ENVIRONMENTAL DISCOURSE OF THE MEDIA IN SERBIA
Abstract
The authors of this paper examine the ways in which the media in Serbia have reported on environmental issues, with the aim of identifying their frequency, content structure, and dominant themes in the headlines of print newspapers and online news portals. The relevance of the selected topic is grounded in public opinion research, which has consistently demonstrated a growing level of public interest in issues related to environmental degradation. In other words, environmental problems, climate change, and energy transitions – albeit in different forms and to varying degrees – have gained increasing prominence within the Serbian public sphere. Accordingly, a content analysis was conducted on a sample of articles published in various print media outlets and online portals over the period from 2015 to 2025. The selected time frame enabled insight into the longitudinal relevance of these issues for mass media, reflected in the number of headlines, but also a better understanding of the broader ecological and economic context (the planning of mini-hydropower plant construction, air pollution, the announcement of various mining projects, etc.). The analysis is limited to headlines as the primary carriers of information, given their role in directing readers’ attention in line with their interests. A mixed-methods approach combining quantitative and qualitative analysis was employed in order to capture a broader range of characteristics of media discourse, such as the representation of various environmental issues, the style of reporting and its informational value and the presence of critical or sensationalist framing.
References
Agencija za energetiku Republike Srbije [AERS] 2025. „Izveštaj o radu Agencije za energetiku za 2024. godinu”. Agencija za energetiku Republike Srbije. Poslednji pristup 28. novembar 2025. https://aers.rs/media/FILES/Izvestaji/Godisnji/Izvestaj%20Agencije%202024.pdf. Arežina, Verа. 2010. Problem merenja ekološke bezbednosti. Beograd: MST Gajić.
Arezina, Vera, and Nenad Spasojevic. 2022. “ Environmental Security in the Balkan Region”. In Contemporary Issues in The Balkans, Middle East, Asia & Africa, ed. Nesrin Kenar, 53–68. London: IJOPEC Publication.
Bakhtin, Mikhail. 1981. “Discourse in the novel”. In The dialogical imagination: four essays by M.M. Bakhtin, ed. Michael Holquist, 259–422. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Balkan Green Energy News. 2024. “Jadar project timeline: a full overview of the most controversial investment in Serbia’s recent history”. Balkan Green Energy News. September 20, 2024. https://balkangreenenergynews.com/jadar-projecttimeline-a-full-overview-of-the-most-controversialinvestment-in-serbias-recent-history/.
Braun, Virginia and Victoria Clarke. 2006. “Using thematic analysis in psychology”. Qualitative research in psychology 3 (2): 77–101. DOI: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa. Đurišić, Željko, i Bojana Škrbić. 2022. „Potencijal energije sunca i vetra za strateško planiranјe dekarbonizacije proizvodnјe električne energije u Srbiji.” Energija, ekonomija, ekologija 24 (4): 1–11. DOI: 10.46793/EEE22-4.01D.
Falkner, Robert. 2016. “The Paris Agreement and the New Logic of International climate politics”. International Affairs 92 (5): 1107–1125. DOI: 10.1111/1468-2346.12708. Galjak, Marko, and Marina Budić. 2024. “Public perceptions of fossil and alternative energy in Serbia Between NIMBYism and nationalism”. Energy Policy 190: 1–12. DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2024.114137.
Janačković, Branko. 2020. „Zbog gradnje male hidroelektrane u Rakiti mogla bi da se umeša i Evropa”. Blic. 1. mart 2020. https://www.blic.rs/vesti/drustvo/zbog-gradnje-malehidroelektrane-u-rakiti-mogla-bi-da-se-umesa-i-evropa/h818cy7.
Krstić, Aleksandra. 2022. „Lokalni mediji kao nosioci promena: uticaj lokalnog novinarstva na rešavanje socijalnih i ekoloških problema u opštinama u Srbiji”. Kritika 3 (2): 205–227. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7369673.
Marković, Miodrag. 2022. „Ko su glavni igrači u biznisu istraživanja ruda u Srbiji”. BIRN. 14. jun 2022. https://birn.rs/ko-su-glavni-igraci-u-biznisu-istrazivanja-ruda-u-srbiji/.
Mišić, Mile, and Anastassia Obyedenkova. 2022. “Environmental conflict, renewable energy, or both? Public opinion on small hydropower plants in Serbia”. Post-Communist Economies 34 (5): 684–713. DOI: 10.1080/14631377.2021.1943928.
Nadić, Darko. 2012. Ogledi iz političke ekologije. Beograd: Čigoja štampa.
Newman, Nic, Amy Ross Arguedas, Craig T. Robertson, Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, and Richard Fletcher. 2025. “ Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025”. Reuters Institute. Last access Janury 15, 2026. https://sanef.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Digital_News-Report_2025.pdf.
Pešić, Jelena, i Jelisaveta Vukelić. 2025. “Transnationalization vs. Eco-Nationalism: Discursive Framing of Environmental Struggles in Serbia”. In Contentious Politics in the Transnational Arena, eds. Chiara Milan and Aron Buzogány, 101–122. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-86209-0_5.
Portal Krug. 2025. „Bitka za reku Studenicu: Meštani i aktivisti traže UNESCO zaštitu svetske baštine od MHE projekata”. Portal Krug. 24. novembar 2025. https://www.krug.rs/bitka-za-reku-studenicu-mestani-i-aktivisti-traze-unescozastitu-svetske-bastine-od-izgradnje-mhe-projekata/.
Simić, Savo, i Nenad Spasojević. 2022. „Zeleni u političkom životu Republike Srbije: od nominalnog preko marginalnog ka izbornom akteru”. U Perspektive političkih nauka u savremenom društvu, ur. Andrea Matijević i Nenad Spasojević, 137–162. Beograd: Institut za političke studije.
Simonović, Predrag, Ratko Ristić, Vukašin Milčanović, Siniša Polovina, Ivan Malušević, Boris Radić, Tamara Kanjuh, Ana Marić, and Vera Nikolić. 2021. “Effects of run-of-river hydropower plants on fish communities in montane stream ecosystems in Serbia”. River Research and Applications 37 (5): 722–731. DOI: 10.1002/rra.3795.
Spasić, Vladimir. 2025. „Više od 200 naučnica i naučnika potpisalo apel protiv gradnje MHE Studenica S4 – Gradina”. Balkan Green Energy News. 27. mart 2025. https://balkangreenenergynews.com/rs/vise-od-200-naucnica-inaucnika-potpisalo-apel-protiv-gradnje-mhe-studenica-s4-gradina/.
Spasojević, Nenad. 2021. „Da li raste uloga zelenih partija i pokreta pred nastupajuće izbore u Srbiji?” Klima101. 1. jul 2021. https://klima101.rs/zeleni-pokreti-u-srbiji-izbori/.
Spasojević, Nenad. 2022a. „Primena kvalitativnih i kvantitativnih istraživačkih metoda u ispitivanju javnog mnjenja o problemu aerozagađenja u Republici Srbiji”. Politička revija 72 (2): 203–223. DOI: 10.22182/pr.7222022.12. Spasojević, Nenad. 2022b. „Uloga Agencije za energetiku Republike Srbije u regulaciji energije iz obnovljivih izvora – studija slučaja vetropark ‛ČIBUK 1’”. Administracija i javne politike 17 (1): 33–56. DOI: 10.22182/ajp.1712022.2.
Spasojević, Nenad. 2022c. „Zelene partije u Republici Srbiji – ideja bez kontinuiteta”. U Trideset godina od obnove višestranačja u Srbiji: iskustva i perspektive, ur. Nikola
Mladenović i Petar Matić, 276–294. Beograd: Institut za političke studije.
Spasojević, Nenad, i Nemanja Milović. 2021. „Koliko mediji u Srbiji izveštavaju o klimatskim promenama?” Klima 101. 24. jun 2021. https://klima101.rs/mediji-izvestavanjeklimatske-promene/.
Stojanović, Boban, Aleksandar Ivković, i Boris Kaličanin. 2025. Alternativni izveštaj o položaju i potrebama mladih u Srbiji – 2025. Beograd: Krovna organizacija mladih Srbije.
Tasić, Tamara. 2024. “Moral panic in the narratives of online media in Serbia”. SCIENCE International journal 3 (4): 155–160. DOI: 10.35120/sciencej0304155t.
Tasić, Viša M., Aca V. Božilov, Nikola Z. Mišić, Dušan B. Topalović, Ivana S. Ranđelović, Nikola S. Mirković, and Vladan V. Kamenović. 2023. “A portable air quality monitor based on low-cost sensors”. Thermal Science 27 (3B): 2309–2319. DOI: 10.2298/TSCI220118107T.
Todić, Dragoljub. 2021. „Klimatske promene – globalni činilac međunarodnih odnosa i liderske ambicije Evropske unije”. U Rаzvојni prаvci Еvrоpskе uniје nаkоn pаndеmiје KОVID 19, ur. Nevena Stanković, Dragana Dabić, i Goran
Bandov, 59–76. Beograd: Institut za međunarodnu politiku i privredu. DOI: 10.18485/iipe_postkovid.2021.ch3. UNDP Srbija. 2025. „Kvantitativno istraživanje javnog mnjenja u Srbiji o životnoj sredini i klimatskim promenama”.
UNDP Srbija. 8. maj 2025. https://www.undp.org/sr/serbia/publications/kvantitativno-istrazivanje-javnog-mnjenja-usrbiji-o-zivotnoj-sredini-i-klimatskim-promenama.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCCC], FCCC/CP/2015/L.9/Rev.1 (2015), Adoption of The Paris Agreement on 12 December 2015.
Vukelić, Jelisaveta, Mina Petrović, and Ana Kukuridi. 2021. “Environmental Activism in Serbia: Challenges to Cooperation Between Professional and Grassroots Organisations”. Balkanologie 16 (2): 1–17. DOI: 10.4000/balkanologie.3485.
Wiatros-Motyka, Małgorzata, and Kostantsa Rangelova. 2025. “Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights 2025”. Last Accessed November 26, 2025. EMBER. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/10/Global-Electricity-Mid-Year-Insights-2025-PDF.pdf.
Zakon o izmenama i dopunama Zakona o ministarstvima [ZIDZM], „Službeni glasnik Republike Srbije”, br. 62/2017.
Zelena Srbija. 2024. „Građanski monitoring: Od 79 opština u Srbiji vazduh zagađen u 47”. Beta. 27. novembar 2024. https://beta.rs/content/215398-gradanski-monitoring-od-79-opstina-u-srbiji-vazduh-zagaden-u-47.