February 8, Politika made its first indirect reference to the presence of KLA representatives at Rambouillet Castle: the subtitle of the main front-page article on the conference said, among other things, that "The position of our delegation is that there can be direct talks with the leaders of political parties of Kosmet Albanians, but there can be no direct contact with the representatives of the separatist, so-called KLA".

A more direct reference to the KLA was found on February 9 in a main, front-page Tanjug item headlined "A reply to the offered principles awaited". The part dealing with the KLA in this combination of news report and commentary was printed in its continuation on p. 2. Politika, or rather Tanjug, used the item to make yet another unsubstantiated attack on the West: "... the representatives of the Kosmet Albanians have confirmed to Western diplomats and journalists at Rambouillet that they would be led by Hashim Thaqi... Thaqi is a member of the separatist, so-called Kosovo Liberation Army and, it is claimed, its 'political director'.

It has now become clear that the naming of Thaqi as head of the Albanian team is part of an earlier strategy of some European countries to set up a structure among the Albanian separatists on the model of the terrorist Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Northern Ireland (which has it political wing for the purpose of public appearances)..."

The Belgrade private dailies Glas javnosti and Blic, which along with Politika and Vecernje novosti, enjoy mass circulation, accorded the Rambouillet conference prime coverage. Their editors' choice of agency reports and presentation were for the most part professional, although there was a tendency by Blic to treat the attitude towards the negotiators and their mutual isolation in a rather sensational way.

Televizija Crne Gore relied on specially prepared agency audio-reports while Vijesti, which normally covers most developments outside the Montenegrin capital through agencies, took the trouble of sending its own reporter to Paris.

MEANWHILE, MORE DEAD IN KOSOVO...

On January 29, 24 Albanians and a Serb policeman were killed in an armed clash in the village of Rogovo some 15 km from Djakovica. The next day, Koha ditore on its front page published a photograph of the lined-up bodies under the headline "A massacre on the day the peace conference was proposed".

The headline of another report on the incident, published on p. 2, made the same suggestion, i.e. "At a news conference, John Drewienkiewicz, deputy head of the OSCE mission, condemns the latest massacre of Albanian civilians".

The word "massacre" appeared in the headlines only, there being no such qualification in the statements by international verifiers and in the articles themselves. That day Kosova sot also focused on the incident but instead of describing it as a "massacre" it used the word "killed".

"MOURNERS FAKING IT FOR THE CAMERAS"

In its front-page article by V.T. (Feb 3) on the take-over of the Rogovo bodies by relatives, Jedinstvo claimed in the headline "'Bereaved' relatives stage a farce for the benefit of journalists". According to the author, the relatives of the killed feigned profound grief and desperation, and even prostrated themselves at the hint of the cameramen, only to resume their natural behaviour and even laugh once the floodlights were switched off.

RTS Dnevnik 2 (Jan 29, 17th min) had a report, showing footage of the weapons claimed to be captured in Rogovo and of OSCE monitors on the ground. The daily Dnevnik of Novi Sad (Jan 30, p. 3) devoted some 15 lines to the incident under the headline "A policeman killed". It was only from the subtitle that the reader learned that "Some 20 terrorists (were) killed in the clash".

During the night of 29 to 30 January, Pristina was rocked by three blasts demolishing one Serb and two Albanian restaurants. Also, in the village of Rakos, Serb Zdravko Sedlarevic was killed by a hand-grenade tossed into his house.

The next day there were no reports on these incidents in Koha ditore, while Kosova sot, on its last page, published a brief note on the explosion in the Serb restaurant under the neutral headline "Bomb explosion in Pristina - three wounded". However, on January 31, Koha ditore reported all three explosions while Kosova sot headlined its story on p. 7 as "Albanian premises targeted".

ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL

Although in the monitoring period media coverage was allbut fully dominated by the Rambouillet peace conference, the editors and contributors of some outlets nevertheless managed to find enough time to engage in wishful thinking, painting the grim economic reality in Yugoslavia in the brightest colours possible.

At a time when the average family of four has to set aside two average monthly wages for the food bill alone - there are a few lucky ones who can - Zoran Bokan, anchor and editor of the Radio Beograd Argument vise programme (Feb 2) introduced an economic commentary by the journalist Slobodan Lazarevic by announcing that "December witnessed a record increase in industrial output". Of course, he did not say that the increase was a modest one from an already low base, accompanied by mounting losses and growing internal debt.

Similarly, state RTS staff also performed as if cut off from reality, believing that their mere words were enough to persuade the audience that things are not as bad as they look but much better. While the shortages of sugar and cooking oil were never mentioned in the prime-time news broadcasts of the state media, both Argument vise and RTS Dnevnik 2 (Feb 5) ran special reports on the Serbian Government's efforts to improve the supply of basic foodstuffs.

Both reports stressed that the articles were "in sufficient supply" and prices would not go up because there was no "economic reason for such a measure". It was news enough for the state channels to convey the government's promise of a regular supply of sugar and cooking oil and to announce that the "Ministry of Trade is in firm control of the balances of basic foods" (Dnevnik 2, Feb 6).

OFFICIAL SPIN ON STUDENTS' UNIVERSITY VICTORY

Following several months of student protests and lecture boycotts, Radmilo Marojevic, the dean of the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade who pushed through a crippling University reform, abolished several longstanding departments and forbade all dissenting professors to lecture, was at last forced to bow out. But according to the state media, he did not this on account of the protests. The version put forward by RTS Dnevnik 2 (Feb 5) ran as follows: "The Governing Board of the Faculty of Philology at today's meeting decided to meet the wishes of Dean Professor Dr Radmilo Marojevic that he should be relieved by the Government of his office of dean".

The explanation was that owing to the importance of a project at Lomonosov University in Moscow, on which he will be engaged during the next three years, Marojevic is no longer in a position to exercise the office of dean. In this way, RTS put en end to the Marojevic episode in its characteristic fashion. Neither on this occasion, nor in the previous months, did it inform the audience of the true reason for Marojevic's departure or student protests.

Using a similar recipe, Radio Beograd's Dnevnik programme (Feb 2) informed its listeners that the Serbian Ministry for Education, wholeheartedly backed by its head Jova Todorovic, had gone out of its way to pay the teachers the second half of their December wages as well as two-month hot-meal benefits arrears. For their part, the teachers were asked to have a little more patience and understanding because their country was the object of NATO threats. Again, there was no mention that some schools had gone on strike and that the rest, excluding those in Kosovo, would follow suit next day.

OIL COMPANY'S 195TH ANNIVERSARY BEATS RAMBOUILLET AS LEAD STORY

The sequence of reports by RTS Dnevnik 2 (Feb 9) provided a further example of the editors' efforts to paint a picture of make-believe. The first dealt with an anniversary of Naftna industrija Srbije (NIS), the Serbian state oil company, pointing out that its representatives had been received by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and that they repaid the favour by presenting him with a "Gold Oil Derrick" award.

Next came a report on a call made on Serbian President Milan Milutinovic by a delegation of the small town of Arandjelovac on the occasion of the 195th anniversary of the First Serbian Uprising. The main topic of the meeting was the town's preparation to mark the uprising's 200th anniversary in the year 2004. The turn of the Rambouillet talks came only in the 12th minute.

In the monitoring period, Studio B's Vesti u 7 news programme continued to combine news announcement, report, commentary, hearsay and politicking into a single item. On February 7, the anchor announced that Miodrag Perisic, vice-president of the Democratic Party (DS), had resigned "owing to the disastrous policy of party president Zoran Djindjic, as a result of which party support had dwindled to a mere 2 per cent.

Perisic also strongly attacked the party's president for handling party funds without any control. It has been learned that Perisic was supported by Dragan Kopcalic, president of the DS Belgrade city board, and that several other party leaders had threatened to leave the party".

The above information, including the party's approval rating and the course of the meeting, was given without quoting any source. (The DS is a bitter opponent of the Serbian Renewal Movement which controls the channel).

NO ARGUMENTS IN ARGUMENT VISE

Selecting proven and predictable guests is a primary concern of the editors of Argument vise. Following his talks with UNESCO representatives, Aleksandar Vucic, Serbian minister of information, was quoted on February 2 as declaring that there is only "minor disagreement" with regard to media freedom in Serbia and its Law on Public Information. The subject of the talks and the other side's views were, as usual, not disclosed.

Another policy of the editors was to pose questions that amount to a conclusion. "So, in addition to the terrorists in Kosmet, the situation (in the country) is also being destabilised by the Montenegrin leadership?" was the question directed by journalist Dejan Eric to his guest, Yugoslav Left Secretary-General Ratko Krsmanovic, on January 29.

NO LOVE LOST ON EITHER SIDE

In all their items dealing with the relations within the Yugoslav federation and with the policy of the Montenegrin authorities, both Argument vise and all RTS broadcasts had only critical words for the latter. Disregarding the complexity of these relations and the importance of the Rambouillet conference, RTS passed over the February 2 statement of Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic, who said:

"We attribute the fact that Montenegro has received no invitation to participate in the negotiations at Rambouillet so far to the desire of the international community that the (Kosovo) problem should be solved between the parties which created it, between the Serbian authorities and Kosovo Albanian representatives... Some people seem concerned that someone might hit upon the idea of taking advantage of the (Montenegrin) vacant seat at Rambouillet to effect a constitutional rearrangement of Yugoslavia at the expense of Montenegro.

"However, I think that if one looks at the matter in a rational way, there is no room for such concern. Even if someone tried in this way to eliminate Montenegrin interests from a future Yugoslav federation placed on a different footing, it would be quite realistic to expect Montenegro to resume its seat at the United Nations very soon".

BK Televizija did not think this statement worthy of being reported either.

PRIMITIVISM AS "ENTERTAINMENT"

The editors of the news and information programmes of Radio B92, by far the most objective and professional electronic media outlet, are often confronted with the problem of how to handle the primitive outbursts of some politicians. On January 30, its Nocnik news programme quoted a comment by Aleksandar Vucic, Serbian information minister, on an interview by Vuk Draskovic, federal deputy prime minister and a bitter rival of Vucic's Serbian Radical Party for power within the ruling leftist coalition.

Referring to Draskovic's public utterances, Vucic observed that "Draskovic is given to repeating 'please, please' (this was told mockingly) all the time, but I wish he'd start saying please to (his wife and high SPO official) Danica Draskovic more often". And in connection with US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's statement on the independent media, Vucic offered her the following advice: "She'd better look for some normal man to have some fun with in the way all other people do...", the message being that she should seek a sexual partner instead of wasting her time on the state of independent media in other people's country.

In the report on the meeting of the National Assembly of Serbia (Feb 4), Tomislav Nikolic, Serbian deputy prime minister and SRS deputy leader, was quoted as cautioning against "...going to the lion's den (Rambouillet). Don't forget that its custodian is NATO, the greatest enemy of the Serb people. NATO is the ugliest word in the world, a word that has been striking terror into the hearts of our children for the past seven years".

The other Deputy Prime Minister Milovan Bojic of JUL was more poetically minded: "The insatiable Americans today find our mother planet too small, they would like to strike out at other planets too including the sun, but the sun is the only one strong enough to reduce them to ashes". Although such primitive outbursts and ravings ought to be registered and branded, one feels that attaching too much importance to them is at the expense of comprehensive coverage. Such good intentions are often self defeating: in order to condemn such people's derisive manners, we are falling into the trap of doing the same.

IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF MEDIA FOCUS:

As well as our usual coverage, we will be examining the appearance of kitsch and its place as an important part in the media industry. Young Serbian playwright Biljana Srbljenovic will be contributing to Media Focus with her observations which we excerpt briefly here :

"The ojkaca - a traditional, primitive dirge once popular among some rural southern Slavs - is alive and kicking in Serbia at the end of our space-age millennium. But the ojkaca is not merely a type of song, it is above all a frame of mind.

In order to perform it properly, the singer must be at once deeply depressive and melancholic as well as bellicose in a rather fretful way. The author, who is frequently also the performer, is apparently forever torn between these two moods: grief over his youth and good old times, over a lost girl and a wedding that never took place, or over his dearest ones who are dead and gone; and a blind rage against a foreign army, against a rival Mafia gang, or against the lawful husband of the object of his desire.

More recently, however, the range of topics has widened to deal with such trivia as bad hangover from poisonous counterfeit drink, cocaine-induced nightmares and similar states of intoxication - in other words, with nearly every surreal aspect of New Serbia's daily life..." - By Biljana Srbljenovic

CHRONOLOGY OF MEDIA RELATED EVENTS: 28 January to 10 February 1999

Thursday, January 28

- Dragan Novakovic, editor of the Podgorica-registered daily Dnevni telegraf, goes on trial before the First Municipal Court in Belgrade. The complaint against the daily was submitted by Milovan Bojic, Serbian deputy prime minister, over an article headlined "The killed man criticised Bojic" and published on 5 December 1998. The article dealt with the murder of Aleksandar Popovic, a well-known heart surgeon with a Belgrade clinic of which Bojic is director.

Friday, January 29

- Dojcilo Radojevic, federal minister of telecommunications, signs nine contracts on the temporary use of radio and TV frequencies with representatives of RTV Pink, radio Pingvin, and radio and TV stations in Bor, Zajecar, Kula, Majdanpek, Nis, Pancevo and Cuprija.

Saturday, January 30

- Veran Matic, president of the Association of Independent Electronic media (ANEM) and editor-in-chief of Radio B92, receives the "Olof Palme" award, presented by the Swedish Government to individuals for their exceptional contribution to the development of democracy. The award also goes to Senad Pecanin, editor-in-chief of the magazine Dani of Sarajevo (Bosnia), and Viktor Ivancic, editor-in-chief of the weekly Feral Tribune of Split (Croatia).

Sunday, January 31

- The Directorate (highest party body) of the Yugoslav Left (JUL, party of President Milosevic's wife Dr M. Markovic), a member of the governing coalition in Serbia, in a statement accuses a "segment of the international community" and the "fifth-column in Yugoslavia", including "the so-called independent media", of working to destabilise and break up Yugoslavia.

Monday, February 1

- At the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Veran Matic, Sasa Vucinic, former director of Radio B92 and current director of the Prague-based Media Development Loan Fund, and Veton Surroi, owner of the Albanian-language daily Koha ditore of Pristina, are ranked among 100 world leaders of the future.

Tuesday, February 2

- Aleksandar Vucic, Serbian minister of information, tells Henrikas Yushkiavitshus, UNESCO assistant director general in charge of communications and information, that no media organisation in Serbia "has been exposed to pressure from the Government or any state body". Vucic says that the Serbian Law on Public Information offers equal protection to all journalists and media outlets in the republic.

Wednesday, February 3

- A group of unidentified youths demolish a vehicle belonging to RTV Bajina Basta shortly after the channel's representatives returned from Belgrade where they had been presented with the prestigious "Jug Grizelj" award for journalism. Boban Tomic, the channel's director and editor-in-chief, says that the jeep was smashed up with metal bars and that police investigators discovered that it had been doused with petrol. He expressed hs concern that the incident may have been in retaliation for the channel's criticism of the local authorities. RTV Bajina Basta is a member of ANEM.

- Aleksandar Vucic says that "some of the so-called independent media are actually regime outlets, only they are working for the foreign regimes which pay them".

Thursday, February 4

- Owner of Dnevni telegraf Slavko Curuvija, announces that he will take court action against top Serbian police officials, including Interior Minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic, for "unauthorised confiscation of copies of the daily". He adds that if he cannot take them to court in Serbia, he will do so in Montenegro. On February 4 alone, the police seized 2,400 copies of the daily at Belgrade airport, Curuvija says.

- Goran Matic, federal minister without portfolio and former federal secretary for information, accuses the Western media of trying to disinform the world public about the developments in Kosovo.

- The Pancevo weekly Pancevac is fined a total of 35,000 dinars (approx. $3,500) under the Serbian Law on Public Information in a libel action brought by Vera Ilic, head of the municipal housing and utilities department, and her husband Nikola Ugricic. The action followed an article published in the weekly accusing the couple of profiting from unauthorised construction in Pancevo.

Friday, February 5

- Pancevac is fined another 26,000 dinars (approx. $2,600) under the Serbian Law on Public Information in a defamation suit brought by Rajko Dabanovic, president of the regional chamber of commerce. In a critical article on January 15, the weekly wrote erroneously that Dabanovic is a member of the JUL. He is a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), the JUL's coalition partner in the Serbian Government.

Tuesday, February 9

- Dejan Milenkovic, editor-in-chief of BK Telecom, and Djordje Martic, director and editor-in-chief of the daily Politika ekspres, do not turn up for a new hearing in an action brought by Srdja Popovic, spokesman for the Belgrade board of the Democratic Party (DS). Popovic took the two to court on 18 December 1998 after BK Telecom and Politika ekspres failed to publish a denial of a report that Popovic had been detained for possession of cocaine.

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