In the Trap of Patriotism

G.M. did not volunteer the information to some of the domestic news agencies, knowing that they are equally good at making up stories; he went to "Reuter" and found an unsuspecting journalist who let the world know about it. He said that he had seen it with his own eyes and supported his claim with the statement that the soldiers witnessed the same scene. The Army did not confirm this, "Reuter" gave a denial, but the domestic press is going on about it as if nothing had happened. In case it did not happen, the story had definitely been skillfully fabricated. The press at home has long given itself to poetic phantasy. We should not dwell on the poor G.M., whose name sounds like a pseudonym anyway. He definitely belongs to the rising group of "disposable" people.

Around 90% of the public opinion is based on TV announcements. The press is in charge of the rest. The way it is being conducted far exceeds the brilliance of the concluding stages of the communist rule. At that time, one could get to the bottom of the matter by throwing away half of it, skipping the commentary and sucking out the bare facts. The journalists frequently wrote contrary to their opinion, attacked what they privately agreed with, but it was in the traditions of the professional ethic to at least state the facts. The unpleasant facts and the opposing attitudes could

have been mentioned only with the unfavourable commentary, and many consented to this. It was seen as being natural that such self- sacrifice should go with being a journalist. Cynicism as the permanent state of mind could not have been avoided, but for many it was not enough, so they would turn to bottle or die of heart. The good and the bad newspapers and journalists differed not in their attitudes, but in how skilled they were in informing the careful reader, despite their private beliefs.

The experience of that period does little to help the contemporary media freaks. The people are finding it hard to get accustomed to the new rules, according to which it is possible for the news to be false from start to finish, as a whole and in detail, and that is the secret of the efficiency of the so-called media war.

Take a simple example. The readers of "Politika" may have come across the news in the beginning of October that the Army has captured in Vukovar 12 Czechoslovakian women who were fighting on the Croatian side. The ambassador of this country sent a consul to the Secretariat for Foreign Affairs to make inquiries and request for the contact with the prisoners. Since they could tell him nothing, the ambassador sends the military attache to the Federal Defence Secretariat, where the people in charge refute the news and courteously warn him that he should be careful when dealing with the domestic press.

A sequel: twenty days later, the "International Politika Weekly" informs about the capturing of 14 Czech women in the vicinity of Osijek. They were said to be Catholic parachutists in NATO camouflage uniforms and that they were brought over by Hungarian planes. The ambassador repeats the procedure. This time at the Military Ministry they think there is something wrong with him and tell him that they will tell him in person when they have captured the citizens of his country.

There are certain aspects which stand out here. I personally do not know how many people work on fabricating such stories, but they are earning their salaries with remarkable enthusiasm. That is not a routine job. The communist propaganda was that imaginative only in the days of the revolutionary zeal, and this is not the only proof that many in Serbia today believe that they are taking part in some kind of a revolution.

G.M. definitely had the vision of a new state of Great Serbia, while he was counting "the dead children". How else can we explain the report of the journalists from Titograd when they stated that they had seen around 20 dead Serbs in Pakrac, just before the trouble started, instead of a few injured Croatian policemen? They must have known they were directly contributing to the outbreak of war and they must have believed they will not be prosecuted, since nothing will be the same as before, since the crimes will become heroic achievements, since that is the logic of the revolution. There is no doubt that many in Serbia have granted themselves a revolutionary alibi, which knows no restraint. The match has started where surprise is the rule and the narrowing of mind reigns supreme. The leader of the Serbian National Revival has calmly declared in an interview: "I am all for genocide against the Croatians!" Can anyone match this?

With regards to the media who have started and successfully waged this war, their first gesture was to stop having any regard for professional standards. Instead of checking the facts, the quotations and the sources-the full poetic freedom. The adjectives have become the flavour of the month and they are still in high demand, although the repertoire has proved to be quite limited. The height of professional endeavour is manifested in an effort to find a new punchy word which has not been used up yet.

The orgy of freedom can not be stopped with anything but terror, and in that respect the future of Serbia is entirely certain, regardless of its future borders. If it happens that certain Serb- populated territories be placed under the international protectorate, they will be saved, but the Serbs from Serbia will envy them. According to the latest ideas from Europe and the United Nations, the new demilitarization zone is planned, where the referendum will be held where the population would choose where they want to live. It is very likely that Serbia, being in the state it is today and considering the way it will look tomorrow, will lose. The only hope lies in the fact that Croatia will not fare better. I would say that the majority of today's citizens of Yugoslavia would rather choose to be under the international protection in the next ten years.

In that case, it would go without saying that the only domestic programme would be the one with the classical music. The sports would have to be commented by the journalists from the neutral countries until our own get the national exaltation under control. The ones who want to enter political journalism one day would have to undergo a severe brainwashing first, and in all the future editorial offices there should be a list of forbidden words. Such a regime would be in force until the nervous system of the population is recuperated.

Everything would be much easier if the journalists were privately unhappy and dissatisfied, the way they were before the Milosevic's revolution enabled them to become poets. At any rate, they are not the only ones who have changed their tune. Many historians, philosophers, lawyers and doctors did the same...

It is of small importance now that many of them are disappointed in Milosevic, since from day one of this war, they have all been caught in the trap of patriotism, they are all accomplices. It has become virtually impossible to be "a good Serb" and to, at the same time be opposed to their war, which is best understood by the opposition. Even Vuk Draskovic, who is decidedly against the war, is not powerful enough to keep the Serbian Guard from exercising their patriotic duty.

Eye-witness G.M. could belong to any party. But, when the peace finally arrives and the war accounts are settled, many of such"patriots" will be suspected of treason. Since, in the system of values in the civilized world the final outcome of the revolutionary violence is always negative. The problem Serbia is now facing is that there will be too few of those who will have the right to count the full cost of the war.