Discursive Governmental and Media Response to Covid-19: The Case of Serbia

Abstract

Serbia’s government, led by Aleksandar Vučić, has in scholarship been classified as semi-authoritarian, using Marina Ottaway’s classification. Its media have also been described as being in heavy, biased support of the government. Scholarship has further revealed that the Vučić-led, post-2012 government, has thrown the country backwards in time, with corruption and affairs being the primary instance by which the regime can be described. Expectedly, the response of the government and the government-supporting media to the COVID-19 pandemic has been less than professional. The initial response included official government press conferences in which the novel coronavirus was deemed to be ’funny’ and that, in the middle of the pandemic explosion and increased deathrate in Italy, Serbia’s population was advised to go to Italy for ’shopping’. The media furthermore tried to pin the pandemic to Serbia’s opposition alleged attempts to topple the government via ’coronavirus propaganda’. This article proposes to tackle the government’s and their supporting media’s responses to COVID-19 in February/March 2019 from a Discourse Analytical perspective.

Phytoremediation Potential, Photosynthetic and Antioxidant Response to Arsenic-Induced Stress of Dactylis glomerata L. Sown on Fly Ash Deposits

“…Dactylis glomerata L. (cocksfoot) is a perennial tufted grass species that is widespread in Europe, Asia, and North Africa [57]. D. glomerata has an extensive fibrous root system.…”

Lexical Borrowing of Covid-19 Terminologies in the Indonesian Language

“…Many new phrases appeared and have been used by online media as new Indonesian-based health terms that provided important information during the pandemic. Some of these terms and their English meanings include items ( 12) pensanitasi tangan -hand sanitizer, ( 13) penularan lokal -local transmission, ( 14) kasus impor -imported case, (15) termometer tembak -ThermoGun, ( 16) normal baru -new normal, ( 17) tes usab -swab test, (18) test cepat -rapid test, and ( 19) jaga jarak -social distancing. Other words are item (20) pembatasan fisik -physical distancing, ( 21) kekebalan kelompok -herd immunity, (22) isolasi mandiri -self-isolation, (23) sektor esensial -essential sector, (24) sektor non-esensial -non-essential sector, (25) sektor kritikal -critical sector, (26) sektor khusus -special sector, (27) kekebalan komunal -herd immunity, and (28) proses penyekatan -restriction process.…”

“…Consequently, online media platforms strive to present fully informed news related to the Covid-19 pandemic by adapting new terms from the source language into the recipient vocabulary to enable unable their understanding by society (Jovanovic, 2020). These words have enriched the Indonesian language through direct use or by borrowing some English terms, confirming that the vocabulary employed by online media users contains variations that should be researched (Aribowo & Khomsah, 2021).…”

Shaping the Public Perception of Economic Phenomena During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Priority of Goals or Values?

“…The greatest threat to society, or more broadly, to the functioning of the state, may occur when several factors have a combined negative impact on the perception of the pandemic. The case presented by Jovanović (2020) showed the use of the media by Serbian politicians for socially harmful and irresponsible propaganda. The author presents a radical change in the attitude of the authorities, from nonchalance and lack of preventive measures, to spreading fear, panic, and using the issue of pandemic in the political fight against the opposition.…”