Method and analysis

The media analysis, inspired by agenda-setting theory, encompassed all thematic press reports on selected war crimes trials and civil society instances from 2000, when press liberalisation started, until 2015. Printed media were chosen since they provide an opportunity to analyse both vertical and horizontal media sources, thereby providing a broader overview of frames. Additionally, printed media mirror television coverage (Funkhouser, 1973: 64) and agenda-setting has been associated with them as much as with other types of media. Peruško (2011: 12) has also shown that media concentration (measured by audience and advertising share of the top three sources in each medium) is high for both television and daily newspapers (Table 3).

Table 3. Concentration of the media audience at the national level (0-100: 0-35 low concentration, 35-55 medium

concentration, over 56 high concentration).

Medium Market concentration of

top three sources

Television 75

Daily newspapers 58

Internet portals 39

Radio 25

Source: Peruško (2011: 12)

The media analysis included most of the major news outlets in Croatia, both weeklies and dailies, as well as a range of online portals, some of which focus on issues of transitional justice. All dailies37 _{and the two online editions of the major television broadcasting channels} represented vertical media (that reflect the basic institutions of society) and the others all fell into the category of horizontal media, which was composed of weeklies and Internet portals (Table 4).

37 _{Arguably Slobodna Dalmacija and Novi List could be classified as horizontal sources since,}

although they are dailies, they have relatively niche audiences. Slobodna Dalmacija is, however, now owned by one of the major press publishers in Croatia and Novi List has indicated its strong institutional affiliation when, for example, in 2015 it was accused of letting a journalist go due to pressure from a political party.

Table 4. List of written media sources used in study.

Type of source Vertical media sources Horizontal media sources Dailies Jutarnji List; Večernji List; 24 Sata;

Novi List; Slobodna Dalmacija

Weeklies Feral Tribune; Globus; Nacional; Novosti;

Vojna Povijest

Online portals Dnevnik (Nova TV); HRT Dnevno.hr; H-Alter; Index.hr; Tacno.net; T-Portal

Most of these sources had a history of political leanings; in fact, some were created with that express purpose in mind. This is of relevance inasmuch as some will have been supportive or opposed to the transitional justice process based on their political orientation. This does not mean that these sources were consistently and wholly supporting or opposing the process, they may have had inconsistent reports or editorials, but on the whole they often leant one way or stayed relatively neutral. An attempt was made to balance these as much as possible, but the table is also a rough reflection of the media picture in Croatia, which is composed of several online portals that support transitional justice and one particularly vocal portal that is staunchly opposed to it (Table 5).

Table 5. Sources’ support or opposition to transitional justice. Type of source Supportive of

transitional justice

Neutral/Both Opposed to transitional justice

Dailies Jutarnji List; Novi List 24 Sata Večernji List; Slobodna Dalmacija Weeklies Feral Tribune; Novosti Globus; Nacional Vojna Povijest Online portals H-Alter; Index.hr;

Tacno.net; T-Portal

Dnevnik (Nova TV); HRT

Dnevno.hr

Source: Own composition

The analysis focused on key trials at the ICTY and in domestic courts, as well as events in the civic sphere. These involved better and lesser known trials and events spread out over the period of analysis (Table 6).

Table 6. Overview of analysed trials and events.

Trial/event Issue Year(s)38

ICTY trials

Ante Gotovina

Emblematic of the nexus of politics, symbols, rituals and collective memory in

Croatia.

2001 - 2012

Dario Kordić and Tihomir Blaškić39 Crimes committed outside of Croatia in

Bosnia. 1995 - 2005

Domestic trials

Mirko Norac

Public reaction to a trial and change over time, since the case was relevant during

different time periods.

2001 - 2008

Branimir Glavaš and Tomislav Merčep40 Influence of the war narrative on the judiciary.

2005 – present Lora prison Domestic judicial capacity and possible

bias in the system.

2002 – present

Events in the civic sphere

Death threats sent to the leading investigative journalist of the independent newspaper Feral

Tribune, Drago Hedl, directed at him and a

witness in a war crimes trial.

Freedom of the press and who has the right to report on the Homeland War and

associated trials.

2005

Assault on Zoran Pusić, President of the Civic Committee for Human Rights, by individuals who

claimed to be war veterans from Vukovar.

The role of civil society in the transitional justice process and which groups are

allowed to participate in this.

2006

Public skirmish between Croatian President Ivo Josipović and Milorad Pupovac, President of the

Serbian National Council.

Who is allowed to represent the Serbian

minority’s views and interests. 2012

Introduction of Cyrillic as an official alphabet in Vukovar.

Recognition that ought to be provided to different communities (in this case, the

Serbian minority in Vukovar).

2013

Heckling of Prime Minister Milanović during the 2013 Operation Storm commemoration in Knin.

Who has the right to discuss the Homeland War and the presentation of

opposing views.

2013

38 _{For trials this denotes the period from the initial indictment to the final verdict; for events in the civic}

sphere this denotes when the event occurred.

39 _{These are analysed as separate cases in the analysis.} 40 _{These are also analysed as separate cases.}

The search for articles was completed using online archives, predominantly from the news outlets themselves, sometimes via electronic repositories.41 _{This was done with a variety of} broad keywords (for example, the names of the Generals) until no significant number of new articles was turning up. Although some articles were published only online, all of the printed articles were also reproduced online. All of the dailies had archives that covered printed and online articles to 2000. Articles deemed to be wholly episodic were discarded and a tally was not kept of these. There was no need for this given the analysis did not investigate episodic reporting and these were easy to discard since they were often considerably shorter than their thematic counterparts.42 _{They would often include brief updates on court dates, witness} testimonies or investigation progress. In total 4,795 thematic or semi-thematic articles were analysed, most of which dealt with war crimes trials, rather than civil society instances. These were broken down by year of publication and presented as such below, when appropriate. The analysis focused on key trials at the ICTY and in domestic courts, as well as events in the civic sphere. These were broken down by year of publication and presented as such below, when appropriate.