CROATIAN AND SERBIAN MEDIA ON THE EVENTS OF 1991, WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON THE SITUATION IN SLAVONIA

Dana 25. lipnja 1991. godine ostvaren je stoljetni san hrvatskoga naroda, stvorena je vlastita i samostalna država – Republika Hrvatska. U to vrijeme jača težnja Srbije za stvaranjem vlastitog cilja – Velike Srbije, unutar koje se, po njihovim planovima, trebala nalaziti i Hrvatska. Kako se hrvatsko stanovništvo s tim nije slagalo, s vremenom se u tzv. SAO Krajini počinju dizati pobune i blokirati ceste, što vodi do prvih oružanih sukoba, a samim time i do rata. U vrijeme sukoba 1991. na području Slavonije hrvatski su (i srpski) mediji intenzivno izvještavali o događanjima na tom prostoru. U svom su se djelovanju fokusirali na napetostima i aktualnim sukobima. Dosta često su djelovali subjektivno i nisu bili nepristrani, što se može uočiti u razlikovanju načina informiranja hrvatskih i srpskih novinara. Novinarstvo u ratnim uvjetima je pravi primjer koliko je stvaran utjecaj medija na javnost. Neki od hrvatskih medija imali su ulogu podignuti nacionalni ponos i motivirati vojsku za daljnja djelovanja, ali i ukazati na patnje koje proživljava civilno stanovništvo. Borba protiv srpskih snaga u medijima je poistovjećena s borbom Davida i Golijata. Stoga je važno i stvaranje identiteta hrvatskog ratnika čija je uloga bila podizanje morala i stvaranje razlike između agresorske i hrvatske vojske. Među njima se najviše ističu Hrvatski radio Vukovar te novine Glas Slavonije, Slobodna Dalmacija, Brodski list... Najjači i najveći utjecaj na javnost imala je ratna propaganda kojom su se većinski služili srpski mediji, poput novina Politike Ekspres i Večernjih novosti, ali i RTS. One su uz pomoć propagande vodile psihološki rat, kojem je glavni cilj s jedne strane bio obeshrabriti i demonizirati neprijatelja, a s druge osigurati potporu vlastitih čitatelja, odnosno građana i to na način da se stvore negativne konotacije s njihove strane prema neprijateljima. Na taj se način događa psihičko otupljivanje gledatelja, koje se dodatno povećava prikazom necenzuriranih snimki zločina, čime se također rađa i govor mržnje i uporaba pogrdnih naziva. U srpskim se novinama govor mržnje mogao naći u gotovo svakom broju te je za njih on predstavljao slobodu govora, a ne nekakvo vrijeđanje. Kako je jačao napad na Vukovar, tako je i govor mržnje postajao sve jači. Do potpuno nove razine mržnje dolazi izmišljanjem lažnih zločina, kao što je pronalazak 40 zaklane djece u Borovu Naselju, vijest puštena u javnost s glavnim ciljem da izazove bijes i gnjev prema Hrvatima, i to neposredno prije zločina na Ovčari (stoga postoji mogućnost da je ta vijest plasirana u javnost namjerno). Glavna funkcija srpskih medija bila je prikazati Srbe kao žrtve, a od Hrvata, Bošnjaka i Albanaca trebalo je stvoriti agresora, neprestano podsjećajući na povijest, odnosno razdoblje Osmanskoga Carstva i Drugog svjetskog rata.On June 25, 1991, the centuries-old dream of the Croatian people was realized, and their own and independent state, the Republic of Croatia, was established. At that time, there was a growing desire in Serbia to create its own goal - Greater Serbia, within which, according to their plans, Croatia should have been included. Since the Croatian population did not agree with this, rebellions began to rise in the so-called SAO Krajina over time, blocking roads, which led to the first armed conflicts, and therefore to war. During the 1991 conflict in Slavonia, the Croatian (and Serbian) media intensively reported on the events in that area. They focused on tensions and current conflicts in their reporting. Quite often, they acted subjectively and were not impartial, which can be seen in the difference in the way Croatian and Serbian journalists informed. Journalism in wartime conditions is a true example of how real the influence of the media is on the public. Some of the Croatian media had the role of raising national pride and motivating the army for further actions, but also pointing out the suffering experienced by the civilian population. The fight against the Serbian forces in the media is equated with the fight between David and Goliath. Therefore, it is also important to create the identity of the Croatian warrior whose role was to raise morale and create a difference between the aggressor and the Croatian army. Among them, Croatian Radio Vukovar and the newspapers Glas Slavonije, Slobodna Dalmacija, Brodski list... stood out the most. The strongest and greatest impact on the public was war propaganda, which was mostly used by the Serbian media, such as the newspapers Politika Ekspres and Večernje novosti, but also RTS. With the help of propaganda, they waged a psychological war, the main goal of which on the one hand was to discourage and demonize the enemy, and on the other hand to ensure the support of their own readers, i.e. citizens, by creating negative connotations with their enemies. This leads to the psychological numbing of the viewers, which is further increased by the display of uncensored footage of crimes, which also gives rise to hate speech and the use of derogatory names. In Serbian newspapers, hate speech could be found in almost every issue, and for them, it represented freedom of speech, rather some kind of insult. As the attack on Vukovar intensified, so did the hate speech. A completely new level of hatred is reached by inventing fake crimes, such as the discovery of 40 slaughtered children in Borovo Naselje, news released to the public with the main goal of provoking anger and rage towards Croats, and that right before the crime on Ovčara (therefore there is a possibility that this news made public on purpose). The main function of the Serbian media was to portray the Serbs as victims, while Croats, Bosniaks and Albanians were supposed to be portrayed as aggressors, constantly reminding of history, specifically the period of the Ottoman Empire and the Second World War