1. Serbia Morris 1
All About Serbia
Mattie Morris
Country Paper
September 29, 2016
2. Serbia Morris 2
The past couple of weeks I have been researching information on the country Serbia.
Serbia, formerly the political and cultural center of Yugoslavia, is today a landlocked country in
the central part of Balkan Peninsula in Central Southeastern Europe. The country is the northern
remain of the former State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. In 1882 Serbia became a kingdom
but in 2006 Serbia became a country itself after Montenegro voted in a referendum for
independence from the Union of Serbia and Montenegro. Serbs settled the Balkan Peninsula in
the 6th and 7th century. They then adopted Christianity in the 9th century. In 1166 a Serbian
warrior and chief, Stefan Nemanja found the very first Serbian state. By the 14th century it
became the post powerful state in the Balkans. The aftermath of World War 1, Serbia became
part of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918.
The type of government in Serbia is a republic with one legislative house. The president
is Tomislav Nikolic. He has been head of state since May 31, 2012. Nikolic is also the founder of
the Serbian Progressive Party. He led the party until his election as President.
The current GDP in Serbia is worth 36.51 billion US dollars. Serbia is also the 76th
largest export economy in the world. The top exports of Serbia are cars at $1.79 billion, then it is
insulated wire at $550 million, corn at $542 million and rubber tires at $420 million. Serbia’s top
imports are vehicle parts at $1.14 billion, crude petroleum at $1.05 billion, petroleum gas at $752
million, refined petroleum at $728 million and packaged medicaments at $624 million. Serbia’s
top export partners are Italy at $2.51 billion, Germany at $1.77 billion, Bosnia and Herzegovina
at $1.19 billion, Russia at $1.06 billion and Montenegro at $695 million. Serbia’s top import
partners are Germany at $2.2 billion, Italy at $2.12 billion, Russia at $2.07 billion, China at
$1.27 billion and Hungary at $1.11 billion.
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In Serbia religion classes are organized in public and secondary schools. “There is no
state religion, but the dominant Serbian Orthodox Church and other “traditional” religious
communities receive some preferential consideration,” (Serbia). They are most common
coordinated with Serbian Orthodox Church, but also with the Roman Catholic Church and
Islamic community.
Most of the time Serbians speak one official language which is Serbian language.
However, Serbian language can either be written in cyrillic and laitin script. “In the ancient times
the Cyrillic alphabet was used in the kingdom of Serbia. But Latin came into existence mainly
after the early nineteenth century around 1918,” (Official Language of Serbia). Other minority
and ethnic groups like the Bosnians, Croats, Jews and Slovaks speak their respective languages.
Today, the media in Serbia are more free then most of the East European countries. The
media of Serbia is made up of mass media outlets which include television, magazines and
newspapers and are all operated both state-owned and for-profit corporations which depend on
advertising. There has been an issue with safety regarding journalists and media in Serbia,
besides “regular” threats and media campaigns against government critics. In Serbia, journalism
is not a licensed or registered profession. In fact, journalists have a very low social status.
Nearly 85 percent of citizens of Serbia obtain news and information from television. TV B92 is
currently the leader in affairs genre and TV Pink leads in entertainment. Another 11 percent say
they listen to the radio on the internet. The Pink Media Group is the leading commercial radio
(Radio Pink) and television (TV Pink). The most popular radio stations are Radio B92 and Radio
S. The oldest radio station in Serbia is Radio Beograd which has been operating since 1929.
“According to the May 2010 data on the Serbian Business Registers Agency there are 523 print
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media in Serbia” (By contrast, the market for lifestyle and celebrity magazines is blooming). If
you are considering moving to Serbia or working there in the media field, I would be concerned
about working in the media market. It remains underdeveloped and saturated. It is a global crisis
with a shirking advertising market.
The two articles I found on a mass shooting event that was taken place in Serbia this past
summer did not have a lot of detail. The Serbia media outlets did not put many direct quotes
either, and was only a couple paragraphs long. The article that I found from the U.S that was
written by the New York Times was full of direct quotes. It was also very detailed and at least 15
paragraphs long.
The same article about the mass shooting event that was written by a Europe media outlet
was a lot like the one written from the New York Times. It covered the who, what, when, where,
why and how. It didn’t have hardly any direct quotes but it was filled with many details.
The Serbian public relations association is on the path of modernization. About a year
ago the association got its new board of directors. Within the new board members there is
positive energy which strengthens the public relations profession in Serbia. Although there has
been a slight crisis, there has been no big moves in the development of the PR profession. People
are constantly changing, so the plan is to try to discover and learn how to function in an
increasingly dynamic sociologic, economic, and communication environment. The State of
Serbia regulates advertising on several levels. Goes from the Constitution to statutory rulebooks,
showing adequately its interests in ensuring that the law on advertising maintains a fair
environment for commerce. The various regulation’s grants rights as well as impose obligations,
providing for liberties as well as restrictions. “The law on advertising proclaims several ground
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principles according to which advertising has to be conducted. Among these are: freedom to
advertise, requirement of verity, completeness, and clarity, requirement that the advertisement be
recognizable as such, prohibition of abuse of trust and prohibition of discrimination and of
violation of morals,” (N Markovic, M Markovic).
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Works Cited
B92 - internet, radio and TV station; Latest news in English - on B92.net. (2016, July 2).
Retrieved from http://www.b92.net/eng/news/crimes.php?yyyy=2016
By contrast, the market for lifestyle and celebrity magazines is blooming. (n.d.). Serbia - Media
Landscape | European Journalism Centre (EJC). Retrieved from
http://ejc.net/media_landscapes/serbia
Five Killed, 20 Injured In Cafe Shooting In Serbia. (2016, July 2). Retrieved from
http://www.rferl.org/a/serbia-cafe-shooting/27834067.html
Markovic, N., & Markovic, M. (n.d.). Advertising Law in Serbia. Retrieved from
https://www.hg.org/article.asp?id=31383
Official Language of Serbia. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.mapsofworld.com/serbia/language.html
Serbia. (2011, September 13). Retrieved from
http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2010_5/168337.htm
7. The Associated Press. 5 Shot Dead in Cafe in Serbia; Ex-Husband Is Arrested. (2016, July 02).
Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/world/europe/shooting-at-serbian-cafe-
leaves-5-dead-including-gunmans-wife.html
