THE MEDIA IN WAR OR THE WAR OF THE MEDIA?

Kosovska kriza ponovno je u prvi plan izbacila snažnu, beskrupuloznu i razornu Miloševićevu medijsku aparaturu. Ona nije nikakva novost, niti je iznenađenje za sve koji prate Miloševića od njegovih samih početaka, ali je taj propagandni stroj sada počeo koristiti svoja najteža oružja, ne birajući ni riječi ni sredstva kako bi polučio cilj: opravdanje genocidne politike i homogeniziranje Srba još jednom na istoj platformi nacionalnog jedinstva i velikosrpstva. Suočili smo se, s jedne strane, s dobro uhodanim medijskim strojem koji melje sve pred sobom bez imalo skrupula, bez poštivanja temeljnih novinarskih načela, a o etici da i ne govorimo. S druge strane, našli su se najjači svjetski mediji, moćni, snažni, prodorni i tehnički savršeno opremljeni, ali uz jedan bitni nedostatak: to su masovni mediji, a ne propagandna mašinerija. Došlo je do sudara dvaju posve različitih ustrojstava. Dakle, mediji u ratu pretvorili su se u rat medija, i to posve neravnopravni rat jakog propagandnog stroja i demokratskih medija.The Kosovo crisis once again brought the powerful, unscrupulous and destructive Milošević’ media apparatus into the spotlight. This is nothing new nor surprising for all those who have been covering his political ascent from the very beginning, but this time he used his heaviest artillery, never mincing words nor flinching from using all possible means to achieve his ends: to justify the genocidal policy and rallying Serbs once again around the well-known platform of national unity and Greater Serbia rhetoric. On one side, we had a well-oiled media machine that mercilessly rolled over everything on its way, not respecting any basic journalistic principles, not to mention ethics. On the other side, there were the most powerful world media, aggressive, assertive, equipped with the state-of-the-art technology, but with one major flaw: these are mass media, not a propaganda machinery. Two completely different structures clashed head-on. Thus, the media in war turned into the war of the media, a totally unfair war between a powerful propaganda machine and democratic media