Belgrade - With the
fatal shooting last week of German Associated Press photographer Anja
Niedringhaus in Afghanistan (the 3rd attack on journalists in the
country in less than a month), the shooting of Swedish-British radio reporter
Nils Horner in Kabul last month, and the death of revered war correspondent
Marie Colvin in Syria in 2012, fatalities of journalists and photographers
continue to make headlines the world over. These journalists died
doing their job, and it isn’t only press on the frontline in war zones that are
at daily risk, but also investigative journalists reporting political
misdemeanors of rogue regimes.
Therefore, it
is timely that a campaign from Saatchi & Saatchi Belgrade for the Serbian
Commission for the Investigation of Murders of Journalists and the Office of
the OSCE’s Representative on Freedom of the Media has been in the headlines in
Serbia. The OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe)
and Commission collaborated with Saatchi & Saatchi on an unprecedented
project titled ‘Chronicles of Threats’, which was launched in December 2013 as
an open invitation to media outlets and journalists to document real and
threatened acts of violence towards editorial staff, writers and photographers.
The OSCE and
Commission for the Investigation of Murders of Journalists were set up to
protect those working in the media against physical or virtual threats.
In the past 20 years in Serbia, 3 journalists have been murdered and dozens
threatened. Linked to a UN initiative aimed at battling violence against
journalists, a website was launch that provided information on unsolved murder
cases involving journalists Dada Vujasinovic, Milan Pantic and Slavko Curuvija.
Even after the Democratic revolution in Serbia, the freedom of press was in
danger. In general the populace of Serbia were unaware of threats faced daily
by journalists, not only in Serbia, but all over the world.
The aim of
‘Chronicles of Threats’ was to demonstrate to the general public how
journalists feel when threatened. For the campaign, one threat out of
100’s of authentic threats documented against journalists was selected, and
made public by inserting an anonymous letter into 70,000 copies of the most popular
Serbian daily newspaper Blic. At the same time, a video message
was posted on news websites tied to investigative journalism threats. The
threats inserted in newspapers and posted on the internet were designed to put
the readers in the position of journalists who receive threats day to day.
The fake
threat quickly spread amongst the population, and was featured on the
news. When the stunt was revealed on news channels, it opened up a big
debate in Serbia about the sorts of threats journalists receive daily.
Consequently, unsolved cases of murdered journalists that had been forgotten
about for years were revisited, and became the hot topic on news
channels. Resolving these cases became a pressing issue for the new
government, and it was confirmed that the State had organised the
assassinations of the journalists.
Fifteen years
after the murder of Slavko Curuvija, the most influential independent
journalist reporting during the Milosevic regime, his assassins were
arrested. Investigations into the murders of Radislava Dada and Milan
Pantic were also reopened. ‘Chronicles
of Threats’ has been instrumental in solving a 20 year-old case involving the
then 30-year old journalist Radoslava Dada Vujasinovic, who died in 1994.
Dada, as she
was known, filed war reports for Duga newspaper, and her investigative
reporting into the corrupt politics of Milosevic’s regime in Serbia in the
early 90’s resulted in her receiving death threats. Dada was found dead with gunshot
wounds in her apartment on 8th April 1994, with the Milosevic
government claiming it was a suicide. It wasn’t until 20 years later that,
after the OSCE’s ‘Chronicles of Threats’ campaign ignited a debate in the media
about threats to journalists, and the unsolved cases from the 90s were revisited,
that the present-day government admitted the State had organised the
assassinations of the journalists.
The
Chronicles of Threats campaign had a dramatic impact through opening up the
investigations into the deaths of the 3 journalists: the former Chief of
the National Security (DB) Belgrade office, Milan Radonjić, was charged with
having ordered Ćuruvija's murder, and Ratko Romić (the head of the office's 6th
section) and Miroslav Kurak (a member of a special security service within DB) are
believed to have executed the crime.
After the arrest, Radonjic and Romić were
remanded in custody. Kurak is outside of
Serbia and an international warrant for his arrest will be issued.
Saatchi & Saatchi Belgrade’s Executive Creative
Director Veljko Golubovic commented: “I think the “Chronicles of Threats” campaign
is a great example of true power of modern communications. Even one simple idea
can move mountains and push the whole society forward. What was impossible
yesterday is today’s reality. Our idea was initiation of the chain reaction
that led to solving a murder case. And more than that it changed the way people
feel and think about journalists.”
Let’s hope that the debate provoked by
this unique campaign continues a dialogue in Serbia, and the rest of the world,
about journalists putting themselves at risk daily, by reporting on injustices
in societies, whether related to politics, war or other unrest.
View a film about the Chronicles of Threats campaign
here: http://youtu.be/lS8JJ7SWelk