edition-dw-akademie-in-the-service-of-the-public-functions-and-transformation-of-media-in-developing-countries-pdf

Part III Serbia: Two Very Different Models of Successful Public Service MediaSerbia: B92 and RTS, Two Very Different Models of Successful Public Service MediaThe case of Serbia shows that despite their contrasting preconditions, both privately-owned B92 and the public broadcaster RadioTelevision of Serbia (RTS) managed to serve as public service broadcasters in their respective time and context. In the 1990s,B92 was among the very few media outlets that were accountable to the Serbian population by covering all topics relevant to thedifferent parts of society, including sexual and national minorities. However, the financial crisis of 2007/2008 severely affectedB92, and forced it to sell the majority of shares to a private businessman. Hence, today, B92 has a less analytical approach to journalism;it has become less diverse and is characterized by infotainment.On the other hand, RTS is an example that shows that a successful transformation from a former state broadcaster to a publicservice media organization is possible. Today, RTS fulfills the main public service functions: It offers balanced and objective news,ensures participation, gives Serbian citizens a voice, moderates the public debate and offers social orientation and criticism.Moreover, it does not suffer from strong political pressure anymore. However, agenda setting and serious journalistic researchare rare. And RTS has never been as innovative as B92 at its best. Despite the remaining severe financial problems, the networkgenerally has sufficient professional and physical resources to further advance its transformation process. RTS is an example ofthe very successful transformation of a state media outlet with the help of a committed media development organization: BBCMedia Action supported the former propaganda broadcaster in its development into a public service media outlet that creates apublic sphere and supports integration in Serbia.This chapter aims to introduce two different approaches topublic service broadcasting in Serbia: the two broadcasters B92and RTS (Radio-Televizija Srbije or Radio Television of Serbia).At different times in recent Serbian history both media outletsfulfilled or rather still fulfill important public service functions –in each case under particular circumstances that could not bemore contrary. On the one hand, there is B92, which started asa local youth radio station in 1989 and which developed from abanned, semi-pirate radio station into a nationwide broadcaster,providing crucial public service content during the mostturbulent times of the country’s recent conflict-prone decades.On the other hand, there is the former state broadcaster RTS,which acted as a propaganda tool and even a war instrumentduring the Milošević era in the 1990s. After extensive reconstructionit is Serbia’s official public service broadcaster today,though is still in the process of transformation.B92 and RTS – individually and when compared – are interestingexamples of different public service broadcastingmodels. This chapter introduces both media outlets and examinesto what extent the two broadcasters fulfill the mainfunctions of public service media – both in the past and today.The transformation process of Serbia’s national public servicebroadcaster RTS will be analyzed in detail following the patternof the other country cases included in this study. B92, onthe other hand, is a private media network today that is notundergoing any transformation process. Therefore, the focuswill lie on its role as a public service broadcaster mainly in the1990s and its developments to date.Serbia – A Brief OverviewSerbia became a sovereign republic in 2006, after roughlytwo decades characterized by conflict and war. After WorldWar II, Serbia together with Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia,Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia became part of the newSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia proclaimed in 1945.Under the authoritarian communist leader Josip Broz Tito,who governed the country for 35 years, ethnic tensions wererepressed. 1 The federation fell apart in the 1990s under theSerbian nationalist leader Slobodan Milošević, who becamePresident of Serbia in 1989. Two years later, after the fall ofcommunism in the rest of Eastern Europe and due to economicand political crises, Slovenia, Macedonia, Croatia, andBosnia-Herzegovina broke away from Yugoslavia. As a consequence,the remaining republics of Serbia and Montenegrodeclared a new Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. 2Under Milošević’s leadership, 3 Serbia led various militarycampaigns to unite ethnic Serbs in neighboring republics into aso-called ‘Greater Serbia.’ 4 After bloody wars in Croatia and Bosniaand Herzegovina in the first half of the 1990s the situationescalated again in 1998, when an ethnic Albanian insurgency inthe formerly autonomous Serbian province Kosovo provoked abrutal crackdown launched by Serbian forces. This led to NATO’sbombing of Serbia in 1999, 5 – while Serbian forces conductedmassacres and massive expulsions of ethnic Albanians – andresulted in Kosovo gaining the status of a UN protectorate. In2000, due to extensive street demonstrations after an attemptto rig lost elections, Milošević stepped down as the President ofSerbia and a democratic government was installed. 6 The hugeimportance of the Milošević era for the development of bothbroadcasters analyzed here will be pointed out later in the text.1BBC News 2014.2The Federal Republic of Yugoslaviaexisted between 1992 and 2003,when the Yugoslav parliamentconsigned Yugoslavia to historyby approving the constitutionalcharter for the new, looser Unionof Serbia and Montenegro(BBC News 2014).3Milošević was not only reelectedas the Serbian President, but alsobecame President of Yugoslaviain 1997.4CIA 2014.5Ibid.6Milošević, for his part, wasarrested and put on trial oncharges of genocide and warcrimes in the subsequent years.Edition DW Akademie In the Service of the Public 161