STRATEGIC POLITICAL COMMUNICATION IN SERBIAN DAILY PRESS

Text topic: Modern Media and PR

Text author: Зоран Јевтовић

It was said for traditional journalism that it opened „windows into the world“ to the citizens. After introduction of the Internet and a vast number of convergent platforms one could argue that the gaze through these media windows is becoming more and more blurred, due to a continually increasing number and size of such windows, which gives raise to suspicion as to the depicted reality. Analyzing contents of the most investigated daily newspapers in Serbia, the author has investigated the realm of epistemic communication with special attention paid to its role in the process of forming political culture. In contemporary practice, the creators of public opinion are political figures (ranging from political parties to civil society organizations), those in power (members of Government and state administration), the media (from mass media to the social networks) and citizens (from individuals to the political public). Serbian press allow themselves to be gold dusted by PR agencies, presenting reality as patterns of success promoted by political establishment and spinned by manifestations of significance and power. In the aftermaths of the authoritarian pseudo-democratic regime, it is considered normal for political establishment members to use communication intermediaries to serve their interests, thus forcing the contents suitable for aggressive promotion of political clientelism. Unstable nature of the truth provided in various interpretations of recipients, among ideologicaly and culturally different readers, leads to abandoning of professional principles in journalism and their substitution with informative&entertaining contents. Within this context, news are losing their character as a public value and are becoming merchandise instead, possesed by the richest and most powerful individuals.