In the Press Centre TANJUG today was presented the first issue of “Quarterly Mediameter – Analysis of the print media in Serbia”. One of the editors Nikola Samardžić said that this project was initiated due to lack of the statistical data and facts about print media in Serbia.
“Mediameter is a research and scientific-expert project which, through the analysis of value judgments and through the discourse analysis monitors the development of the print media in Serbia. Mediameter is aimed at improving the professional and ethical standards of media reporting and analysis. The report is a scientific and professional support to all public policy participants, media, government, opposition, analysts and the public”, said Samardžić.
Velimir Ćurgus Kazimir commented on the poor state of the media in Serbia. Ćurgus pointed out that due to this situation, journalists doesn’t have a possibility for specialization and training for topics of interest, which results in reduced quality of media coverage.
Research methodologists Isidora Jarić and Danica Laban presented method and sample of the research and pointed out that the methodology was created according to the highest scientific standards and added that the result of Mediameter is a database that can be used by all participants in public life in Serbia.
The research results are presented in 55 tables that shows the distribution of topics and actors in texts, their value context and frequency of occurrence. All results are available in Serbian and English on the website www.medijametar.rs.
Among other, this research found that:
- The most objective approach, without value context has Danas, while the most colored is Alo!
- The greatest number of articles on the front pages is dedicated to Aleksandar Vučić (446), twice more than the first following actor. The smallest number of articles about Vučić are in Informer (40) and the largest in Danas (95).
- The greatest number of negative articles on the covers was dedicated to Tomisalv Nikolić (40).
- The best represented opposition leader was Boris Tadić (7.46% negative articles) and the worst represented was Čedomir Jovanović (25% negative articles).
- Among the foreign players the most positive and neutral texts are dedicated to Alexis Tsipras (96.78%) and Vladimir Putin (96.78%), while the greatest number of negative texts are dedicated to Kolinda Grabar Kitanović (16%).
The author of the discourse analysis Dejan Vuk Stanković pointed out that there is a diversity of perspectives – opinions, arguments and conclusions and also said that the pluralism of opinions confirms that there is freedom in the public sphere, freedom of opinion and expression. Stanković explained the way that media create the image of political actors and pointed out that the image of the government and the Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić is created according on the two themes: the dictatorship and censorship.
Dejan Vuk Stanković has concluded that, regarding domestic policy, all weeklies are antigovernmental, while they differ in the approach to foreign policy: 1) pro-European and critical of Government, especially the Prime Minister are Vreme and NIN. 2) moderately critical and pro-European - Nedeljnik and Novi Magazin. 3) radically Euro-sceptical and pro-Russian, but very critical of opposition - Pečat.
It has been announced that the Quarterly Mediameter will be published four times per year. In this issue, the texts from front pages of newspapers Politika, Večernje novosti, Blic, Danas, Kurir, Alo! and Informer from January to March 2015 have been covered. In discourse analysis, weeklies Vreme, NIN, Novi Magazin, Nedeljnik and Pečat have been covered. In forthcoming issues, Mediameter will analyse other media, especially contents of online portals, and by the end of 2015 the analysis would include TV content.
