State media has predominantly overlooked student blockades against President Aleksandar Vučić, as reported by the New York Times, but has recently shone a light on the protests.

This weekend, when tens of thousands of demonstrators obstructed three key bridges over the Danube River in Novi Sad, crippling Serbia’s second-largest city, the ruling party issued a stark warning — directed not at the students and citizens, but at the public broadcaster covering them.

“After three months of largely ignoring student-led demonstrations nationwide, Radio Television of Serbia, historically a mouthpiece for President Vučić, unexpectedly altered its course and featured the protests in Novi Sad prominently in its news,” the New York Times notes.

Even more troubling for the ruling government, the coverage was factual and refrained from labeling the protesters as intelligence agents or opposition puppets, as it had previously done, according to N1.

In an unusual statement late Saturday, President Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party expressed concern over the “scandalous reporting” of the television station, accusing it of having “grossly abused journalistic integrity, siding with politicians looking to dismantle the constitutional order of the Republic of Serbia.”

Media control has been a fundamental aspect of the Serbian political landscape under Vučić, allowing him to navigate multiple waves of protests by discrediting demonstrators and maintaining a strong hold on power for over 12 years, as estimated by the New York Times.

Yet, many are now questioning whether this media control is diminishing, along with Vučić’s increasingly authoritarian governance.

“This is a small yet potentially revolutionary shift,” commented Jasmina Paunović, a state prosecutor with extensive experience in the field.

She noted that long-time royalists within the system are starting to waver, as they “let go of their fears” regarding job security and disciplinary repercussions.

Many judges and prosecutors she knows, despite their reliance on the state for their livelihoods, are now expressing support for the students, at least privately.

In a show of solidarity, the Serbian Bar Association voted on Sunday to halt lawyers’ work for a month, aligning with students who have blocked campuses nationwide.

The protests in Novi Sad, occurring three months after a canopy collapse that resulted in 15 fatalities, attracted not only local university students and Belgrade attendees but also older adults, frustrated with a system perceived as deeply corrupt.

The tragic incident on November 1 saw the collapse of a concrete canopy above the Railway Station entrance, crushing individuals below and igniting a protest movement fueled by accusations of official negligence and corruption.

The station underwent renovations by a consortium of Chinese state-owned companies, with work on the canopy performed by private Serbian contractors selected by officials.

These recent protests represent the most significant expression of discontent since the late 1990s demonstrations against Slobodan Milosevic, as highlighted by the New York Times.

Svetlana Bistrović, a 43-year-old nurse and mother, decided to support the students who blocked the main railway and road bridge in Novi Sad after witnessing Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic appear at a basketball game wearing a T-shirt declaring, “Students are champions.”

She waved a sign adorned with protest slogans and a plastic tennis racket.

The fact that Djokovic, whose family has previously shown support for President Vučić, has joined the protesters indicates to her that “change is on the horizon,” as noted by the American media outlet.

“Vučić dismisses his loyal ally”

However, Aleksandar Vučić exhibits no signs of backing down, according to the New York Times.

Last week, he dismissed Prime Minister Miloš Vučević, a faithful ally and former Novi Sad mayor, leaving the country without a functioning government.

Confident that his party can overcome disorganized opposition parties in any forthcoming elections, given the uneven political landscape, Vučić has promised to initiate an offensive against his opponents and call for general elections if parliament does not ratify a new government that aligns with his vision.

“I’m not going to hand this country to anyone on a platter. I will fight, I will fight, I will fight,” he stated to supporters on Saturday.

Nebojša Vladisavljević, a political science professor at the University of Belgrade, characterized Serbia as a “spin dictatorship,” akin to other post-communist regimes in neighboring Hungary and elsewhere, which are “less repressive but significantly more manipulative.”

He remarked that the abrupt change in messaging by state broadcaster RTS is merely “part of the game, indicating that little fair media reporting exists.”

Even without state media firmly backing him, he added, Vučić still possesses various powerful media assets, including the privately owned Pink TV, which remains unwaveringly loyal.

Moreover, several aggressive tabloids show no signs of reducing their support for the president, as reported by the New York Times.

The growing protests, such as those in Novi Sad over the weekend, are propelled by a widespread belief that official negligence and corruption were responsible for the November train station tragedy.

Tabloids like Informer, known for its harsh stance in favor of the government, have labeled student activists as traitors aligned with neighboring Croatia, historically Serbia’s primary adversary during the Yugoslav wars, according to the American media outlet.

Mila Pajić, a University of Novi Sad student involved in organizing protests, claimed the government-aligned media depicted her as “mentally unstable.”

She was criticized as “anti-Serbian,” and Informer even aired a video of her having a dispute with a boy, implying they were debating over foreign funding. They accused her of “colluding with Croatia.”

She stated that the tabloid’s portrayal was completely “fabricated” and escalated “a simple dispute between two individuals in their twenties into a national humiliation.”

Pajić regarded the state broadcaster’s more compassionate coverage of the protests as “a minor but positively oriented step.”

Vladisavljević, the Belgrade political scientist, interpreted the ruling party’s condemnation of RTS journalists for their neutral reporting on the Novi Sad events as a “preventive measure to maintain control” and as a message to the predominantly rural base that “no significant changes have occurred.”

“They are concerned about the media potentially shifting perspectives. They harbor fears about military loyalty and judicial reactions, but we have not yet reached a turning point,” he concluded.

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