Authors of Newsnet for "Vreme" about satire in Serbia, elections, political pressures, Ribnikar...

The team of satirists behind News Net has been working, writing and filming for 13 years. For the last ten years, they have been successfully writing and producing the satirical show "24 minutes with Zoran Kesić", and they recently celebrated the tenth anniversary of the broadcast.

With the authors News net With Jelisaveta Miletić, Marko Dražić, Viktor Marković and Nenad Milosavljević, we talked about satire in Serbia today, how much reality is "ruining" their work, election results, politicians who lie, but also the most positive and worst things that happened to us in the year that we are slowly saying goodbye to.

The biggest shock Nestorović

It is only the second day after the election, the reactions to the irregularities are stormy, the leaders of the opposition have started a hunger strike.

"We all knew that there would be slander in the elections, but I think the sight of buses full of voters from Bosnia in front of the Arena was something that no one could believe. We somehow believed that they would try to cover up such things, this time they tried so hard that they do these things almost transparently," says Marko Dražič.

Of the election results, Nestorovic's result is the biggest shock to him, which, he says, only shows how much we all live in bubbles, because until yesterday he was convinced that people had forgotten about him since there was no more talk about corona.

"Often readers tell us that we have gone too far and that there are no topics to joke with." We do not think that we are the ones exaggerating, but reality. That is why we appeal to reality not to exaggerate and we tell reality that it is not ok to make fun of us in this way, says Viktor Marković.

Jelisaveta Miletić thinks that it is good news that they will have a handful of material for their podcasts and show for a long time, and that it is bad news that they will have a handful of material for a long time.

"It seems that the will of the citizens will not be expressed only in the elections, but also on the streets." We will see which electoral system will bring a better change," Miletić believes.

2023 is a very difficult year for satire in Serbia

As satirists, how much does the reality in Serbia hinder their work, and whether it itself has become satire and in general, what is the situation for satirists in Serbia, one of the authors, Nenad Milosavljević, says that 2023 was a difficult year for satire in Serbia.

"It's getting harder and harder for me to follow what's going on and the news is getting crazier, and year after year we tell the same story, but I really think that this year has been by far the worst." That's good for the show, it's easier to process an event there, but we also encountered some cases where when we see the video we think: "What can we say about this"?

He adds that the situation with writing texts for the site is a real hell because it is now impossible to process a lot of topics, and the reality in Serbia, says Nenad, has made their work difficult.

Dražić does not completely agree with that and says that he thinks that for people who deal with satire, it is very inspiring in Serbia, but that for the rest of the people, the situation in the country is very bad.

"All of us who deal with satire, we would gladly agree to have a little less inspiring news and to have a harder time getting to the things we do if it would lead to a more normal society." "Sometimes it's very difficult to give our answer, which should be crazier than the one that is really real news, and what's even more problematic is when you see the same characters year after year," says Dražić.

As he says, for 10 years they have had one main actor in almost all of their texts, podcasts and shows.

"We hope to have some more characters in the future because we can often finish a sentence for our president, but also start it." And we know exactly what he will say, it has become tiring," Dražić believes.

Photo: Marija Janković

Milosavljević says that more and more often he cannot personally distance himself from what he is watching.

"It's okay while Dacic sings, like ha ha Dacic sings, he's really funny, but these are already so serious things that you can't just cover them satirically without it touching you personally, and when it touches you personally, there is a risk that it and it is seen, and it should not be seen in what we do," he adds.

"Anger was generated in me too," says Jelisaveta and adds that it is difficult for her to get out of it.

"You can no longer joke about some things because there is too much of it and it is no longer funny or fun for you, and no matter how predictable everything the government does, as Marko says, that we can continue the sentences and they are the same actors, they still they never cease to amaze. "Some new affairs and stupid things they have done are constantly popping up, so we always have something to do and topics to comment on," she says.

Marković thinks that everything was easier, we are all schizophrenic, in the sense that there are those as satirists and those as people, to separate the two.

"Everything is great for me as a satirist, but for me as a person it's not really great," he concludes.

When asked whether politicians take their bread out of their mouths, Dražić says that the written part is the most difficult for them because that is the essence of News Net, because if you twist some crazy news, it's just less normal and less funny, so it's good that they're doing it show with Kesić for ten years and a podcast where they don't have to twist the news, but comment on it in an entertaining way.

Viktor says that they have covered some topics several times in the last ten years, and now we need to find a seventh angle for the same thing that happened.

About political pressures

Jelisaveta says that they don't have any editorial pressure because they "fought" for it, but that they encounter a financial blockade in their work.

"Let's say a podcast of our range in terms of viewership would naturally be much more sponsored than commercial sponsors, but that's simply not the case because they can't, because it's not just a matter of a podcast dealing with politics, so no one wants to have anything to do with that, but the fact that no one should have anything to do with someone who has anything to do with politics in that way. I think it would be different if we didn't live under such political pressure," says Miletić.

Dražić says that people from some companies often tell them that privately they really like what they do, but that their company cannot and must not even think of being friends of subcastes.

"When we visit somewhere, mostly in the interior, a similar blockage happens to us, only in the physical space. We can't find a place where we would perform, hold a forum or a podcast, we can't hold any event, say in a city library or the city's House of Culture, because the city manages them, and the city wouldn't really like to give us space," says Marković.

As they say, these restrictions are much stronger today than ten years ago.

"We have absolutely no access to public spaces and we have even stopped trying to get some space like the library or the House of Culture because the situation is such that not only we can't get that space, but somewhere we can't get any space, that's now at that level. Very often, some "last of the Mohicans" appears in some town who is free and who has gone to war with the authorities and is not interested in anything.

Jelisaveta says that often the people who host them say that they would not be surprised if an inspection came to them, so the mere fact that they are endangering someone by doing a forum and a podcast does not bring the best feeling in the world.

"We would like to go to someone's house without them suffering the consequences," she says.

Dražić is encouraged by the fact that in every city there is one "last Mohican", and they are mostly older, former rockers or punks who have a rebellious attitude and are not afraid of anyone.

"In smaller communities, there is also the problem that you know that people who come there are aware that it will be recorded somewhere that they came, like for example after the forum in Subotica when they heard that there were two plainclothes policemen there, and those people aware that they are also brave just because they come to a coffee shop and listen to Njuzovce for an hour," concludes Dražić.

What hit them the most in 2023

"Definitely that May, the murders in Ribnikar and Mladenovac, it was a total shock and I don't even know if I still processed what happened," replies the first Milosavljević.

Marković says that they discussed the subject of the murders after a few days, maybe even weeks, while they came to their senses, and that they had several texts on the website, and the topic was also discussed in the show with Kesić.

Dražić says that everyone was taken aback and that the whole country was in shock, and that you become aware that people need something to get at that moment, but you are not aware of what you can give them.

"We also had a big dilemma with Kesić, and we decided that the first episode after the terrible events should not be funny at all, but that he should really try to get some answers through conversations with several people from the profession," says Dražić.

Nenad says that on their website, too, everything came down to criticism of the authorities who did not show up at the scene and were simply not good at that moment. Soon the protests started and their focus was on them and on the inappropriate selfies of the leading people in power.

"My wife and I were at home when they officially confirmed the information about the murders of the children and we just looked at each other and started crying together and I think that was the reaction of most people at the time," says Nenad.

Would anything have been alleviated if someone from the authorities had come to the scene that day, Jelisaveta says that it is only one detail, but that we should not forget the shameful appearances of officials with lists, the inadequate response in that situation. The protests after the murder gave her some sort of comfort and hope.

"The idea that there are not a few of us and that we are waking up, and that we have the right to go out and raise our voices, as well as the huge amount of people on the streets, was the most important impression for me this year," says Jelisaveta.

Nenad believes that politicians in those days could only be normal and perform with piety, however, within a few days, the politicians from the government started arguing and arguing, and they answered someone from the opposition on that topic, and he could not to know that they cannot control themselves even in that tragic situation.

"For me, that selfie is the most incredible impression of this year and everything that happened after only seven days that they were joking and making fun of each other, that they took pictures, and decided that it was cool and said, now we're going to post it on the networks." That was their conscious decision and message," says Dražić and wonders if they are so afraid of the people, when they were not allowed to appear on the spot.

Victor says that he has a recent impression when he applied to be a controller in the elections.

"It occurred to me that my only duty is to be focused all the time, like thousands of other controllers, so that thousands of other people who work for the government don't steal from you." During the training, I found out how many ways there are to steal from you, that made me really tired.

What made them happy in 2023?

Sportsmen are often able to make Dražić happy, and as he says, Serbian basketball players made him happy the most with the silver medal at the World Championship.

"It was a wonderful event, especially since we didn't expect it and something positive is what Jelisaveta mentioned, that feeling when you are on the street week after week, and when you see that number of people, it brought me back to my early youth and the protests in 1996 .and that feeling that you are not alone, that it is possible for something to change," says Dražić.

Suddenly, the "Serbia Against Violence" protests are also a positive event.

"I was delighted when it was raining and when the stories started whether there would be people or not, and I could see a river of people and I just thought 'Ok this doesn't look like it's going to break.' Then people who I know for a fact did not have any activist role ten years ago came to the protests, and they are apolitical, and then I thought that it touched people," says Milosavljević.

"There is one thing, and that is when the Parliament started to target actors, it doesn't matter what profession it is, but I really liked it and it encouraged me that a whole team of people from a certain profession stood behind those individuals and that during those attacks, you feel a little more protected, when the mob from the Assembly attacks you through the tabloids, there is someone to stand behind you," says Jelisaveta Miletić.

"Jokić won the NBA," says Marković and adds that it was a really nice feeling, but that, of course, you have to try to ignore the support for Vučić, because "what can you do, but he plays basketball well."

Marko adds that our athletes try very hard to make us happy but at the same time to disappoint us.

"It's incredible how many sportsmen have returned in the past year, from Dejan Stanković who destroys half of Slavia, some of Pixie's statements, Jokić's support of the authorities," concludes Dražić.

Who lies to us the most in politics

The authors of News Net unanimously agreed that it is the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and as they say, "he has been our champion for the past decade."

"Come on, he's lying, but we're all amazed at how easily he lies. A normal and decent man, and when he lies you can see that he is uncomfortable, you can see that he does it because he has to, and the ease with which Vučić pronounces some sentences, such as, for example, that he hasn't read a particular text, when he reads everything else, he doesn't blink until he's lying," Dražić thinks.

Nenad thinks that the president has already started to get a little lost in what he was putting together, because he is counting on people's short memory.

"It's sad that he comes on television twice a week and lies, and he doesn't tell a single lie per appearance, it's sad that you've dedicated most of your life to lying," says Dražić.

Jelisaveta is most annoyed by the fact that our society does not have a collective memory and that then everything that "that man says" passes only and only because no one is in the mood "wait, is this true or not", but we just sit and listen, no one asks the question is whether it is true, when he said what.

"What would we check when it's the president," continues Marković.

A positive surprise in politics

"I think it's cool how Radomir Lazović speaks and performs, and I think that from the moment he entered the Parliament, until today, he has further profiled himself and has that combination of a simple-minded people's man who resonates with the general public, and also has a retained dose of activism from We are not suffocating Belgrade," says Jelisaveta. Dražić also agrees with that.

Marković additionally praises Sergej Trifunović for retiring from politics, and adds that Pavle Grbović is fine with him, and that he is getting better and better.

As for Nenad, in his opinion, Pajtić and Ćuta "flourished", although Pajtić is no longer in politics, he thinks that he is more and more witty on Twitter.

"Now you hear more from him than when he was in politics, and everyone wonders why he didn't work and speak like that when he was president of the DS."

"I think it's good that Ćuta got the opportunity to be a guest on some regime media, and I would like to see him more often in such situations, because I think he slaps himself on the way to the studio and when he comes to the studio, he literally erases the pathos with everyone who there, Milosavljević thinks.

From Dobrica, you can learn about all the struggles that take place in Belgrade, concludes Jelisaveta, which is very important for her and for us as citizens.

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