Nemanja Šarović, formerly a long-time politician Serbian Radical Parties and MP, gained new popularity as a reporter for Zrenjanin's KTV television.
His "outings among the people" - the last time he went to a progressive meeting in Jagodin - are a kind of documentary.
Conversations with ordinary people who often naively admit that they were brought to the rally, employed through the party, are full of humor, but leave a sad impression at the end.
Šarović spoke about his experience as a reporter for our Međuvreme newsletter.
What is the impetus for this type of journalism?
Nemanja Šarović: It is direct contact, the essence. The reason I go there is to paint the essence of the regime. People mostly don't know why they came. Most of them had to. Rivers of people left the rally during Vučić's speech.
It was a debacle. I would not be surprised if Vučić gave up on the rallies he announced throughout Serbia. It will be increasingly difficult for him, despite threats and promises, to bring people.
It is interesting that there were a lot of people who looked more decent at first glance - but they were running away from the camera. So, they are ashamed. They don't want any of their friends to see that they are supposedly for Vučić among the people dragged to Jagodin. That shame will be increasing.
Do you feel sorry for the interlocutors you are interviewing?
Yes, because they are captured. Anyone who has been manipulated and abused deserves to be set free. They are in a state of coercion and it is easiest to condemn. We need to approach them and free them from captivity, the Stockholm syndrome. Because, as victims, they often justify the one who harms them.
They see the man who is responsible for the social misery in which some of them find themselves as a savior to whom they have come to pray and be closer to his mercy.
It is often seen that these people are poorly informed, ignorant of politics, and do not speak logically. One should not be an elitist, but one wonders how to include these people in a democracy where one person is one vote.
Well, there is no other type of democracy. But there is no democracy without free media. I think that the so-called free media should open up much more and invite a wider range of guests.
Since the protests began, I repeat that the replacement of the entire management and all editors of RTS is a prerequisite for the truth to reach all people. The truth will be the most disastrous for Vučić's regime. This should be the basic demand of the protest, because it is the only thing that guarantees a qualitative change.
Even if Vučić miraculously fulfills all the current demands, we would only be reminded of the protests by the feeling that we showed strength, persistence and togetherness, but there would be no result that could lead to regime change. That's the goal, not to make us feel beautiful.
Only a change in RTS can lead to changes at the level of Serbia. We have no other medium to address that electorate.
Finally, you were also in the Serbian Radical Party for a long time, which addressed the people in a similar way. Do you hold any grudges against yourself back then?
I've spent decades answering questions built on stereotypes. When that media side will notice that there are people who think differently than pro-Western and when they will value those interlocutors as their equals instead of looking down on them, then as a society we will be able to conduct dialogue in a cultured and civilized way and come to many solutions.
