Vučić dictates the narrative, and tabloids lead the campaign: How do media discrediting campaigns function and what effect do they have?

Individuals or groups who are targets of such attacks are often portrayed through one-sided narratives, while their ability to respond or explain their own position is pushed to the background or often does not exist.

Discrediting campaigns can have long-term consequences – from undermining professional and personal integrity to completely excluding someone from public discourse.

When used as a political or business weapon, they not only affect the reputation of the target but also the wider public, as they shape the perception of social phenomena through biased and manipulative reporting. For this reason, recognizing and critically reflecting on such content is crucial for preserving media literacy and protecting the public sphere.

Veran Matić, the president of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), points out in Danas that the media today is highly polarized, but a minority is still dedicated to professional reporting and adherence to ethical codes.

"When they engage in investigative journalism, particularly in series, they are often accused of conducting campaigns against politicians, tycoons, businessmen, or criminals… but even if there are objections to certain facts, they can refute them," he explains.

He adds that such media comply with the law and publish accordingly.

"However, media outlets are increasingly being sued with elements of SLAPP lawsuits, and since SLAPP is not recognized in our judiciary, such lawsuits are not dismissed in practice. The ensuing trials threaten the operations of newsrooms, divert energy, intimidate with hefty fines, and so on," warns Matić.

He explains that what they do is not discrediting campaigns but investigative journalism that is deliberately spun as an organized discrediting campaign.

On the other hand, he states, tabloid media, which dominate the media scene, base a large portion of their content on organized discrediting campaigns, founded on false and fabricated news, untruths, or half-truths.

"These campaigns can be intimidating, extensive, and over long periods create stereotypes about the person or organization that is the target. And if someone dares to send a rebuttal, it is published in a less visible place, while the campaign continues," points out our interlocutor.

Even after lawsuits and guilty verdicts, as Matić notes, campaigns often continue in some other form.

"It is evident that the fines imposed are part of a business plan, or rather factored into the business model," he concludes.

Matić reminds us that tabloid media also use filters or photographs that portray the target in a negative light.

"Often derogatory names are used, which are repeated until they become imposed as a stereotype. Headlines are sensational, and often claims in the headline are not found in the text," he states.

The target, he says, is most often determined by political power brokers and is launched in statements at press conferences or in parliamentary appearances, interviews, with half-truths and accusations.

"Tabloids agree to this and all publish a frontal attack with lies in unison, often with identical texts, the story is shared on social media, and a bot mechanism is activated that multiplies visibility and creates additional confusion among followers. Comments are often part of the campaign and expand the theme of insults and discreditation," he explains.

Threats often appear as well, he adds.

"Drastic comments then end up in tabloid media, where the campaign continues, and those comments are discussed by politicians or analysts, who further spread additional discreditations, thus creating a spiral of the campaign," warns Matić.

He warns that half-truths sourced from intelligence or police circles are used, and the motives determine which patterns will be utilized.

"There are campaigns that aim to cover up sensitive political decisions, government jobs… and then it is very difficult to understand why the campaign was launched, as it appears to be a senseless imposition of a topic," explains Matić.

There are also campaigns reacting to certain events or reporting on events.

"Campaigns by leading politicians and tabloids against media outlets such as United Media are constant, and every report, every show is used to employ already established stereotypes and interpretations that have nothing to do with the truth," indicates Matić.

The lie is repeated incessantly, he claims, and provides an example.

"Recently, tabloids used a photograph from a meeting of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists from two years ago, which has been publicly published multiple times in reports from the meeting, where prosecutors, police representatives, and journalists who are threatened or physically attacked discussed as they do at every meeting. The photograph shows two prosecutors and Dinko Gruhonjić. The tabloids used the photograph in a discrediting campaign against the prosecutors, claiming that Dinko Gruhonjić and Veran Matić are commanding them, as I led the meeting," says Matić.

As he adds, this has been repeated in various versions for several weeks and is occasionally "pulled out" again.

Matić warns that such campaigns cause significant harm because false information is spread in which a certain segment of the public always believes.

"This is also a serious psychological pressure because the victim feels helpless. Often, insults and disturbing messages are terrifying, especially toward women. Such campaigns also bring threats, and this is undoubtedly very disturbing for both individuals and organizations," he emphasizes.

Our judicial system is not effective, claims Matić.

"When you decide to sue, you then go through a new level of victimization during a lengthy court process. Therefore, it is important for us as a society to react to such campaigns, especially those of us in the journalistic profession, and to protect all those who are targets of such campaigns," he asserts.

Journalist and Vice President of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) Slobodan Ćirić notes in Danas that serious, honest, and professional critical journalism is always based on facts, which can be commented on or compared to arrive at certain positions, "where facts are sacred, and comments are free."

"When I say fact, I mean what is accurate, what has been verified from multiple sources. An organized discrediting campaign is based on none or possibly one fact, and by twisting it, a combination is created that suits the author of the campaign. Such a campaign is based on rumors, gossip, lies, slanders, insults, which opens 'broad possibilities' for a 'creative' approach by the author. An organized discrediting campaign in Serbia typically has a thick political background, is commissioned, and it is not excluded that it is well-paid, with the 'target' clearly defined and all means permitted," he points out.

Ćirić believes that before a campaign is launched, a task is first assigned by a superior, but some creators of such campaigns are likely already so practiced that they know when and whom to target.

"It is enough for their client to just 'wink', mention the name of the 'victim', and all engaged socio-political operatives, who call themselves journalists in their party bulletins, which they refer to as media, know very well what they need to do," he states.

Ćirić adds that they do not fear the law or regulatory bodies.

"And they have long since cleared with morals, professional standards, and basic human shame," he emphasizes.

The consequences of these campaigns on the individuals who are their targets are manifold and largely depend on several factors, explains our interlocutor.

"They depend on the political rank of the campaign creator, the 'quality' of the executor of this dirty work, and the reach of their media," says Ćirić.

Editor of the Cenzolovka portal Perica Gunjić points out for our publication that a huge percentage of people fall for such "notorious lies and deceptions."

"The information coming from national television and tabloids is even below the level of mass frauds on Instagram – they show you some super sneakers, you buy them, and you get a sole from a sandal, if you ever receive anything. In this case, even the sneakers they show you do not look super. Their news, especially when they run campaigns, is rife with lies, pure fabrications, curses, insults, half-truths, and looks like informing at a party after the first bottle of rakija," he explains.

However, media literacy that is not backed by the state cannot be effective, believes our interlocutor.

"It must reach all layers of society and aim for at least the majority of people in the country to recognize lies in the public space, especially on social media and in tabloids," he emphasizes.

In the absence of such social action, Gunjić warns, we are condemned to this "fanatic ring."

"We are condemned to stands filled with fans who are just looking for a reason to fight, who care little for the truth and will defend their beliefs based on what those they cheer for provide them. Of course, they will discredit anyone they need to, in every possible way, slander, threaten, involve families and children, and eventually take to the streets with a knife or baton, as we have already seen happening," he warns.

Their main mechanism is, Gunjić states, "lie and insult as brutally and loudly as possible."

"They are not creative at all, they are painfully boring, if only they included a little imagination or humor, but no, these campaigns are always the same, deathly boring, but also dangerous. They produce potentially dangerous situations for those against whom the campaigns are directed and bring upon them the burden of progressive hatred, which can always explode into violence, as we see in the streets," he points out.

That is the mechanism – "flailing with words," says our interlocutor.

"There aren't many other mechanisms involved. They receive orders, which they carry out in the most primitive and brutal possible way, in accordance with their intellectual abilities," Gunjić states.

When an order arrives, as he says, within minutes everyone publishes it – Informer, Alo, Srpski Telegraf, Novosti, while Pink is already airing a special program.

"We have proven this through campaigns against Tamara Skrozza and many others. The Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation has established this regularity, and in many examples of attacks on journalists, the synchronization of the state top and tabloids in these campaigns is evident. Thus, Ana Brnabić or Aleksandar Vučić dictate the narrative and the manner in which the campaign should be conducted; they publicly insult and slander someone, and the tabloids and national TV later elaborate on it, with the help of an army of bot-analysts who then pounce on the person who is the target that day," describes Gunjić.

They often obtain photographs from the police or the prosecution, he adds.

The goal of these campaigns, he states, is intimidation, maintaining fear, creating panic, confusion, and even bewilderment among people.

"In the end, someone pulls out a knife or a gun at people who are protesting, those against whom campaigns are directed, as in the case of that woman who injured the dean in Niš. They are attacked with stones, bottles, heavy pyrotechnics that cause serious injuries, and hidden weapons boxes have been discovered in cars," warns Gunjić.

These are indeed the consequences of such campaigns, he asserts.

"For years, an atmosphere has been created that culminates in the abuse of children, when high-ranking police officers smash students' heads against walls, stomp on them with boots, or threaten them with rape. This is what our tabloid army and television have given us, those buttons that Vučić and his team push," Gunjić concludes.

Source: Danas