used without permission, for "fair use" only

Spent Nationalism

by Teofil Pancic

Nezavisna Svetlost, Kragujevac, FR Yugoslavia, August 5-11 1996

Viewers of state-controlled TV stations in Serbia, Montenegro and various "Serb lands" which were attached to the (mis)information machinery of RTV Serbia still remember the appearance and voice of Ratko Dmitrovic, one of the most exposed journalist storm troopers from the time of the psychological- propaganda preparation of the Serbs for the "defensive war" and the time when that war, prepared by experts, was in full swing. Together with Krsto Bijelic, Stefan Grubac, Milijana Baletic, Mila Stula and few more media personalities of this sort, Dmitrovic became a symbol of the merciless media campaign against all those who did not fit the idealized image of a warrior Serb. When the support for the war declined (according to the directive from above) in the Serbian state-controlled media, since peace suddenly became the only viable option, Dmitrovic found himself among those who could not, or did not want to adjust to the new trend. He left RTS and, with a group of collaborators, founded bi-weekly "Argument", a low circulation publication directed at that part of readership which was disappointed with the gradual decrease of the nationalistic fury in the state-controlled media.

At first, the regime did not obstruct its former exponent but, as the differences were increasing, and the Serb policy went from one defeat to another, unpleasant witnesses who knew the propaganda machine from inside and couldn't be discredited as "traitors and foreign merceneries" became more and more undesirable. Gradually, larger state-controlled distribution companies started to block the distribution and withold payments for the sold copies of "Argument"; finally, the editorial board was forced to cease publishing. Their press release states, among other, that "lately, the pressure on 'Argument' has tremendously increased; this pressure is evident in the obstruction of the distribution of the magazine and in the inability to collect the debts for the larger part of the sold circulation".

"Pravda" and "Pogledi"

Problems facing the "Argument" editorial board are only the tip of an iceberg in the complicated relations between the regime and its former allies from the circles of journalistic "patriots". Explicit nationalist attitude and rhetoric, which were widespread at the beginning of the nineties, have fallen out of favor since they prod the consciousness of the regime which had created them (or at least established the conditions for their strong promotion). Before "Argument", two other Serbian publications of the pronounced nationalist orientation ceased publication. Weekly "Pravda" [justice] was launched at the beginning of 1994 by the "Borba" journalists who were disattisfied with the civic-liberal orientation of that independent daily. The team led by Blaza Sarovic (one of the media troopers from the infamous "Eight Session", described in Bogdan Bogdanovic's book, "Mrtvouzice"), had a special treatment and immediately received office space in the "Borba's" building at 7 Nikola Pasic square, most of which had been the state proprety even before the state contested the legality of "Borba's" transformation into joint stock company.

Soon afterwards, the official Serbian policy was forced to change its course and the magazine which at first tried to support every "patriotic" option, regardelss whether it was coming from the regime or opposition circles, found itself on the exposed ground: it became a dead weight to the regime, the opposition had no confidence in the journalists whom had previously excelled in the total support of the regime, and the market showed no interest for the articles by Dragos Kalajic, Milic od Macve and other "intellectuals" who wrote for this paper. Hence, "Pravda" ceased publication after about twenty issues, since it couldn't prove itself at the market nor earn confidence of any sort of political sponsors.

Kragujevac magazine "Pogledi" [views] had a completely different history: it started as a socialist-realistic magazine of the Kragujevac University students; at the end of the eighties, it was in hands of the editorial board led by Miroslav Samardzic who turned it into a tool for the rehabilitation of the Ravna Gora movement and the Serbian Chetniks as a second Serbian anti-fascist army. Front pages with the pictures of Draza Mihajlovic, "Serbian Uncle", and the reaffirmation of the ideology and iconography which had been a compete taboo for fifty years [since the end of WWII], contributed to an unbelievable market success of formerly anonymous student magazine from Kragujevac. Circulation grew precipitously until it reached almost 200,000 sold copies (at least according to the editorial board). In Serbia, in the throws of "national awakening" and newly composed anti-communist orientation it was considered "in" to read "Pogledi", and the collaboration with the paper became the matter of prestige for the "hard-line" rightist intellectuals.

To Hide a Great Defeat

When the war started, "Pogledi" sided with the most extreme nationalist movements from both sides of the Drina [in Serbia and Bosnia-Hercegovina], and consistently suported the concept of "Greater Serbia"; the editorial board believed that a large number of Serbs, let alone others, should be sacrificed for this goal. The paper consistently criticized all "unpatriotic" intellectuals and journalists who dared to objectively inform about the dishonorable role of Serb units in Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina.

When the war morale and the nationalist zeal of the manipulated masses began to wane, the circulation of "Pogledi" fell significantly; the paper faced the fact that their goods were becoming uncompetitive at the local ideas market. Neither the regime (which, because of ideological reasons didn't like the glorification of the Chetnik movement), nor the democratic opposition, nor the world public did anything to save the paper which was the symbol of the darkest ideology in the history of the Serb nation.

"Pogledi" quietly ceased publication a few months ago. It is obvious that the time of the press with the strong nationalist orientation has passed, and that the authorities are doing all they can in order to "assist" its demise. Only the most gullible individuals believe that the regime has realized that the support for nationalism was a mistake. The regime is simply trying to remove the evidence that there was ever a war and "state-sponsored" nationalism in this country.

Translated on 8/22/96