Browsing by Ana Brnabić

"Our people would say 'you lie, you don't think of God'. You are the Chuck Norris of lying. What the tycoon Nova does day in and day out is more than a shame and more than a humiliation for journalism. It is humiliation of people, state, institutions, common sense. It simply doesn't make any sense anymore."

This is how the President of the Government of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, publicly addressed the journalists of the Nova.rs portal the other day on her account on the social network X, visibly annoyed by the text that the portal published under the title "Vučić refused to say on CNN whether he supports Novak Djokovic when he writes 'Kosovo is the heart of Serbia'". It is not clear whether this is another private or state reaction of the Prime Minister to the media's writing about the president, but it is quite clear that this is not the first time that Ana Brnabić has dealt with the media that are critical of the current political regime, calling them "tycoons". "shameless", "unprofessional", "dishonorable", and most often as a guest on national television and in tabloids sympathetic to the government.

Why is the prime minister's attitude towards media and journalists important in Serbia? This is not only a question of the broader relationship between politics and the media, political communication and political journalism, but a topic that reveals many nuances of the problem of political and media polarization, misunderstanding of the concept of media freedom, enormous political bias and internal divisions and pressures that have serious consequences for the media community and the public interest. This text shows how the content and intensity of that relationship changed during Ana Brnabić's three mandates as Prime Minister from June 2017 until today, when she is expected to resign before the elections on December 17 this year.

"WE AGREE TO DISAGREE"

When, as a non-partisan person, she took office as the Prime Minister of Serbia in 2017, Ana Brnabić only casually spoke about the media in the context of the Government's ambitious plans to develop new technologies, virtual reality, gaming and digital entertainment. However, problems with the media followed immediately after she gave an interview to the American "Bloomberg" in which she stated that "if she had to, Serbia would choose the European Union, not Russia." After numerous negative reactions from the domestic and international public, especially Russian, the Prime Minister, as the spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Maria Zakharova, handed over the transcript of the interview to the then Russian Ambassador Alexander Chepurin "in order to assure him that her statement that Serbia would chose the EU rather than Russia". Brnabić confirmed that it is true that she handed over the transcript of the interview to the ambassador, but not to justify herself, but "because it is important to maintain continuity so that the Prime Minister is open and honest with every partner", "Blic" reported that summer.

Soon, members of the European Parliament in Brussels drew the Prime Minister's attention to the fact that "media freedom is a very worrying issue" in Serbia. In her answer, she shifted the blame to the media: "There is a lack of investigative journalism, but not because the government stifles it, but because there is no objective journalism in Serbia, that is, there are very few objective journalists."

Journalists' associations told Ana Brnabić that she should follow the media more seriously and that she should not make blanket assessments about the state of Serbian journalism.

Photo: Strahinja Aćimović / Tanjug

During her first mandate, she often referred to previous political regimes in order to emphasize the progress of the media environment under the rule of the SNS: "In 2003, the Prime Minister called journalists marginal phenomena. We had a mayor who kicked journalists. In November 2014, an opposition MP uttered a series of insults to journalists..." Unlike such politicians, she boasted that her government "absolutely does not divide the media into eligible and ineligible", but that individual parties and politicians do that.

Journalists had a different opinion. When "Insider" stated that the officials of the country where she is the prime minister are insulting journalists, she once replied that she "doesn't know about government officials who insult the media, but that the Government of Serbia does not insult them." When the Socialist Movement of Minister Aleksandar Vulin published a statement in which KRIK editor Stevan Dojčinović was insulted with the worst language, she said that she did not agree with such "rhetoric", but that she was not the president of that party to tell them how to behave. Let's remind you, the press release of that movement said, among other things: "What does Dojčinović really do, apart from the fact that he sometimes has a strange tendency to hang from ceilings, pierce his nipples with needles and self-harm?" It's no secret that Dojčinović is paid from abroad for every text in which he attacks Vulin, and it's no secret that he takes narcotics either..."

For the media associations, the prime minister's statement that "some" journalists and media think that there is no media freedom in Serbia, while it "seems" that there is, was particularly controversial, so they criticized her for openly confronting journalists and "further antagonizing the media scene, on damage to the public interest". The institutions of the European Union, as well as the European Federation of Journalists, pointed to the threat of media freedom, which announced that it would send a mission to Serbia in January next year. In a much milder tone than today, Brnabić then told the media that they "disagree about what the media scene is like in Serbia, but she emphasized that this does not mean that they are enemies", adding that she is ready to talk to the media. This vapid "agree to disagree" lasted two days. In an interview for "Nedeljnik" at the end of 2017, she openly accused KRIK of being a "sensationalist portal" and not investigative journalism, reacting to research published by this organization about her assets.

Instead of improving the media situation and the working conditions of journalists, the Prime Minister primarily dealt with the defense of the current government, Aleksandar Vučić, and her constant denial that "the assessment that it has never been worse - does not stand". However, when the journalists with whom she was once a guest in the "Insider Debate" asked her why the media is under such control of the government that even questions at official press conferences are ordered in advance, Brnabić stated that she did not see what the problem was and that he does not know that it is true that some journalists are given questions. In 2018, she also complained about Reuters and the Associated Press, which she claimed presented her "as a fool": "They took out half of my sentence and it turned out that Serbia is threatening something, which is incredible..." Relativization of media freedom and populist politics communication have become the main instruments of public appearances by the highest representatives of the government: "If we are not going to talk about fuel oil and heating, about oxygen and medicines, if we are not going to talk about someone burning biscuits on a national basis, let's talk about media freedom, please," FoNet reported the Prime Minister's statement.

In October 2018, "Illustrated Politics" published a scandalous front page entitled "Dogs are released" with a photo of a dangerous dog with distorted teeth, behind which were blurred front pages of NIN, "Vremena" and "Danasa". The media community reacted violently, and "Reporters without Borders" said "that such situations must not be repeated". The State Secretary at the time, Aleksandar Gajović, responded to Radio Free Europe and said that "the ministry does not have the custom, nor is it within its jurisdiction, to comment on anyone's author's text, including the one you mention." In the report of "Reporters without Borders" in 2018, the media in Serbia were rated as the worst in the Balkans.

"TYCOON MEDIA"

ZORANA MIHAJLOVIC, ANA BRNABIC, NEBOJSA STEFANOVIC

During 2019, Ana Brnabić joined the SNS, and the second Government under her leadership was appointed in October 2020. In the new exposé, which was more linguistically sharp, the media was in greater focus, especially from the aspect of the fight against disinformation and the media war "which organized crime leads against the Republic of Serbia" and which the new Government will oppose "with the truth, timely information of the citizens of Serbia and debunking all the lies and true intentions of those who they market lies". The fight for better safety of journalists through the Permanent Group for the Safety of Journalists and the Commission for Investigating Murders of Journalists was marked as one of the priorities: "Only by cooperating with journalists, media and journalist associations can we together improve the culture of dialogue and the realization of public interest in the field of public information". it was written in the exposition. In order for everything not to sound perfect only on paper, a new Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue was formed. Gordana Čomić, a former official of the Democratic Party, who was called "a minister for nothing" in the public, and who, the media reported, refused to comment on "almost everything she was asked", and sometimes she was " forbidden" to comment on media content.

In contrast to the beautiful promises and seductive phrases from the exposé, in reality the Prime Minister called the media that criticize the government "oppositional" and "tycoon" because they "continually attack the Government no matter what it does". National television and influential tabloids helped her shape and transmit such messages. Once, Pink television reported in detail how Ana Brnabić snapped at the N1 journalist, who questioned her about who took away the KRIK journalist's phone when she was filming the president's son in a cafe: "I would really like you to let me speak and not limit my freedom of speech … I understand that it is difficult for you to let anyone speak with whom you disagree. I also understand that you have double standards towards the people you support and those you don't support... As far as I'm concerned, there are no first-class or second-class citizens in Serbia, nor are there any first-class or second-class media. Everyone is the same and with equal rights to life, work and freedom of speech."

Not much time has passed since the appeal to the universal values ​​of freedom and equality, when at the end of 2020 the worst insults of SNS deputies were heard in the Serbian Parliament that "in the independent media N1 and Nova S, anti-Serbian media, there is no trace of independence" and that "they can be described just one sentence - domestic traitor, foreign mercenary", as the young progressive Biljana Pantić Pilja claimed with great certainty at the time. President Aleksandar Vučić, in a guest appearance on RTS, quickly condemned such "rhetoric" and called on SNS MPs to "be careful and take care because we are guilty if we are the same as them". Ana Brnabić pointed out that she was glad that the president immediately apologized, and briefly told the SNS deputies: "They are young, they will learn..."

In contrast to the reports of the European Federation of Journalists, the International Press Institute and the European Center for Freedom of the Media, which indicated that attacks on journalists in Serbia are not only intensifying, but are not being dealt with effectively enough, the Prime Minister believed that the attacks are still being dealt with , "but that some media don't report on solved cases because it suits them" and added: "I'm fed up with arbitrariness and flatness, the prosecution does nothing, the judiciary does nothing, and when you look at the numbers you see that it's not exactly like that", N1 reported at the time. Although she once boasted that "no one has a more transparent system than Serbia in the case of threats or attacks on journalists", later professional and academic research has shown that journalists do not trust the competent authorities, nor the procedures of the prosecution and courts, and that is why they most often do not report threats and attacks. .

As someone who constantly calls for the freedom and equality of the media, Brnabić stated in 2021 that she has no intention of appearing on television "whose editor says that everyone from SNS and all their voters should be put in camps", referring to the then program News Max Adria . And when the N1 and Nova S televisions decided to take drastic measures in December 2022 and stop broadcasting the program for one day, Brnabić later ironically asked the N1 journalist at a press conference: "Are you working today or did you shut down by yourself?", and added in her recognizable style: "The campaign you launched on the day of the Western Balkans - EU summit in Tirana, an extremely important event for Serbia and political stability, I don't know what the intention was - to divert attention from that or to make it even more difficult for Serbia... You showed this other media that participated in that campaign and that has the same owner, that there is media freedom in Serbia, and thank you for that."

Soon, Twitter became the ideal place for the government to deal with "unfit" media and journalists. Thus, the Prime Minister accused the editor of "New Economy" Biljana Stepanović of spreading disinformation regarding the import of flour: "Usually I do not react to half-information and misinformation that this lady puts out. This time, the lie that Serbia imports flour is so obvious that it is good to highlight it as an example of the stupidity of the 'experts'. We export flour...", wrote Ana Brnabić, and continued in another tweet: "Lying about what the state is doing or not doing, at such a sensitive moment, is against national interests. Your journalism is 'Hello Bing how are you bro?' She said-she said. Attached: what Aleksandar Vučić said. Please, another time.” On the World Media Freedom Day 2022, Brnabić said on the national Happy TV that it was "inhuman" that the former minister in her government, Zorana Mihajlović, in the days after she left SNS, gave an interview to the daily newspaper "Nova".

"HOLY COWS" WHICH "THEY GO WILD"

photo: Zoran Zestić / Tanjug

In October 2022, a new Government headed by Ana Brnabić was appointed, which marked the beginning of her third mandate. In the new exposé, the same priorities of strengthening media freedom, improving the media scene and adopting media laws are indicated. In the meantime, the Government adopted the Action Plan for the implementation of the Media Strategy until 2025, but the amendments to the Law on Public Information and Media and the Law on Electronic Media have yet to be completed. Today, we know that the proposals for two new laws have caused a great outcry from the media community and journalist associations, as well as international organizations, because of the harmful proposals by which the government is trying to set back the media scene, weaken the role of self-regulators, not implement the reform of the REM and to return the state to media ownership.

The attacks and pressures of the authorities on the media and journalists in Serbia continued in an even fiercer burst during 2023, regardless of the topic and occasion. Thus, in March of this year, on the occasion of the events surrounding the ownership of the "Boško Buha" Children's Theater and the possibility of moving that theater to "Beograd na Vodi", the Prime Minister accused "Vreme", TV N1, Nova S and "Danas" of brutally lying and manipulating facts and public opinion. At the conference, she said that she "deliberately" did not speak out about the theater for days because she really wanted to see how much the media would "literally go wild on this case, to lie and deceive and abuse other people to politically attack the government that has nothing to do with this." , the "021" portal announced at the time.

She soon began to deal with quantitative analysis of the media and to count the front pages in which President Vučić is mentioned. So in April, she pompously tweeted: "In 2023, AV was on an incredible 85 percent of the front pages of 'Danasa' and even 77 percent of Nova!" Convincing victory! Congratulations.” Even the United Nations rapporteur for freedom of speech and media and the president of the European Federation of Journalists questioned how the prime minister has time to deal with the media in this way, and commented that her Twitter post targeting N1, "Danas" and Nova S is "toxic speech" ” and “a step further in relation to how politicians around the world criticize the media”.

In the show "Hit-Tweet" on Pink, she stated that the safety of journalists is "a red line that should not be played with", and then during the show she would openly target the media from the "sample" of her research: "My job is to show all the hypocrisy, because tomorrow when they read the lie published in those media, someone will imagine"; "They behave as if they are moral boulders, they do not engage in journalism"; "What they are doing is killing our country. Attack, but don't lie. For example, I don't like how it says 'Seal', but they have their principles. There is no principle in what you read in 'Danas'. Their editorial policy depends only on what the government does, theirs is only to do the opposite", etc. At the same time, she stated that she does not see the publication of a disturbing video on Pink calling for the arrest of independent journalists as a threat to the safety of journalists.

Due to the public smearing, labeling and targeting campaign, in April 1, TV N2023 sent an open letter to the Working Group of the Government of Serbia for the Safety and Protection of Journalists with an appeal to "pay attention to the actions of Prime Minister Ana Brnabić because they do not know who else to complain to when the safety of their journalists are threatened every day by the Government, that is, by the Prime Minister herself". It couldn't be more absurd than this - the Working Group was formed on the initiative of Ana Brnabić, so N1 asks in an open letter "is the Working Group an address only for those whom the Prime Minister personally assesses deserve to be protected?" For the prime minister, is the only satisfactory solution for N1 to cease to exist? Will Ana Brnabić stop then?"

Where else but on Hepi, the Prime Minister answered that in Serbia "there are media that are sacred cows and no one is allowed to say anything about them", and that it is not an insult or targeting that she calls those media tycoons "because they are owned by tycoons" ". She added that the letter sent by N1 to the Working Group was "a degree of hypocrisy and distortion of information and how much they are making victims of themselves", and once again commented on what this government is doing for public opinion: "We are opening a debate about what free journalism is." in Serbia. They certainly won't shut me up." Recently, she started counting the questions that the media ask at press conferences, so she calculated how TV N1 asked the president three questions, the first and third of which are completely opposite: "What they have in common is that in every question Aleksandar Vučić is guilty of something."

On the prime minister's account on Ix (former Twitter), there are now daily investigations: "Yesterday, September 14.09, tycoon portals published 39 negative articles about Vučić. 39! Together in voice: Danas, Direktno, N1, Nova - without their newspapers and TV, just on the day when the president is in Brussels, for the most difficult talks about Kosovo and Metohija. Unprecedented. And, how can anyone endure this." Recently, on the occasion of the front page of the "Nova" newspaper entitled "There is money for the Church and stadiums, but not for innovative drugs", on the same network she announced: "The classic 'modus operandi' of the opposition and the tycoon media that supports them: every day, without exception, to spread a new lie. The bigger and more blatant the lie, the better.” The pro-regime tabloid "Alo" praised her with the title "The exposed shame of Šolak's media - Brnabić dispels all lies with pure facts". She didn't just "make a fuss", but the other day she also "nailed the hater opposition" and N1, as "Informer" writes, when she commented that they published information about the elections on December 17 "based on gossip that someone told you or didn't tell you." said… So much for your professionalism.”

According to Ana Brnabić, the "peak of madness and insolence" of the opposition and the "tycoon" media culminated a week ago when they mocked Aleksandar Vučić's decision to make a sandwich with a cheap Parisian. And what can we say about the fact that at the recent presentation of the "Digital Europe" program, journalists from N1 and Nova S were locked behind the hall door so that they could not get to the Prime Minister and ask her questions. She denied this on the national TV Prva with a not very imaginative metaphor: "I ask that all journalists who feel locked in, be directed to the door that is open." To ensure that only "tycoon" "sacred cows" are on the wallpaper, at the end of the summer in RTS's morning program, Brnabić scolded the Public Service for the way it reports on President Vučić and the topic of the election: "As far as RTS's reporting is concerned, I think it was completely incorrect and it is incorrect, but on the other hand, I am not the opposition, so I can put pressure on you."