Global Media Forum: Reporting on the Russian war in Ukraine – Perspectives from the Balkans

On 21. June, the KAS-Media Programme for South East Europe hosted an online discussion within the DW Global Media Forum 2022 on the topic “Reporting on the Russian war in Ukraine – Perspectives from the Balkans”.

The Global Media Forum brought together more than 1000 participants for discussions and workshops at the World Conference Center Bonn.

The Serbian perspective was shown by Norbert Sinkovic, media expert and lecturer at the University Novi Sad.

Irina Nedeva, president of the Association of European Journalists Bulgaria and senior editor at the Bulgarian National Radio, presented the situation in her country. The discussion was led by Mihai Radulescu, a moderator and anchor at TVR1 in Romania and editorial coordinator of TVR Moldova.

The discussion was broadcasted live.

This discussion presented the perspectives of three countries from South East Europe. Irina Nedeva, president of the Association of European Journalists Bulgaria and senior editor at the Bulgarian National Radio, presented the situation in her country. Although the broadcasting of some Russian channels was banned on the territory of Bulgaria, propaganda continues to spread. This leads to a polarisation of society and is also used by some parties for political purposes. However, public support for Vladimir Putin has dropped significantly since the beginning of the Russian war in Ukraine. The Council for Electronic Media (broadcasting regulatory body) has also stated its intention to comprehensively monitor coverage of the war and to conduct a poll on where people are getting their information about the war, what sources they are using, etc.

The Serbian perspective was shown by Norbert Sinkovic, media expert and lecturer at the University Novi Sad. According to him, Serbia, due to its specific position regarding Russia, shows a divided media picture of the war. In most cases, the media deal with internal reflections of the war on Serbia (Kosovo's position, EU integration, economic challenges). Another part of the media, on the other hand, reinforces myths about Russia, while a smaller part of the media clearly deals with the issue of Moscow's responsibility. The media image clearly shows the deep polarization of society, the difficult financial situation in the media sector, and the low level of digital media literacy.

The discussion was led by Mihai Radulescu, a moderator and anchor at TVR1 in Romania and editorial coordinator of TVR Moldova. According to his expertise, the view of the Romanian media is clear: there is no doubt that Russia is to blame for the war in Ukraine. Yet, there is disinformation and false news to some degree in the Romanian media. However, these were more likely to be found in the tabloid sector and could be explained by sensationalism.  Many TV stations adopted a real strategy of sensationalism. But, Russian propaganda had clearly decreased in the media and on the political stage after the war began.