Plenum

Last week, TV programs in Serbia were marked by a kind of crisis marketing. It is unbelievable how the government treats it death of 15 citizens, the resignations of two ministers and several government officials, their detention and then being released to defend themselves at liberty or under arrest, the disappearance of Minister Momirović, strikes by lawyers, educators, students, citizen protests in Novi Sad and Belgrade, extreme examples of police brutality against citizens, the paralysis of the work of the Serbian Parliament and the adoption of a package of laws, including the Budget Law, without discussion and protests over the demolition of the Sava bridge. The government really believes that it is possible to survive this level of dissatisfaction among the citizens and as a solution offer some sort of redistribution of portfolios among the current ministers.

To make the misfortune and shame even greater, in the meantime we had extreme examples of peer and family violence, as well as incredible pressure on Serbs in the north of Kosovo. I would also add to that the withdrawal of the proposal of the Law on Foreign Faculties, which the president is not giving up on, as well as the announcement of the proposal of the Law on Foreign Agents, which is proposed by the deputies of the Socialist Movement based on the Russian model. In short, everywhere is busy, so I guess that's why the president is often, and twice a day, in the media, as a broad-spectrum antibiotic, comfortable to use, for 12 hours, necessarily with a probiotic - to excuse the intestinal flora. We understand each other.

The authorities harnessed all media levers, so the Collegium of "Informers" is in permanent session. They practically transmit the programs of N1 and Nova S, explaining how a group of mercenaries is causing War, while, we learned, Vučić wants Work. The problem arises when there are more and more of these groups, and they appear at faculties or in front of the gymnasium in Novi Sad. It has reached the point where the prime minister involves his child in daily politics, putting pressure on the high school where the child goes. Fortunately, current and former students of the "Jovan Jovanović Zmaj" high school stood up to defend the honor of the professor and the school. The prime minister did his child a disservice, or in the "Dorcholi" slang - he was fucked by the lads.

In fact, I am proud of the children who unmistakably recognized what was wrong and wanted to defend institutions, schools and colleges, which they clearly respect incomparably more than the politicians in power. That's why the president, evidently and standardly depressed, had to ad hoc organize a meeting with young people who parrot-likely repeated inflated platitudes, like the pioneer Malik in front of the youth of Zvornik County in the movie "Father on a business trip".

There is also a more perfidious, but equally bizarre way to repair the damage on TVs controlled by the government. One is an increased dose of bizarreness, so the host Pinka will wave a sniper rifle in the program, the same one used to kill Zoran Đinđić, spin her half-naked ass, while psychics, phytotherapists, folk healers and "Elite" stars will parade on other channels. It is also bizarre to try to broadcast every speech of Vučić in its entirety, but without questions from journalists, on 20 channels in a country where all newspapers have identical front pages, even though every even remotely professional journalist will not be able to extract more than one sentence for the agency from a one-hour speech. news. On such channels, presenters need to affirm their "attitude", it's just strange how in journalism "attitude" usually turns out to be bias.

Actually, I have a much smaller problem with the open propaganda of "Informer" or Pink, where bias is not hidden, than with quasi-professionals who do the same propaganda work pretending objectivity, only in those programs you will never see or hear anyone who is critical of the government.

Finally, I need to return to the beginning of this text and the word from the title - plenum. For decades, this term denoted relics related to the plenary sessions of various socialist self-governing bodies or the Brijuni Plenum and the affairs surrounding Ranković. It was the turn of our children's generation. FDU was the first to stand up, and students blocked their faculty with the support of professors and deans. As future media professionals, they were able to define their requirements and present them on social networks in the form of clips. In a similar way, they identified the thugs who attacked them during a peaceful protest and delivery of mail to the victims in Novi Sad. Unlike previous generations, they distanced themselves from cheap politicization and decided that all decisions are made in plenary, at gatherings exclusively of students. Of course, this kind of decision-making requires that everyone who wants to express their opinion first, and that requires time, patience and tolerance. They rejected any kind of leadership, they decide collectively, by voting after discussion. Of course, every protest has its lifespan, it ends either with the fulfillment of demands or merging with other forms of protest, institutionalization or dropping out, which is most often the case.

Be that as it may, the students of this generation of protests have shown that they are very interested in social issues, the fate of the country, they have shown compassion and are far from apathetic. For those who know how to listen, they also held a lesson on the integrity of institutions and the promotion of political dialogue, for which, unfortunately, neither the government, nor the opposition, nor the media have matured. Classes in professional subjects may not have been held, but they gave us a lesson in democracy, so strong that no regime propaganda could suppress it. We learn from children.