The death of B92: how it survived Milosevic’s authoritarianism but didn’t survive democracy

• Autores: Dragan Stavljanin, Rade Veljanovski
• Localización: International Journal of Digital Television, ISSN-e 2040-4190, Vol. 8, Nº. 2, 2017, págs. 261-276
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This article examines how broadcaster B92, once the top-billed independent media in Serbia that resisted Milosevic’s authoritarianism, could not survive democracy. Although it withstood the crackdown and censorship of the war regime, it was eventually sunk by what could be considered ‘market censorship’. B92 was forced into privatization because the international donors, who assisted it during the Milosevic regime, tapered their support on the assumption that in a democratic and marketbased environment, all media outlets should have an equal chance to grow and to become self-sustainable. The story of B92 illustrates how the rapid liberalization that occurred lead not to an ideal ‘marketplace of ideas’ furthering democracy, but to commercialization and the drastic loss of space on the airwaves for alternative voices and critical investigative journalism.