FTV: Keeping restraint regarding the Parade
- – 9th September, 2019
SHORTLY BUT EFFECTIVELY ABOUT THE CRISIS: On Wednesday, Federal Television brought forward a coverage about what to do after 5th of September, the deadline for achieving a deal about the governing coalition. The news editor Edina Šečerović bound together the comments of main actors regarding the political crisis whose end is yet to be seen, highlighting remarks saying that the now so-called political
winners have never been more distanced from each other. The reportage was even more so embellished by the fact that the crisis, which has already taken quite a toll, has been summarized into one short and interesting coverage.
HEADLINE THAT DOES NOT ADD UP TO THE STORY: A day before, another editor, Jadranka Milošević, brings a story under the following headline: „Anti-cultural violence of the demographic majority against the minority“. The headline was followed by the story about the discrimination that has been committed against the Bosniak children which have been prevented from the right to learn their mother language, Bosnian, under the same name. Apart from the fact that “anti-cultural” violence reminds of a pleonasm, since one would ask how does cultural violence look like then, the whole construction itself is preposterous, too long and vague. And worst of all, it does not correspond back to the story whose main misfortune is very clear at its core. The children of returnees’ minority have been prevented from accessing their cultural rights, or the right on the mother language. There has been a platitude of ways do make a better and more effective headline out of it. It is interesting how not even BHT1 did not come up with a better headline, thus their introductionary segment was titled “Legal postponement” of the Konjevic Polje children’s case.
FIRST PRIDE PARADE: First Pride in Bosnia and Herzegovina carried out without any incidents, with increased security measures. Unfortunately, as it is the instance with many other first prides, the accent was on the mere fact that no greater incidents occurred, therefore the space for the summary of the main messages of the protest was lacking. FTV had put up the coverage of the Parade in the main headline section of its weekend editions, but gave much less spotlight on the very day of the event, which can rightfully be called historical. A contra-parade was also covered, reflecting upon those who represent themselves as protectors of family values, and ultimately, it seemed that the Sunday news coverage should have been more rainbow-coloured. Many other TV channels had specials, portals had also been following everything minute by minute, and the news had also echoed in the region. In comparison to this, TV coverage seemed quite modest.
EVALUATION: 7
BHT1: Where did the political coverage go?
- – 9th September, 2019
SOLID COVERAGE OF THE PARADE: BHT1 had made a somewhat longer reportage about the Pride Parade, including the appropriate terms when referring to this historical event. On Sunday, an interview was done with the police spokesman who reflected upon the very safety background situation. One day before the parade itself, the professor of the political science, Zlatiborka Popov-Momčinović, talked about the significance of the event, trying to portray to the public eye why it is important to respect the rights of the minority and to build the spirit of tolerance. This was a good move of the editor Željana Mehmedika. What is expected from the national television is exactly the affirmative approach when it comes to the coverage of human-rights topics, and exploring the ways to explain their importance to the wider audience. The role of the academic community is also very important here, so it would seem as a good opportunity to give the opportunity to their members to use their expertise and discuss the topics that divide the audience.
A DAY LATER: It is unclear why only one day after the Parade the news about it completely disappeared from the regular newsreel of FTV. On Monday, for example, FTV summed up the reactions through the appraisals of the embassies that pointed out that through a peaceful procession our society passed the test of tolerance. That was, generally speaking, the prevailing sentiment.
ECOLOGICAL TROUBLES: Haris Domazet brought on a coverage about the talks between Bosnian and Croatian representatives about the possible location for the deposition of the radioactive waste. The audience could hear the worries of the Bosnian representatives which are against the intention of their Croatian counterparts who aimed to set up a junkyard for the nuclear waste on the very border with our country. This is a topic worth following in the upcoming days.
EVALUATION: 7
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: The first Pride went on peacefully, with the general opinion that on Sunday we seemed like the rest of the world. Just like a popular saying goes, the one which is said here with a sigh, we seemed like all developed democratic nations. Both TV channels provided a decent coverage of the Parade, reporting all the significant messages of it, while BHT1’s coverage was somewhat longer. On the other hand, FTV continued reporting comments in the aftermath of the event, a day later, while on the BHT1 it went away without any trace. Although the first Pride Parade was in the main spotlight, national TV channels did not decide to provide special programmes dedicated to it. Historical dimension of the event, whose significance in terms of the fight for the human rights, as well as the rights of the LGBTQ community, needed to be pointed out. The safety aspect and political friction as well. However, the editors thought there was no space for special discussions about it. It is interesting how the day later, during the mentioning of comments and reactions, both TV channels failed to mention the attitude of the leader of the party “Narod i pravda” (People and Justice) Elmedin Konaković who came into spotlight with his extremely reactionary attitude, hastening to get into an argument with the organizers of the Parade, whom he called up for the so-called intolerance. Konaković’s attitude, reported in many media outlets, is by no means innocent and it demanded a political reassessment, especially when it comes to national televisions, due to the fact that the leader of the main cantonal coalition, which also includes liberals, is auto portrayed as a serious demagogue. Or the political face of the new right, which incredibly reminds of an alt right phenomena whose ideology above else lies on the domination of the patriarchy and hatred towards the minorities.
