Yesterday, three TV stations with national coverage broadcasted a manipulative video by an unknown author in which the independent critical media, above all the N1 television station, are accused of dehumanizing the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, “in order to create an excuse tomorrow for some mentally unstable person, who would tried to do what Thomas Matthew Crooks tried to do to Donald Trump.”

The video begins with clips from the documentary film “The Ruler” that was broadcast on N1 television, in which the participants state the qualities they see in the President of the Republic, and continues with the presentation of various content from the Internet: anonymous threatening statuses on social networks and videos from protests; and certain contents that were published in critical media were taken out of context and presented as threats to President Vučić.

The same video was shared by pro-government tabloids on their internet platforms, which during 2023 published at least 628 offensive texts against critical media, according to the Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation.

Although the authors of the disputed video are unknown, it is clear that it is a synchronized and well-organized campaign against independent media, which was also accepted by the ruling structures through frequent commenting and quoting of the disputed video. As a result, N1 already received serious threats yesterday. Similar campaigns have been launched before. Television N1 was also targeted, and earlier this year, as an example of heavy targeting, an unscrupulous campaign was conducted against journalists Ana Lalić Hegediš and Dinko Gruhonjić, who received hundreds of threats and insults and whose safety is still at risk.

Since the Law on Electronic Media (ELM) prescribes that the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) carries out control and supervision over the work of media service providers and ensures the consistent application of the provisions of this law, we request the REM to initiate as soon as possible evaluation procedure of the content that was broadcast on three televisions with national coverage.

According to ZEM, the media service provider is obliged to provide free, truthful, objective, complete and timely information.

Also, according to the Rulebook on the Protection of Human Rights in the Field of Media Services (Rulebook), which REM adopted this year, “the media service provider is obliged to ensure the truthfulness and completeness of the information, i.e. the credibility and completeness of the ideas and opinions it publishes, especially in news and current affairs programs with attention appropriate to the circumstances and in accordance with the rules of the journalistic profession”.

According to the same document, the media service provider is also obliged to “ensure that the content of the video or photo does not mislead the public regarding the person, event or phenomenon that is the subject of the information or is the subject of the video or photo”.

The video broadcast on the mentioned televisions misleads the public, that the intention of the critical media is to inspire “some mentally unstable person” to harm the President of the Republic of Serbia and represents the targeting of the media and journalists who work in those media, and therefore its broadcast is not in accordance with the law and the Rulebook.

The Rulebook also states: “If the information is taken from another media, the media service provider is obliged to state the name of that media”.

Given that the video was shown on three televisions in news broadcasts, we expect REM to determine and announce which television is the source of the information, that is, who delivered the controversial video to the media.

The SafeJournalists network, which represents media professionals in the Western Balkans, joins its member, the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia, in demanding that the competent institutions take all steps to prevent the further spread of this malicious video, which can seriously threaten the safety of our colleagues. In addition, we call on the holders of state positions to refrain from further inciting hatred towards journalists because, as the past has repeatedly shown, such campaigns can lead to fatal consequences.

The SafeJournalists network will inform relevant national and international stakeholders.

Every attack on journalists is an attack on the public interest, democracy and the rights of all citizens.

Pristina – Skopje – Sarajevo – Zagreb – Belgrade – Podgorica, 17.7.2024

Association of Journalists of Kosovo

Association of Journalists of Macedonia

BH Journalists Association

Croatian Journalists’ Association

Independent Journalists Association of Serbia

Trade Union of Media of Montenegro

FOTO: N1/Canva