Serbia Media ft. Sasa

I interviewed Sasa Vasiljevic who is from Serbia.  He is currently a senior and is on the men’s volleyball team.  He also is the JV assistant for the woman’s Gold volleyball team. Sasa had many things to say about the media in Serbia.  When he was young, he learned about the American culture by watching children shows such as cartoons.  For example, he would watch shows like Power Rangers and Teenage Mutant Turtles.  He also said that Serbia gets MTV.  I was curious on what types of movies he watched that were exported from America.  He said that the most popular types were action and drama.  Comedy movies weren’t that popular so he never really watched them.  He explained to me that he wasn’t that big of a reader so he barely ever had his hands on an American novel.  He also told me that he didn’t see much of them either.  I asked him about the free press in Serbia and he said that it was very limited.  It isn’t government controlled so when stuff happens, people don’t hear it through the media.  They hear it through word of mouth.  I also asked Sasa if the media there was like ours in the way that it runs 24/7.  He said that it isn’t on all of the time and that it usually stops around 8pm.  Sasa said that the TV stations there are privately owned but the government controls them.  In Chapter 1, it says, “the government determines the information, entertainment, and persuasion that will be present through the media.” 

Now to MUSIC! Since other countries have different tastes in music and the way they dance, I wanted to know what type of music he listened too.  He said that he likes rap but the majority of people there prefer dance pop, techno, and Serbia national music.  Something else he said really caught my attention.  He said that many of the celebrities are singers.  He also said that it wasn’t based on talent but more on how attractive the artists were.  I feel that in our nation, we have many talented singers who are also very attractive.  Also in our nation, people who aren’t that talented can’t really get that far.

I brought up the idea of cultural imperialism and if it affects his country in any way.  He said that many people enjoy American movies but can sometimes take offense.  In Chapter 1, it says “ one study of teens from 12 countries found that many of the teens considered Americans materialistic, sexually immoral, and often criminal people who seek to dominate other cultures.” I asked Sasa if he agreed with this statement and he said that it is true but never really thought of it in a bad way.

One of the major radio stations that he remembers is called Radio BIS Plus and it was located in Kragujevac, Serbia.  It played all of the hits.

One of the major news broadcast media is called B92. 

Also----Check out this website!! 

Types of Media in Serbia!