February 13, 2018
In the first six weeks of the campaign for the local elections to be held in Belgrade on 4th March, the frontpages of daily newspapers have published the most positive articles about the representatives of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) -245 – which is 70 more than all other participants in the election combined, according to analysis conducted by Transparency Serbia.
The highest number of appearances, 155 – of which 135 were in a positive context – has been recorded by Serbian President SNS leader Aleksandar Vučić, whose name heads the SNS electoral list. Current mayor of Belgrade and councillor candidate Siniša Mali appeared 33 times in a positive context and was depicted negatively three times. In total, the leader and candidates from the SNS list have appeared on frontpages 283 times, 245 in a positive context and 10 times with a neutral tone.
Transparency Serbia’s analysis shows that the remaining 23 electoral lists have a combined total of 173 appearances in a positive context.
Ranked second in the number of frontpage appearances is the list of former Mayor Dragan Đilas, who has appeared in around 110 reports, although 64 were in a negative context, 58 of which were published in tabloids. Of the 43 newspaper reports regarding the “Let’s Free Belgrade” list, which is being led by the Democratic Party, 30 were in a positive context.
