Serbian Media Accused of Downplaying Protests

After seven days of mass protests on the streets against the election of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic as Serbian President, coverage of the protests in the media, or lack of it, is seen by some as confirmation that media is not free in the country.

In an apparent attempt to downplay the size of the turnout at the rallies, the pro-government tabloid Informer on Monday published an article entitled "The Truth About the Protests" with a picture showing only a couple of hundred of people demonstrating in Belgrade on Saturday - and contrasting that with claims that 80,000 had showed up.

In another article, Informer on Sunday accused the defeated presidential candidate and former Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic of being the real organizer of the protests.

It also published what it alleged was a secret police report that claimed protest organizers were planning violence on the streets and "total chaos in the country".

"The official information of the Interior Ministry, which we have seen, said police inspectors are warning their superiors of the more than dangerous intensions of leaders of the protests," Informer wrote.

Jankovic has not reacted to the claim made in the paper but has supported the protests on his Twitter account.

The dailies Blic and Kurir have been reporting about the protests on their front pages, but the state-owned paper Vecernje Novosti did not mention the protests on Monday's front page, publishing only a short news item inside the paper.

After the protesters accused Serbia's public broadcasters Radio-Television Serbia, RTS, and Radio-Television Vojvodina, RTV, of deliberately ignoring them, both media outlets finally reported at the weekend on...