Member of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) Council Judita Popovic told N1 that reality shows are not the only cause of the tragic events that took place in Serbia last week.
Commenting on the demands for the dismissal of REM members, Popovic said she would refrain from simplifying things so much.
“It is legitimate to demand the resignation of all kinds of institutions, even regulators, but I wouldn’t simplify things so much. Reality shows are not the sole cause of this grave social trauma. It is all much more complex, the problem did not arise yesterday, it is not a product of one factor’s doing or failure to so something,” Popovic told N1 when asked to comment on the demand made Monday at the Serbia Against Violence protest in Belgrade for the dismissal of REM Council members.
She added that last week’s mass shootings in Serbia in which 17 people were killed were preceded by tens of years of collapse, building of the cult of violence and primitivism, criminalization and violence in all spheres of society.
“The easiest thing to do is to replace someone. If the system remains intact, and continues to function as it is, we have achieved nothing. We merely replaced individuals who are just some visible exponents of a general manipulation that is not present only in the media,” said Popovic.
She admitted that the REM failed to do its job and regulate the media sphere in Serbia, which, she said, is in a state of chaos.
Regarding the requests to regulate and even ban reality shows, Popovic explained that everything should be done in line with the Electronic Media Act, meaning that such content should be broadcast at night, when it is not that accessible to children.
She said that, in spite of everything, she would not ban reality shows because once censorship is introduced that will lead to new steps in the same direction.
“That is not a solution. If solving the problem of violence were that simple, I would say – okay, we will ban reality shows. But you have an audience of millions watching that,” stressed the REM Council member, adding that she would refrain from dividing and confronting the society “which has suffered enough and is still suffering.”