“You’re Simply the Best”: Communicating Power and Victimhood in Support of President Aleksandar Vučić in the Serbian Dailies Alo! and Informer

Abstract

Since the recent slew of anti-democratic developments on a worldwide scale, from the onset of the xenophobic crisis in Europe to the election of president Donald Trump, scholarly interest in the Western Balkans has waned significantly. Yet new developments have unraveled in Serbia since 2012 and the coming into power of the 1990s warmonger, Aleksandar Vučić. During his now six year reign, the country has fallen into disarray, with the stifling of the freedom of the press, increased poverty, an intense brain drain, and a number of bizarre affairs in which Aleksandar Vučić's collaborators are often involved. His method of governance has shown to be intrinsically linked to the media, especially dailies that have been, for years, framing him as both being a type of Ubermensch, extremely competent, strong and efficient, while at the same time developing a victimhood narrative, via which he is painted as under constant attack, as well as a victim of numerous attempts on his life. From a methodological standpoint of media content analysis, through the theoretical lenses of discursive deception theory (and other relevant media-related theoretical standpoints), this article analyzes the discourses of the Alo! and the Informer, the two most prominent dailies that support Serbia's ruler, Aleksandar Vučić, looking into how they communicate power to their readership.

“One out of Five Million”: Serbia’s 2018-19 Protests against Dictatorship, the Media, and the Government’s Response

“…Eric Gordy of the UCL stated that "the tight control that the governing party exercises over media, information, employment, and the distribution of benefits means that there is no level playing field and voters are not in a position to freely make an informed choice" (Gordy, in: Bechev et al 2017), while Dimitar Bechev wrote that "Vučić's election paves the way to the consolidation of a one-man regime in Serbia" (Bechev et al 2017). Vučić's regime was described as controlling and receiving massive support from the government-supporting media, painting a picture of him as both an "Ubermensch" fighting for the good of his people, as well as a victim of numerous forces trying to hinder or even assassinate him (Jovanović 2018). Some scholars have called the media in Serbia "captured" (Kmezic 2018).…”

“…Mass media. Vučić has by now become known as drawing power from the media, censorship of the press, and media control (Jovanović 2018, Drčelić 2013). 6.…”

“…Special attention, however, needs to be given to the media, which have seen significant scholarly interest in view of their not uncommon support of totalitarian regimes (Zimmermann 2018, Wolin 2017. In light of the heavy reliance and control of the media by Aleksandar Vučić (Jovanović 2018, Eror 2018, Drčelić 2013, the Vučić-supporting media have gone to great lengths in trying to misinform their audiences about the protests, especially the most vocal among them, the daily Informer. The Informer, known for its content's severe lack of connection with reality, fake news, and character assassination pieces, wrote about one of the informal protest leaders, Sergej Trifunović.…”

“…Trying to pin the protests on the opposition was a continuous running theme, as the Informer kept repeating that "the organizers of the protests are actually Dragan Đilas and Boško Obradović" (Informer 2018c). The exact same modus operandi was seen in the daily Alo!, that, together with the Informer, stands at the frontline of Vučić-supporting media (Jovanović 2018). It claimed that "the protest is organized by the Coalition for Serbia's leader Dragan Đilas", and that "its goal is the violent takeover of governmental power in Serbia" (Alo!…”

“…There was furthermore no proof whatsoever -having in mind that it never happened -that any of the peaceful protesters called for "lynching, rape, violence, coup d'état". Note that scholarship has already described Vučić's proclivity to invent potential coups and unknown threats to him when he tries to present himself as a victim working for the benefit of the country and its people (Jovanović 2018). The musician Milan Stanković, known also under the stage name SevdahBABY, turned her report, via autotune, into an instant hit, dubbing the piece "Barbara, the Singing Bot" (N1 2018b), quickly to be played each Saturday during the protests.…”