"Texts from 'one center' – how discreditation campaigns operate in the media."

In the Report on Monitoring Compliance with the Journalists' Code of Ethics in Serbia in printed media for the second half of last year, prepared by journalist Vera Didanović and journalist Bojan Cvejić for the Press Council, these campaigns have also been specifically highlighted.

“The phenomenon of simultaneous publication of texts with completely identical content in multiple media outlets is again noticeable, indicating influence on editorial policy from a single external center,” the Report states.

The author of the Report, journalist and former member of the Press Council's Complaints Commission Bojan Cvejić, tells NUNS that such texts are characterized by the fact that they generally lack interlocutors, sources, are unsigned, and cannot be classified into any journalistic form studied in journalism theory.

“These are essentially pamphlets in which either facts are twisted and placed in a negative context or comments and speculations are presented, all of which contradicts the Journalists' Code of Ethics in Serbia, as well as all other civilizational standards. Such texts evidently spread propaganda, both positive towards the activities of the government and ruling structures, and negative towards those who think differently and express their critical views publicly,” explains Cvejić.

Due to the increasingly frequent campaigns being waged against individuals in the media, a new clause (Clause 3 of Chapter 5) has been incorporated into the new Journalists' Code of Ethics in Serbia, stating that journalists are obliged “to respect the principle of not causing harm to the reputation and dignity of individuals and not to participate in the dissemination of falsehoods or the ongoing malicious undermining of the reputation of individuals they report on,” i.e., discreditation campaigns.

The General Secretary of the Press Council Gordana Novaković states that this clause was introduced into the Code based on experiences from the Complaints Commission's work.

“We had cases where media campaigns were waged against certain individuals (series of texts with practically identical content were published), and we did not have a provision in the Code that would regulate that. Of course, it could have been subsumed under existing provisions at the time, but we thought it was not sufficient to point out the intentional undermining of someone's reputation, thus addressing texts that have no informative value but whose only aim is to cause harm to someone,” notes Novaković.

More than half of Code violations due to breach of the new provision

The Complaints Commission recorded 59 cases out of a total of 110 violations last year, in which Clause 3 of Chapter 5 of the Code was violated, says the General Secretary of the Press Council.

“Thus, in more than 50 percent of cases, that specific clause was breached. In the majority of complaints, which related directly or indirectly to student and civic protests that lasted almost the entire year of 2025, there were indications of intentional spreading of falsehoods aimed at harming dignity and reputation. These are not always campaigns; sometimes it's one or two texts, but the method of 'reporting' is the same,” she explains.

Novaković adds that the choice of media that will publish such a text often depends on the background of the person the text concerns.

“Usually, this involves two or three media outlets with national coverage (most often Informer, Alo, and Novosti) and two or three local ones. Sometimes they don't even complain about all the media that published something; perhaps they haven't seen everything or not all of them cause the same harm,” she states.

Discreditation campaigns at the local level are even more dangerous

 

At the last meeting, the Complaints Commission deliberated on the complaints filed by Dejan Spasić against five media outlets. Informer, NS uživo, 025 Info, Gradske info, and the portal Novosadske TV published texts with completely identical content on December 15 of last year.

“Dejan is a failed student who is 29 years old and has positioned himself as the leader of student protests in Kula. Like all those similar to him, Dejan regularly appears on tycoon television. Because how else... When they have the same goal and interest, which is to destroy the state and amass wealth,” the publications of these media state.

It further states that Spasić is “the son and grandson of arrested criminals who robbed pensioners,” and “when they spent the money they stole, they 'pushed' Dejan to enter politics through student protests so they could steal again” – without any evidence.

The media machinery has been set in motion because local elections will soon be held in Kula, and this is one of the reasons why such campaigns intensify at the local level. Another reason is, as a rule, the discreditation of student protests.

Epilogue – violations of multiple chapters of the Journalists' Code of Ethics in Serbia.

In the explanation of the Complaints Commission, it states that “the members of the Commission assessed that such texts represent a continuation of the reckoning with citizens participating in protests against the government and that their only goal is to discredit the complainants, who are, even through family members, without any evidence, linked to certain criminal acts.” It also adds that it is “content that resembles a political pamphlet more than a journalistic text.”

 Discreditation campaigns in the media affect public opinion, but also the individuals who are targeted and their families.

 Bojan Cvejić emphasizes that media literacy in Serbia is at a low level, meaning that a significant portion of the audience does not critically observe everything that is presented to them.

 “When something is broadcast and published in a large number of mainstream media with significant reach, certain segments of the audience accept it as fact. And since the primary goal is to spin and maliciously undermine the reputation of certain individuals whose opinions do not align with certain structures, it not only damages their reputation but also jeopardizes their safety. If you declare someone a state enemy, a foreign agent, the culprit for everything bad happening in the country, this can provoke various forms of aggression among parts of the audience that accept it as truth,” explains Cvejić.

 “This is particularly dangerous and concerning when it comes to individuals from smaller communities, where the consequences of such narratives spread by organized media machinery can spill over to their families and people in their surroundings, which further intensifies the sense of vulnerability and insecurity,” he adds.

Campaigns against public prosecutors, students, professors, journalists…

“One of the more noticeable campaigns of this type was directed against the Chief Public Prosecutor for Organized Crime Mladen Nenadić, the rector of the University of Belgrade Vladan Đokić, the prorector and former president of the Assembly of Infrastructure of the Serbian Railways Nebojša Bojović, who resigned after the collapse of the canopy, and the former executive director of Infrastructure of the Serbian Railways Milutin Milošević. The fact that they were photographed together in a restaurant was characterized as a 'scandal' without any justification, just as no arguments were provided for the accusations that were then repeated for days, concerning responsibility for the collapse of the Novi Sad canopy. None of those targeted were given the opportunity to present their version of events,” states the new Report on Monitoring Compliance with the Code in Printed Media.

 At meetings of the Complaints Commission, there have been multiple discussions about texts of this nature targeting public prosecutors, certain blocked students, journalists, and other critics of the regime.

 “Thus, individuals who participated in or were associated with the protests. Although there were also those who were not protest participants – public prosecutors, for example – but were also portrayed as actors of a colored revolution. Individually, the most complaints were filed by prosecutors Bojana Savović and Jasmina Paunović, and students from FON, brothers Luka and Lazar Stojaković,” says the General Secretary of the Press Council.

 At the next meeting, the Complaints Commission will decide on the complaint filed by Veran Matić against 25 internet portals. All of them continued the campaign that was launched against Matić by the government's favored NGO, Center for Social Stability, presenting a series of falsehoods and accusations in the so-called documentary “Evil Times 2,” which was aired on several television stations, including those with national frequency.

 Numerous domestic and international media and journalistic associations and institutions reacted to this discreditation campaign.

 “We have no doubt that behind the dehumanizing campaign against Matić stands the very top of the state… That it is an organized and targeted campaign is evidenced by the fact that the film (Evil Times 2) was broadcast on a large number of television stations close to the authorities and that it was announced with great fanfare. In it, Matić is primitively and sensationally labeled as an enemy of the state and society, effectively calling for his lynching. He is declared a 'foreign agent' who has been working against Serbia for decades,” states the statement of the Coalition for Media Freedom regarding this campaign.

 The International Press Institute (IPI) from Vienna also condemned this campaign.

 “The film, made by an obscure organization connected to the state, contains numerous inaccurate and sensationalist accusations and uses dangerous rhetoric,” stated IPI.

 The president of the European Federation of Journalists Maja Sever assessed that the film about Veran Matić and everything that has been happening in Serbia recently is dangerous, while the director of the office of Reporters Without Borders in Prague Pavol Salai called on Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić “to clearly distance himself from the campaign.”

 “Otherwise, if anything happens to Veran Matić, we will hold the President of Serbia responsible,” said Salai.

 Despite all of the above, the campaign continued with a statement from the Center for Social Stability accusing Matić of acting “against the state interests of Serbia,” announcing that “a thematic special dedicated to his dedicated work on certain anti-state projects will be released soon.”

 Additionally, on the social media pages of the Center for Social Stability, more obscure content was announced in the production of this organization targeting 45 journalists, media workers, and collaborators from independent media and journalists.

The question arises: Who controls these media?

When, within a span of just a few hours or even minutes, almost identical texts appear in several different editorial offices, often unsigned and without a clear source, it is hard to believe that this is a coincidence or “a coincidence of editorial assessments.”

Gordana Novaković states that everything indicates that they were written and disseminated from a single center.

“Whether they originate in one of the editorial offices or outside of them, we cannot know. It is possible that a text generated in one editorial office is sent by the editor to other media, although such cooperation with competitors is indeed strange. In any case, regardless of how that mechanism functions, such practices are very detrimental and have nothing to do with serious and responsible journalism, nor with the fundamental task of journalists – to inform in accordance with the public interest,” notes Novaković.

She reminds editors that they are responsible for the content they publish.

“The decision regarding what to publish in their media is exclusively theirs. Their responsibility extends to everything they have published, regardless of how specific content was created. The explanation 'we merely transmitted' or 'we faithfully transmitted and cited the source', which we receive from certain editorial offices, is simply not acceptable,” concludes Novaković.

Source: NUNS