Informer (newspaper)

Informer is a Serbian tabloid newspaper based in Belgrade. It is known for its political bias in favor of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and its sensationalist stories.[7][8][9] The newspaper has been accused of spreading disinformation[10] and sensationalism.[11][12]

For the American weekly, see The Washington Informer.

Informer
The front page on 22 February 2022 proclaiming "Ukraine has attacked Russia"
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatTabloid
Owner(s)Insajder tim
EditorDragan J. Vučićević
Founded10 May 2012 (2012-05-10)[1]
Political alignment
HeadquartersTerazije 5/7, Belgrade, Serbia
CountrySerbia
Circulation~102,000 copies distributed (claimed, 2016)
Websiteinformer.rs

As of 2016, it claims without documentation to be the highest-circulation daily in Serbia, alleging over 100,000 copies distributed daily. The newspaper addresses politics, regional and world news, popular culture, health, and sports.

It practices yellow journalism. It is notorious[13][14] for publishing false information,[11][12][15] as well as for insulting and discrediting President Aleksandar Vučić's political opponents.[2] It publishes articles with chauvinist and sexist biases.[16][17][18][19]

Controversies

In 2015, Informer manufactured an international scandal by publishing screenshots of a porn video starring American pornographic actress Diamond Foxxx, with accompanying text that falsely alleged the stills were from a sex tape featuring the President of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.[20] This was "sharply condemned" by Serbia's Ministry of Culture and Information, which called for sanctions, as well as by MP Azra Jasavić of neighbouring Montenegro, where the newspaper is also published. Jasavić called for changes in law to prevent Informer from its "brutalisation of women", whom Jasavić said are targeted by the tabloid.[21]

In 2019, EU vs Disinformation reported that Informer was one of the foremost Serbian sources of false narratives and warmongering in 2018.[22] According to Serbian investigative journalism portal Crime and Corruption Reporting Network, more than 700 fake news items were published on the front pages of pro-government tabloids during 2018, led by Informer.[23][24] Many decried invented attacks on Aleksandar Vučić or attempted coups, as well as supposed messages of support from Russian president Vladimir Putin.[24] In 2020, Twitter shut down a network of 8,500 bots that spammed 43 million tweets; the bots fawned over President Vučić and his party, boosted pro-Vučić content, and attacked his political opponents;[25] Informer links were among the most frequently spammed.[25] On 22 February 2022, two days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Informer published a large headline saying that "Ukraine has attacked Russia".[26]

In late September 2022, Informer published an interview with a serial rapist Igor Milošević, who had just been released after having served 15 years in prison.[27] Milošević sent messages to women of Serbia which were widely seen as controversial and that led to citizens' protests, during which Informer's editor-in-chief Dragan J. Vučićević was physically attacked.[28]

See also

Notes
  1. "Objavljen prvi broj dnevnika – 'Informer'". informer.rs. MONDO. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  2. Komunikacije, Neomedia. "Razgovor s vlasnikom Informera, najzloćudnijeg tabloida Balkana: Vučićeviću, jeste li vi budala? / Novi list". novilist.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  3. Draskovic, Brankica; Prodanovic, Dragana; Pavkov, Ksenija (2016). "Anti-European discourse and negative image of the European Union in the Serbian media". CM: Communication and Media. 11 (38): 19–39. doi:10.5937/comman11-11847. ISSN 2466-541X.
  4. Janjić, Stefan; Šovanec, Stefani (2018). "Announcements of war on the front pages of serbian tabloids". CM: Communication and Media. 13 (43): 49–67. doi:10.5937/comman13-14543. ISSN 2466-541X.
  5. Potka srpskog identiteta : antizapadnjaštvo, rusofilistvo, tradicionalizam ... Sonja Biserko. Beograd. 2016. ISBN 978-86-7208-202-9. OCLC 961214498.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. "Slobodan Antonić: Vučić kao politički Don Žuan, ili kako istovremeno obezbediti podršku i Informera i E-novina". Nova srpska politička misao (in Serbian). 4 February 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  7. "Belgrade court fines editor of pro-government tabloid". N1 (in Serbian). 26 May 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  8. Spaic, Igor. "Serbia: Government-Friendly Tabloid Continues Attacking Independent Media". www.occrp.org. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  9. "BIRN Editor Wins Case Against Serbian Pro-Govt Tabloid". Balkan Insight. 13 April 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  10. Communication and Media (in Serbian). Belgrade: Communication Direction Institute; Faculty of Political Sciences. 2018. ISSN 2466-5452.
  11. "U.S. ambassador dubs pro-regime tabloid Informer scum – Slavko Ćuruvija fondacija". Slavko Ćuruvija fondacija. 1 June 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  12. "IZ BEOGRADA PERO ZLATAR Kako je naša predsjednica postala Diamond Fox u srpskom Informeru". jutarnji.hr. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  13. "Serbia Tabloid Targets BIRN, Other Media, as 'Mercenaries'". Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  14. "Vlasnik najtiražnijih novina u Srbiji: Svi smo mi Šešelj" (in Croatian). Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  15. ""Informer" mora da plati 150.000 dinara uredniku KRIK-a". N1 Srbija (in Serbian (Latin script)). Archived from the original on 7 October 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  16. "GOVOR MRŽNJE: "Šiptarske svinjarije" u obradi "Informera"". portalanalitika.me (in Bosnian). Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  17. "Ko s Informerom tikve sadi". Dnevni list Danas (in Serbian). 17 November 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  18. "e-novine.com – Proterajte Sonju Biserko iz Srbije". e-novine.com (in Serbian). Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  19. "NUNS: Šovinističko denunciranje Dinka Gruhonjića | Cenzolovka". Cenzolovka (in Serbian). 16 February 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  20. "Vučićević: "Na naslovnici "Informera" nije Kolinda Grabar Kitarović". Avaz.ba (in Bosnian). Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  21. Montenegro, Cafe Del (18 January 2015). "Jasavić: Zaustaviti iživljavanje Informera nad ženama". Crna Gora (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 27 September 2017. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  22. "700 False News Stories In Serbian Tabloids In 2018". EU vs DISINFORMATION. 18 January 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  23. "700 false news stories in Serbian tabloids in 2018". Stop Fake. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  24. "Više od 700 laži na naslovnim stranama tri tabloida u 2018. godini". Crime and Corruption Reporting Network. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  25. Bush, Daniel (2 April 2020). ""Fighting Like a Lion for Serbia": An Analysis of Government-Linked Influence Operations in Serbia" (PDF). Stanford University.
  26. "Joseph: Vučićeva šarada navodnog balansa između Istoka i Zapada". balkans.aljazeera.net (in Bosnian). Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  27. Srbija, Euronews (28 September 2022). "Protest zbog objavljivanja intervjua sa silovateljem: Glavni urednik "Informera" objavio da je napadnut". Euronews.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  28. "Jedna od demonstrantkinja na protestu ispred Informera šutnula Vučićevića". N1 (in Serbian). 28 September 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.


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