21. 09. 2004

Tabloidisation of daily newspapers

BELGRADE, September 21, 2004 (B92) – Serbia’s daily newspapers have veered more and more to tabloid style journalism over the past two years, according to a study by IREX. IREX’s research shows that tabloid journalism has increasingly displaced the morning dailies from their traditional domination of the market. The study indicates that tabloids in Serbia differ significantly from those in more developed countries, not only economically but also in their purely political aspects. The study finds that this shift in the nature of daily newspapers is present in all the countries of the region over the past ten years, but that those in this country are completely different. Snjezana Milivojevic, who headed the research project “The Serbian Press Turns Tabloid”, told a panel discussion “The process of the newspaper shift to tabloids in this country has a background which is more than commercial. It is also due to powerful political changes and a situation of conflict; these newspapers have an increasing or almost completely political focus.” Stevan Niksic, the director of the Centre for Professional Media said that tabloids in western countries are respectable newspapers which, as in other newspapers, have respect for the facts. “Facts are sacred. Take a look at what we call tabloids, they are full of lies. Everyone knows that these are pure fabrication and no one cares about it,” he said. Journalist Milan Milosevic observed that the view from the balcony of the Serbian Parliament revealed what people were reading. “This is mostly the yellow press, rather than serious newspapers. So the contamination is coming from the circles of the political elite who should, in fact, be working to bring order to public communication,” he said. Certain media in Serbia operate as a centre of political power, using the media to disturb and alarm the public, members of the panel discussion said. The IREX research showed that the tabloids were primarily aimed at the emotions, not the intellect, of the readers. All participants in the panel discussion agreed that the tabloids were not the primary reason for the chaotic situation in the Serbian media. Rather, they said, it was the law which did not require them to reveal who owned them, nor who funded them, nor what journalists wrote particular articles. Speakers called attention to the standards on which the Council of Europe insists that member countries should clearly name media sponsors in order not to allow the abuse of funds and to prevent people from acquiring a stranglehold on media.