Serbian television is a diet of abused women and threats made at gunpoint. But this is not a work of fiction. It’s reality series starring infamous mobsters and war criminals, among others.
The shows have been popular for years, but they have recently found themselves in the crosshairs of an irate public following two horrific shootings that critics say were fueled in part by a media-fueled culture of violence.
Drunken arguments, gossip and the occasional fights have long been a staple of reality TV across the globe.
But in Serbia, the programmes have taken the genre to even greater lows.
Underworld figures, war criminals and the mentally unstable are regularly cast in series known for gratuitous levels of violence.
In 2021, around a dozen cast members watched impassively while a convicted felon strangled a woman unconscious on the show Zadruga — one of the most popular reality series in the Balkan country.
“All my daughter’s friends know who (the cast) are and to them, they are just TV stars. Not criminals or wife beaters, just stars” said Dejan Injac, a 44-year-old resident of Belgrade who joined the mass protests this week calling for the shows to be pulled from the air.
“I want it banned, simple as that. Those people can’t be role models.”
Injac is not alone.
Tens of thousands have taken to the streets in recent days calling for an outright ban on violent programming, following back-to-back shootings last week in which 17 people died — including eight pupils at an elementary school in Belgrade.
– Criminal culture –
The burgeoning movement of outrage is led by a public seemingly fed up with pervasive levels of violence in Serbia, in politics and on TV.
Pro-government media channels often glorify and give a platform to mobsters, war criminals, and football hooligans.
Reality shows, in particular, have been popular in Serbia for the past two decades, but in recent years, series featured frequently on pro-government channels have taken on a far more aggressive tone.
While some of the worst have passed, the ultra-popular Zadruga continues to air frequently on Pink TV, one of the country’s largest networks. And unnecessary savagery is still prevalent on Serbian television.
Criminal culture has long been a mainstay in Serbia.
During the catastrophic disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, when punishing Western sanctions forced ordinary people to turn to the black market for basic necessities, organized crime gangs grabbed control of broad sections of the economy.
Mobsters and paramilitary figures were wealthy throughout the war years while the rest of the country struggled, creating in the public’s mind a strong link between riches and organized crime.
Critics say the mobs still have huge influence.
The advent of reality TV later brought members of the criminal underworld directly into people’s homes, with their seedy lifestyles marketed as entertainment.
By one estimate, up to 60 percent of the programming on two of the country’s most popular channels consisted of violent reality shows in recent years.
“You have a direct promotion of violence, crime and misogyny, which poured onto social media and later into society as a whole,” said Savo Manojlovic, a Belgrade lawyer who advocates an end to the shows.
“They handpicked participants with psychological issues and criminal pasts, knowing exactly what they would do in that setting,” he told AFP.
– ‘Indoctrination’ –
Broadcasters, however, appear to have started hedging following the recent shootings and subsequent protests.
Pink TV said it would keep Zadruga off air — temporarily — “out of our deepest sympathy and respect” for the victims of the mass shootings.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has remained defiant in the face of the protests, calling the demonstrations a “political” stunt aimed at discrediting his right-wing populist government.
“We are ready to talk about reality shows… But they want my head. They never wanted anything other than that,” said Vucic during an interview aired this week.
The president — who opponents accuse of maintaining ties with criminal figures in Serbia — has long been known for his confrontational style.
He and his party regularly demean political opponents and foreign rivals as “scum”, “thieves” and “paedophiles”, while parliamentary sessions are dominated by crude insults.
“Violence has become a dominant form of communication in Serbia — not only in reality TV. We are exposed to constant political messages that opponents must be destroyed,” Miklos Biro, a retired psychology professor, told AFP.
Belgrade University professor Jelena Djordjevic said the reality shows that feature on pro-government networks dovetail neatly with the current political climate, where aggression is largely rewarded.
The shows regularly air alongside political programming, including frequent interviews with Vucic, members of his party and other allies.
“I think that they knowingly and strategically target the uneducated, lonely and the miserable voters that enjoy such programmes and tie them to the TV they are watching,” Djordjevic told AFP.
“This is a brutal way of indoctrination carried out by those in power.”