Violence in the 'old' (paper press, television, web 1.0) media and the new media (electronic press, digital video, web 2.0) in Serbia

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore the ways in which the old and new media in Serbia after the Cold War give impetus to creating social violence. During the 1990's, civil war and conflicts were reality of Serbia and political violence in the media was the dominant phenomenon - the most influential media being television and the paper press. Radical media change came after the political revolution on October 5, 2000: social violence became a substitute for political violence. The most popular media nowadays in Serbia are the Internet and the electronic press including 'modern topics' about hooligans violence, family violence, sexual violence and the maltreatment of children. Violence is still the most dominant phenomenon in the Serbian media even though the wars are behind us because frustration and poor social standards have not disappeared. Political pluralism and a capitalist economic system in Serbia have generated a diffusion of social violence. The new media has an ambivalent relationship with the public: first, the media is responsible for the growth of social tension because of popularizing topics about violence and conflicts - as in movies, reality shows with scenes of violence etc.: and then second, the media as importantly shows the methods and institutions for preventing violence such as 'safe houses' for victims of violence etc. For some time now in Serbia there has been an action in progress, by the state as well as non-governmental organizations, against violence in the media. What is missing though is scientific and expert research which would objectively determine the level of violence present in the media, as well as the degree of its harmful influence on users of the media. This is why the Center for Security Studies and Terrorism Research, of which I am the Director, decided to start a wider and longer-lasting research of the relationship between media and violence in Serbia. This research would has had several stages and lasted over a number of years. In the first stage the main goal was to determine the citizens' views about the degree of violence present in the media in Serbia, through survey and directed interviews. The media were classified as 'old' and 'new'. The results of this stage of research will be presented to the public for the first time now, at the IPRA Congress in Sidney. We hope that this research will answer some of the questions so often asked by various groups in Serbian society, as well as in the scientific community.