Like a basketball team with clearly arranged positions, the president of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić has its own political-media "ensemble" - a set of actors who participate in shaping public discourse and conveying messages through media, the analysis states A truth-teller which covered the period from January to June 2025.
According to that research, it is about a branched one communication a structure that functions as a propaganda mechanism for creating, directing and controlling public opinion.
The analysis describes that messages are spread through different channels and voices - from politicians and officials to analysts, journalists and public figures, with the aim of strengthening the electorate, distancing dissenters from politics, as well as normalizing harsh rhetoric towards opponents of the government.
Vučić: The central figure of the system
Photo: Tanjug/Jadranka IlićVučić, the central figure
Vučić is the most dominant actor of this network, because he is far more present in the media than all the others. As stated in the analysis, he is simultaneously an interpreter of political reality, an arbiter of events and a kind of personification of the state. In that role, it determines what remains in the sphere of media narratives and what becomes the official state position, as well as which messages are intended for the domestic public and which for the international community.
Istinomer also describes him as the "director" of the system: he determines the topics and tone of communication, but also affirms individual members of the ensemble in public. Istinomer also states that the president occasionally distances himself from the statements or actions of certain actors, especially when they could damage his international image. However, the researchers estimate that such distancing "creates the image of a moderate leader on the outside, while on the inside it maintains a network of radical voices that exist, perform and shape public opinion thanks to him."
Grand Viziers: Top of the Communication Pyramid
At the top of the structure are, according to the analysis, key political collaborators who carry the dominant narratives of the government, i.e. grand viziers, as Istinomer calls them. They are Ana Brnabic, Milos Vucevic i Sinish Mali.
Brnabić was presented as the first line of defense for the president. Her role entails dealing with dissidents and critics of the regime, as well as extreme glorification and victimization of Vučić.
Photo: Tanjug / Sava RadovanovićAna Brnabić, Vučić's right hand
According to Istinomer, Vucevic is an actor who maintains a state-building and "soft" nationalist discourse, introducing messages that increase polarization.
Photo: Tanjug / Nenad MihajlovićMilos Vucevic
Mali is described in the analysis as an actor in charge of the narrative of stability and success, through emphasizing the economic achievements of the government.
Photo: Tanjug/Rade PrelićMinister Siniša Mali defends the budget rebalancing before the Serbian Parliament
Wider Network of "Operatives"
A special category consists of a wider circle of 51 actors that Istinomer calls operatives. This group includes political officials, party representatives, analysts and experts from organizations close to the authorities, but also professors, journalists, editors, security personnel, artists, cultural workers and businessmen.
According to the analysis, the government especially invests in those who act as "experts" and "neutrals", because through them political messages are more easily presented as generally accepted social facts.
These actors are divided into six functional categories – moral arbiters, spokespersons, ideological guardians, success promoters, legitimizers and security operatives.
Among them are Draga J. Vučićević, Aleksandar Vulin, Darko Glišić, Vladimir Đukanović, Milenko Jovanov, Dijana Hrkalović, Milovan Drecun, Vojislav Šešelj. According to this classification, the legitimizers are professors Čedomir Antić and Vladimir Vuletić, President and Judge of the Constitutional Court Vladan Petrov and members of the Center for Social Stability.
A coordinated system with a central figure
This network functions as a coordinated system of political communication in which a central figure sets the direction and tone, while different actors assume specific roles in spreading messages. According to the author, such a structure allows the government to simultaneously control the narrative, mobilize supporters and delegitimize critics.
This study was conducted at the height of the crisis in Serbia, from January to June 2025, when the propaganda network reached its peak activity, Istinomer writes.
The entire analysis can be read on the website A truth-teller.
