PREDRAG VOSTINIC recounts his recent experiences as a journalist in Yugoslavia, and explains how the Internet became a potent political weapon of resistance in the overthrow of Milosevich.
When the war began in the former Yugoslavia, the most important military targets were telecommunications facilities and radio and television transmitters. Telephone lines were, as a rule, cut off between the parties in the conflict, imposing an information blockade that opened a space for manipulation, i.e. establishing the "monopoly on truth". This was an attack on objectivity. The lack of reliable information on the most interesting events and developments - the elimination of the senses of sight and hearing, made it more difficult to motivate the public for antiwar campaigns.
Initially, Radio B92 and Studio 99 from Sarajevo produced joint radio programmes that provided authentic reports from Sarajevo. This provoked strong emotions among listeners and made it relatively easy, at that time, to organize anti-war campaigns and projects (the Centre for Anti-War Actions, Vreme news magazine and B92 managed to organize, within one hour, demonstrations against the bombing of Sarajevo that brought thousands of protesters into the streets). Soon after this the telephone lines were cut, and we were reduced to news agency reports that had to be confirmed and reconfirmed from several sources. Links to Sarajevo had to be routed through Paris, Vienna or Milan, meaning that a single interview would cost as much as the monthly salary of the head of our news department. The only possible means of communication with people from regions stricken by war was through amateur radio operators. A large number of these offered their services in establishing contacts between separated family members and friends. This was tolerated by the authorities, being seen as humanitarian work, although still subject to a degree of restriction and repression.
This network of amateur radio operators could be seen as a kind of mediaeval Internet. The code of behaviour of amateur operators did not permit them to use their equipment for political activities, including the communication of information that might be used by the media. There were, however, cases of manipulation and false information, as these amateur radio operators were not trained journalists; most of them were people with no skills in the provision of objective information and, moreover, some of them had political agendas of their own.
It had become urgent to find a solution to this problem. That alternative was clearly the Internet, but there were no Internet service providers in the country. Once more we were forced to go through the painstaking process of establishing a technological infrastructure at a broader level to allow us to take advantage of the Internet (the process has been similar in complexity to both our struggle for freedom of speech and our efforts to adhere to professional journalism).
There were only two other options - either to wait for someone else to establish the first Internet service provider in the country, or to allow the authorities to impose their own monopoly on even this completely new medium. Neither of these options were satisfactory.
Thus, thanks to a Dutch Internet service provider, XS4ALL and the Open Society Foundation, B92 became Yugoslavia's first Internet service provider. Because of its small capacity our Internet division has never operated commercially - it serves as the technological base for implementing a series of non-profit projects and interconnecting the independent media and non-governmental organizations. The bottom line was that we established a new means of communication and pre-empted the establishment of the regime monopoly over this medium.
OpenNet gradually became something that Radio B92 had already been for some time - a medium for minorities, the non-governmental sector, progressive groups and individuals, alternative artists and anti-war activists. Radio B92 itself began using the Internet as an entirely new medium. A news service was established, with our information being distributed throughout the world via e-mail. News bulletins were now actually posted on the Internet - a completely new departure. In addition, reports on human rights records and freedoms in the country were compiled by B92 and distributed Worldwide.
Soon all of B92's activities were replicated on the Internet. The radio programme is broadcast (webcast) in real time, and the magazines Rec (Word), ProFemina and Media were among the first electronic magazines in eastern Europe and were available to potential readers worldwide, who soon took advantage of the interactive aspects of the medium. Our cultural centre, Cinema Rex, is establishing the Cyber Rex project that has opened a completely new domain for artists to express themselves and implement creative projects. The publishing division now publishes in electronic form on the Internet, creating a virtual library with books and articles available to all; productions of the documentary film and television division have been published on the Internet. Daily news in English, distributed via the Internet in RealAudio format, is regularly re-broadcast by international radio stations.
The regime falsified local election results at the end of 1996. Democratic opposition parties, united at the time in the Zajedno Coalition, spontaneously resisted this move by the authorities. Soon the students joined, and they organized daily demonstrations, which were to last for almost four months, not only in Belgrade but in the greater part of Serbia. Radio B92 and Radio Indeks were the basic source of information for most Belgraders; apart from announcements and reporting of demonstrations there were also live coverage of the rallies and live phone-ins from Belgrade and the rest of the country. This came in for criticism from opposition leaders, concerned that people were staying at home listening to their radios instead of attending the rallies. In late November Radio B92's signal began to decline constantly in strength.
Because of the reliability of B92's information, a large number of foreign journalists relied on our services, but on this occasion B92 itself became the news, as its signal was being jammed and was shortly to be taken off the air. B92's journalists continued to send out reports daily to a large number of radio stations in Yugoslavia and abroad. Meanwhile, B92 used the Internet to distribute news and information on the most recent developments in Yugoslavia through constantly updated mailing lists and web pages.
The authorities began to deploy the police force more extensively and it was important that information reached as many people as possible. For all these reasons we decided to distribute our news packages free of charge and also stepped up our news services in both Serbian and English. As these reports were designed to look like newsletters if printed, it was possible to distribute them in that form, which served the purpose of penetrating the media blockade between Belgrade and towns outside the capital. These bulletins were also being read aloud in the squares of provincial towns, as well as being posted on walls and billboards as newspapers.
In places without Internet access, these bulletins were printed abroad and returned by fax into the country where they were copied and further distributed by radio, Internet, fax, photocopier, hand, and reading aloud). Here modern technology was combined with the traditional, along with subversive methods of distribution.
OpenNet gradually became a service for the large-scale distribution of information on both the civil and student protests. The first positive international responses to the demonstrations came largely because of the Internet. The students also began to use the Internet through the Academic Network to report on the latest developments in the demonstrations. People abroad began to express solidarity, which charged the protesters with new and fresh energy. Creative ideas were exchanged via the Internet and were soon implemented on the streets, transforming the demonstrations into genuine media events. The use of the Internet involved the technical faculties of the University of Belgrade to a large extent; they became an important part of the process of creatively shaping the demonstrations and linking the rest of the world.
The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The LA Times all reported that the Internet had saved the demonstrations in Serbia. A new mechanism for resisting repression had been found and used successfully.
The widespread and versatile use of the Internet in a way that liberates certain segments of society - by opening up the tightly sealed space for communication and eliminating communication restrictions has changed the Church's stance on the Internet. The isolated Kosovo monastery of Visoki Decani has, thanks to Abbot Sava, become a true information centre, disseminating information on events occurring in that isolated territory to which war has restricted physical access. Apart from information giving another perspective on the reality of the region, Decani broadcasts the desire of part of the Serbian population to be involved in the peace process and the message of genuine opposition to the behaviour of state agencies. It has also produced proposals for genuine peace processes, statistics on the number of Serb refugees and publicized the need for humanitarian aid.
On many occasions the Internet has been the only way in which the monastic community and Serbs in the region have been able to obtain information. Thanks to Father Sava and his use of the Internet to promote a different concept of peace and democracy, the stereotype of a Serb people united in mischief has been considerably weakened. The Visoki Decani monastery has virtually become a news agency, providing reliable information and opinions that deserve to be heard and analysed. A number of international news organizations, including The New York Times, have acknowledged the importance of Father Sava's work.
Thanks also to Father Sava, the dogmatic view of the Internet is changing daily within the church. The celebration of the Feast of St Sava (the founder and patron saint of education in Serbia) was last year broadcast live on the Internet for the first time, as well as being carried on Radio B92 and ANEM via satellite with the help of RealAudio and Real Video. Thanks to this kind of use of the Internet, even the fanatics have been forced to change their views and subsequently their behaviour.
But Radio B92 has also established the strongest E-network of its own; it is the network of correspondents. In the last days of the former Serbian regime it was the only network that had been successful. It worked only through the Internet; everything that happened in Serbia in these times was seen by these correspondents, exchanged and distributed through the Internet. Every journalist/correspondent needed only a phone line to access the Internet and it was impossible for the regime to cut it all. After several days of fighting for the truth everybody knew who won the elections. The Internet won again!
Of course, some segments of society are resistant to new technologies, usually because of the lack of modern education, the prevalence of dogmatic ideas and the desire for self-isolation. Every non-democratic society strives to block the flow of new ideas. The Internet is an anathema to such efforts.
Back in the late nineteenth century, when the first railway in Serbia was being planned, resistance to this innovation was based on the argument that a Serbia crossed by railways would be easy prey for various international influences. Similar arguments are now being heard against the use of new technologies and the Internet in some conservative parts of Yugoslav society. Despite this, Serbia now has 52 IT providers, a government-founded Agency for the Development of the Internet, and an increasing number of people who use the Internet as a main source of information.
The Internet in Serbia is not virtual, but the real world.