Original article (in Serbian) was published on 19/12/2024; Authors: Ivan Subotić and Teodora Koledin
Students across Serbia have blocked universities, demanding accountability for the collapse of the canopy at the railway station in Novi Sad and identifying those responsible for attacks on students who peacefully paid tribute to the victims. Tabloids responded to this protest against corruption, arrogance, and violence with a massive wave of disinformation, following already familiar patterns.
Every year, the FakeNews Tracer web portal awards the Golden, Silver, and Bronze Pinocchio to media outlets that publish the most disinformation. This year, as four outlets ended in a photo finish with identical results, we decided to conduct an additional analysis focusing on Alo, B92, Informer, and Srpski Telegraf, specifically examining their false and manipulative reports on student protests and blockades.
Between November 22 and December 17, we identified 181 such reports. The first on our list is Informer, which earned this media the Golden Pinocchio for the fourth time. Alo is in second place, and Srpski Telegraf is in third place.
How did these four media outlets mislead the public in recent weeks?
“The demands have been met”
Several web portals published a large number of articles about the students’ demands being supposedly met, and these articles predominantly featured statements from President Aleksandar Vucic and National Assembly Speaker Ana Brnabic.
However, this claim is not credible and has been denied by all student plenums of the blocked faculties in Belgrade. The documentation released by the Ministry was reviewed by the students of the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad, who characterized it as “incomplete and unverified”, and the Association of Architects of Serbia took the same stance. The Faculty of Civil Engineering in Belgrade also analyzed the documentation, which listed the missing documents, including all contracts and annexes with subcontractors, the conceptual design, and documents excluded by Railway Infrastructure, etc.
Although increased funding for universities and faculties has indeed been announced, this promise cannot be considered as a final fulfilled demand. The Assembly needs to propose a 20% increase, which must then be adopted by the Government.
Criminal responsibility for those who attacked the students from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts has not yet been determined. The attackers have been identified, and hearings are scheduled for January 9 and 10, 2025.
Examples:
“THE DEMANDS HAVE BEEN MET, AND NOW WHAT? Is this enough to end the blockades? It’s clear this is a POLITICAL GAME” (Srpski Telegraf)
“Forget the ‘Blockade Cookbook’, the one who gave it to you doesn’t mean any good for Serbia” (B92)
Brnabic told the Dean of FDU: “The students’ demands have been met, will the blockades stop now?” (PHOTO) (Informer).
“Protests are violent”
The analyzed media outlets tendentiously portrayed the student blockades and protests as “violent”.
A particularly striking example of this manipulation is an article by Informer about a gathering organized in front of the “Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj” Gymnasium in Novi Sad. The report focuses on a man who attended the gathering, and in whose backpack, allegedly, sticks were visible. Despite no incidents being reported at the gathering, the protest was still labeled as violent.
After the analyzed period ended, the same trend continued: Minister of Education Slavica Djukic Dejanovic claimed yesterday that students in Nis “physically attacked and pushed her”, despite the entire event being filmed, clearly showing that the minister was not physically threatened.
Examples:
“Man with a stick at the protest in Novi Sad! Anti-Serb opposition plans to involve children in conflicts?!” (Informer)
“DO YOU MISTREAT YOUR GRANDPARENTS AND PARENTS LIKE THIS?!? Look at how the scum is tormenting pensioners” (Informer)
“Drama at the student protests: Citizens angry, protesting; Incident, man with a baby was blocked VIDEO” (B92)
“Foreigners are behind the protests”
The tabloids have emphasized that behind the students are, or they are supported by: “Croats”, “Germans”,”Bosnians”, “Kurti”, “Severina”, ”Komites”, American and Swedish NGOs, and the “foreign factor” or “Ustashe gathering”. Most of these news reports stem from sporadic support for the blockades in Serbia from students in the region or the selective use of information about opposition parties meetings with the non-governmental sector.
One bizarre example of this propaganda involves articles in which tabloids condemned students from the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education (DIF) for a banner featuring “DIF je (U)stao” (DIF has risen). The “problematic” part was the letter “U” (in Cyrillic!), as it reminded tabloids of Ustasha symbolism. Also, “Croatian fingerprints in the destruction of our country” from Informer was created solely based on support from fifty students from the Faculty of Philosophy in Rijeka for the blockades in Serbia.
Examples:
“Ustashe gathering with Marinika’s students! Croats support the faculty blockades!” (Informer)
“Serb-haters at work! Kurti and Severina teamed up to strike at the state and Vucic” (Informer)
“Croatian fingerprints in the destruction of Serbia, message from Rijeka ‘to students’ in Belgrade” (Alo)
“The students are paid”
The video footage of a conflict between two students, activists from the Novi Sad group STAV, attracted significant attention from these web portals. The media involved in the analysis spread speculations that the cause of the conflict was money “intended to topple the president”. Informer labeled the students from the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad and the STAV activists as “Djilas youth” and made unverified claims that the incident followed a “heated discussion about the distribution of money that the Borba organization received from Aleksic”. Pajic denied these claims the next day on N1 television.
This news was also commented on by President Vucic, and then shamefully passed on by RTS without any caveat.
Most articles on this topic were found on Informer’s portal.
Examples:
“Gruhonjic’s follower Mila Pajic slapped her boyfriend over money! Djilas’ ‘students’ are fighting because their masters don’t pay them enough to cause chaos!” (Informer)
“Mila Pajic slaps Branislav Djordjevic! Scandalous behavior from Djilas’ ‘students,’ they fought over money distribution” (Informer)
“Seselj on the scandal of the year in the opposition: ‘He rebelled, a fight broke out, and she started slapping him…” (Alo)
“Students have been exploited”
A special thematic focus was given to numerous articles about teachers and professors who, according to these media, “force” students and pupils to participate in the blockades.
After Prime Minister Milos Vucevic stated that his son was forced to attend the protest, Danijela Grujic, a philosophy teacher at the Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj Gymnasium in Novi Sad, came under attack from tabloids. She stated in an interview for N1 television that she does not teach the prime minister’s son and that she was unaware he attended this high school.
On December 15, Informer published a similar article accusing Aleksandra Paunovic, a teacher at the Paracin Gymnasium, of “organizing protests” and coercing students to leave school. Paunovic denied these claims in a statement for Danas, explaining that she attended the gathering as a citizen, invited by the students.
Examples:
“Minister Mesarovic speaks out strongly against the exploitation of children for political purposes: ‘Are you ashamed to force a child to protest against their own father?’” (Srpski Telegraf)
“Scandalous! Husband at the DS assembly, wife organizes protests in Paracin – new case of student exploitation” (Informer)
“Hypocrisy! The professor who forced the prime minister’s son to protest against his father now speaks about political exploitation of children” (Informer)
“Real students are traumatized”
Another method used to deceive the public regarding student blockades was presenting statements from the highest official student body – the Student Conference of Universities of Serbia (SKONUS) – as the only legitimate entity to discuss the causes and consequences of the blockades.
It is known that the president of SKONUS, Margareta Smiljanic (a former student and deputy dean of the Faculty of Political Sciences), was once at the head of the CEROB organization, where money was paid for work in the Serbias ruling political party SNS call center during last year’s elections. SKONUS’s statement questioned the goals of the protests, diverting attention from the blockades to other issues. Students involved in the blockades responded to SKONUS’s statement, reminding them that decisions about blockades are made at plenums, where all students of a faculty can participate, and that SKONUS has not reacted to the attacks on students, yet calls for the cessation of the blockades.
Examples:
“Political goals emphasized as the purpose of the blockades. A question for students, professors, and the public: What is the actual goal of the faculty blockades?” (Alo)
“Legitimate student representatives from SKONUS: We requested an urgent meeting with the government because we care about classes” (B92)
“The organizers are hypocrites”
The most misleading articles targeted students through personal attacks and/or unfounded stories about their alleged hypocrisy during the blockades. The highest number of personal attacks was directed at student and activist Mila Pajic. Informer even called her a “fake student”, despite her being a regular student of the Department of Media Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad. Some of the other labels assigned to her include: “protégé of the Ustashe professor Dinko Gruhonjic”, “anti-Serbian extremist”, “major project of the anti-Serbian opposition”, and “supreme leader of these riots”, among others.
Tabloids also tried to portray the students as hypocrites by taking various footage out of context, such as students caring for victims with music, having fun during blockades, or simply cooking. Alo falsely accused students of “abusing the institution” by showing “Severina’s yacht video” in the amphitheater. However, in the attached photograph, the “yacht video” was not visible; instead, it was Severina’s song.
Examples:
“When she’s not ‘blocking,’ she gives lectures for 2,000 euros! Fake student Mila Pajic poisons youth for huge money, claiming Kosovo isn’t Serbia” (Informer)
“OPENLY MOCKING! Students of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering want to drink beer and make pancakes!” (Alo)
“THE YACHT VIDEO OF SEVERINA IS PLAYED IN THE AMPHITHEATER! Horrible! Djilas’ students are abusing the institution!” (Informer)
“A handful of misery gathered”
In their typical manner, tabloids once again attempted to manipulate the number of people at the protests, filming the crowd from a distance and using other well-known propaganda tricks.
The most blatant manipulations by the tabloids involved the student protest in front of the RTS, which, according to Arhiv Javnih Skupova (The Archive of Public Gatherings) was attended by around 8,000 students, while tabloids reported estimates of 2,000 or 2,800 students. Arhiv Javnih Skupova itself became a target of criticism, as Alo took an announcement of this organization out of context in order to downplay the number of students present at the protest. It should be noted that, at certain times, student protests and performances did not attract large numbers of demonstrators, but this is no justification for tabloids labelling them as “a handful of misery” or “a handful of violent protesters”.
Examples:
“Students block Takovska Street, and some head towards Aberdare; 2,800 people present” (B92)
“Horrible harassment of citizens! A handful of misery blocks Serbia again, several incidents occurred!” (Informer)
“LIARS: Opposition protest counters counted 2,000 students last night, and this morning they declared it the biggest student protest with 8,000 people” (Alo)
“Concerned passersby”
A headline from B92 states: “Belgradian Jelica addressed the youth: Get off the streets, this is your city, protect what’s yours”. In our analysis, we came across news stories based on the comments and opinions of so-called “random passersby”.
These statements about the blockades occasionally drew parallels between the present and the past, referring to the bad conditions, poverty, and wars of the past. In other cases, the news was based on claims from people who were supposedly prevented from doing their daily activities due to the blockades. Notably, these “random passersby” were always against the protests, and their statements and characters were repeatedly featured.
One such example is the incident at the protest in front of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering. Informer used a quote from a man causing trouble, claiming he was not a member of the Serbian Progressive Party but “an opposition member who supports the protests”.
Examples:
“Belgradian Jelica addressed the youth: Get off the streets, this is your city, protect what’s yours” (B92)
“MY CHILD IS SICK IN KINDERGARTEN, THEY WON’T LET ME PASS! Desperate father blocked by protesters” (Alo)
“So much for being an SNS member… The lie of the opposition and their media came tumbling down like a house of cards – the attacker on a student said: I am an opposition member, I support the protests!” (Informer)
