Media participation: Members of the Media Subcommittee of the Survey Commission for Radar

The reporting of most domestic media before and after the collapse of the canopy at the Railway Station in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024, aligns with their reporting style over the past 13 years since the coalition of the SNS and SPS has been in power. In other words, most media outlets have primarily served to promote the actions of the authorities rather than providing citizens with truthful, complete, and timely information. This is the main conclusion of the Media Subcommittee of the Inquiry Committee tasked with determining responsibility for the collapse of the canopy, which analyzed the responsibility and reporting of the media before and after the incident.

Below, we publish an authorial text written for Radar by members of the Media Subcommittee, Dubravka Valić Nedeljković, a retired full professor from the University of Novi Sad, and graduate sociologist Zoran Gavrilović.

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The Media Subcommittee conducted four studies: an analysis of media coverage during the reconstruction of the Railway Station in Novi Sad, the first opening of the reconstructed platform and railway in 2022, the second opening of the Railway Station itself in 2024, and narratives from Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić regarding who is to blame for the collapse of the canopy and the (non)performance of prosecutors and judges.

Analysis of Media Coverage on the Reconstruction of the Station in Novi Sad

Two completely opposing groups of media have been engaged over the years (from 2013 to 2024), according to the materials available to us, regarding the reconstruction of the Railway Station in Novi Sad.

The first group consists of print, electronic, and new digital media close to the authorities, including both public broadcasters, the daily newspapers Politika, Novosti, the Novi Sad Dnevnik, and Alo, as well as online media such as Naslovi.net, Gradske Info, NS uživo, Vojvodina uživo, e-Kapija, Moj Novi Sad, Gradska TV, Informativni list Železnice Srbije, and Graditelj, a professional journal for architects in Serbia.

These media reported exclusively in a fact-based manner, with an abundance of photographs, though rarely those taken on-site. All articles were very positively framed (100 percent in the analyzed sample). Articles mentioning the Chinese company and their workers, as well as the value of the work, were extremely rare. They never posed additional questions regarding the price, contractors, or deadlines.

The second group consists of only a few media outlets, prominently featuring the portal 021, which covered the reconstruction of the Railway Station in Novi Sad. This portal was selected also because it attracts one million seven hundred thousand unique users per month. The majority of their articles were analytical, making up 24 percent of the content. They reached out for additional information to 10 addresses, most frequently to Railway Infrastructure (53 percent). In 56 percent of cases, they never received a response from institutions.

Analysis of Reporting on the Two Openings of the Railway and Railway Station in Novi Sad

The first event was the commissioning of the section of the railway from Belgrade to Novi Sad as part of the international line from Belgrade to Budapest on March 19, 2022. All media extensively covered this event as the main actors were Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The media treated it as an international event. The opening was also linked to the presidential elections held on April 3, 2022.

The second opening of the Railway Station itself on July 5, 2024, received very sporadic coverage from the media, which considered it a local event, as only the President of the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina Maja Gojković and the Minister in the Serbian Government Goran Vesić attended the opening.

Speech Strategies of Aleksandar Vučić

In 158 days, from November 5, 2024, to April 12, 2025, Aleksandar Vučić, in his 50 addresses, mentioned the prosecution and the courts in every third address, directly qualifying their work in a negative or questionable tone.

A characteristic of his basic manipulative speech strategy is the "hot-cold" model, aimed at damage control through delegitimization and criticism of mostly everything he discusses, particularly the work of the prosecution and the courts.

He blames the profession for the collapse of the canopy, which later resulted in the arrest of 13 engineers. He claims that it is not a matter of corruption, but rather ignorance. He denies or calls into question political responsibility. In October 2025, he publicly presents the thesis that it is a matter of terrorism and introduces a new actor into the discourse, opposition politician from Novi Sad Miša Bačulov, in an attempt to divert citizens' attention from the lack of legal proceedings.

He labels opponents and dissenters with terms that carry a negative connotation: "liars," "fraudsters," "those who undermine institutions," "foreign mercenaries," "yellow elite," "hooligans," etc. The intention is to diminish their value in the eyes of the media audience. He presents himself as a law-abiding citizen: "I will not destroy institutions just...," "I will not interfere but..."

Conclusion

This type of reporting and the narratives promoted by the ruling elite and the president himself have failed to fulfill a basic human right—the right of citizens to know—thus putting their lives into question. The reporting on the collapse of the canopy aligns with the reporting style of the past 13 years, characterized by the promotion of government actions without allowing citizens their constitutionally guaranteed right (Article 51) to truthful, complete, and timely information, resulting in citizens remaining uninformed about crucial details of the project.

Additionally, part of the media functioned to obscure responsibility, divert attention, and label those who sought accountability, including the Inquiry Committee.

Source: Radar