BIRODI: Media Being Turned into Instrument of Propaganda

Television

The Bureau for Social Research (BIRODI) has warned again of the so-called “phenomenon of party videos" or illegal schemes in which marketing material prepared by a party’s campaign staff is slightly adjusted to journalistic form and aired in prime-time news programs.

This type of joint action by election camps and media service providers is in stark contrast with the role of the media in the election process, which is to report, analyse and question candidates in a way that will make it possible for voters to make informed choices on election day, BIRODI said on March 5.

The organization cautioned that instead of the above, Serbia was again witnessing “a plurality of hidden advertising” presenting both the government and opposition candidates in a good light and transforming the media into propaganda tools in the hands of election camps.

“Party videos offer a way to bypass the law on financing election campaigns, because in this way candidates are promoted (free of charge) in daily news programs. We plead with media service providers to replace this practice with questions that will help voters decide who to support in the coming elections, in accordance with the law and the journalistic code of conduct," BIRODI said.