The television program in Serbia is often interrupted due to the live address of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, Aleksandra Srećković from the Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA) from Serbia announced today.
She said this at the first panel at the conference "Information ecosystem and the fight against foreign influence and manipulation of information (local and regional perspective)" in Podgorica, organized by the Atlantic Alliance of Montenegro (ASCG).
The first panel concerns the state of information systems in the region.
Srećković said that the most watched televisions in Serbia are Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), Pink, Prva TV and Happy.
She said that the show "Aktuelnosti" on Hepi TV was launched after the war in Ukraine began.
Srećković pointed out that the segment from the video game was presented as footage from the battlefield.
"In March 2023, a well-known conspiracy theorist called the German Minister of Foreign Affairs very derogatory, which is why we filed a complaint with REM," she said.
She also pointed out that Vučić often appears in live addresses, and that it is a common occurrence that the program is interrupted because of this.
According to CRTA's research, media manipulations relate to the demonization of the European Union (EU) and NATO, the construction of the personality cult of Vučić, the demonization of political opponents and neighboring countries.
"It is not surprising why Russia is only represented more positively than negatively in Serbia," said Srećković.
Radovanović: Media in Serbian and Albanian language manipulated the facts
Milica Radovanović, from the New Social Initiative from Kosovska Mitrovica, pointed out that, according to their research, during the signing period of the agreement between Belgrade and Pristina, both the media in Serbian and the media in Albanian manipulated the facts.
She added that the Albanian media wrote that the creation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities will lead to the Republika Srpska in Kosovo.
Also, she said, both of them created the victimization of their people, but also the building of a personality cult of Vučić, i.e. Prime Minister of Kosovo Aljbin Kurti.
According to their research, the four most common master narratives are the personality cult of Vučić, the demonization of opponents, the demonization of Serbia, and the demonization of Kurti.
Of the foreign policy actors on Kosovo portals, the EU is the most represented, the USA is the most prominently represented, and Russia is the most negatively represented.
Radovanović stated that Serbian media often emphasize what is happening in Kosovo, but ignore what the Government of Serbia was doing to normalize relations.
Poljić: As an interlocutor, Dodik spread the most manipulative content
Mahir Poljić, representative of the Center for Civil Initiatives (CCI) from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), pointed out that television is the source of information that the citizens of his country trust the most.
The main narratives of the demonization of the West that they noticed on online portals are the double standards of the West, that the West is playing the world's policeman, that it wants to threaten the Republic of Srpska RS, and the imperialism of the United States of America (USA).
The most positive reporting was about the EU, followed by Russia. Russia is also in first place in terms of negative reporting.
As the interlocutor who spread the most manipulative content, the president of RS Milorad Dodik was identified.
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