Feral Tribune was a Croatianpolitical weekly magazine. Based in Split, it first started as a political satire supplement in Nedjeljna Dalmacija (the Sunday edition of the Slobodna Dalmacija daily newspaper) before evolving into an independent satirical weekly in 1993. It became a popular political weekly in the 2000s before ceasing publication in June 2008.
The magazine, whose name was a play on Herald Tribune (see below), and which billed itself as a "weekly magazine for Croatian anarchists, protesters and heretics",[1] commonly included a provocative satirical photomontage on the cover page, a short news section (titled "Informbiro"), editorials, interviews, a satirical section (titled "Feral Tromblon"), and sections on music, books and the Internet.
Another popular section, titled "Greatest Shits", included a collection of ludicrous statements made in the Croatian media by politicians and other public figures in the previous week. The magazine typically had between 50 and 100 pages in total. It was originally printed in black and white, later changed to full color glossy paper, but then reverted to black and white. In 1994 Feral Tribune also launched a book publishing department which published a series of works by renowned contemporary authors and intellectuals from ex-Yugoslav countries, such as Arsen Dedić, Slavenka Drakulić, Milan Kangrga, Mirko Kovač, Izet Sarajlić and Nenad Veličković, foreign writers such as Isaiah Berlin, Norberto Bobbio, Leonard Cohen and George Soros, as well as works by their in-house columnists such as Boris Dežulović and Viktor Ivančić.[2]
Although the magazine was hugely popular in the 1990s and had received a number of international awards[3] during the period, its circulation gradually declined in the 2000s.[4] Following a series of financial difficulties and failed takeover negotiations with Europapress Holding, the magazine was forced to cease publication in 2008 and published its final issue on 19 June 2008. In March 2010 a digital archive of all articles ever published in Feral Tribune was published in the form of a four-disc DVD set.[1]
History
Beginnings
The paper's name is likely a play on Herald Tribune. "Feral", in Dalmatian dialect, represents a petroleum or gas lamp, typically used on night fishing excursions. Dalmatian culture has a very intimate connection to the sea, and the term Feral is often used as the name of local sport clubs or performing groups. While the term "feral" typically refers to qualities associated with a wild or undomesticated animal in English, it is unlikely that the Croatian-speaking editors chose the title Feral for its meaning in English. On the other hand, it is quite possible that the editorial office enjoyed the double entendre that it elicited among foreign observers, giving the newspaper title an aura of its editorial independence and unwillingness to be tamed by political pressure.
Feral was conceived in 1984 by a trio of young journalists Viktor Ivančić, Predrag Lucić, and Boris Dežulović.[5] The trio named itself by combining letters in their names to form "Viva Ludež", their neologism for goofy madness.[6] Their works initially appeared in the weekly humour supplement of Nedjeljna Dalmacija in 1988.[7] After a month, Feral was banned after it ran a satirical piece ridiculing then Serbian president Slobodan Milošević's nationalist and anti-establishment protests.[7] The publication then moved to Split's daily newspaper, Slobodna Dalmacija.[7] In 1993, when Miroslav Kutle, a businessman with close ties to the governing Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) bought Slobodna Dalmacija, the weekly split off to form its own independent publication.[7] On 1 June 1993, the publication launched its first independent issue with the headline "Ante Pavelić Found Alive", ironically suggesting that his political spirit was alive in Croatian life.[7]
Rise in popularity and legal issues
Feral received little attention until Yugoslavia broke apart in the early 1990s. The magazine's favorite subject soon became Franjo Tudjman.[8] A winter 1993 issue depicted a photograph of Milošević and Tudjman in bed naked together with a headline that read: "Is this what we fought for?".[8] Once the issue hit the streets, it quickly sold out all 50,000 copies.[9] Meanwhile, Ivančić, the magazine's editor, was conscripted to the Croatian army.[9] "His mobilization was obviously related to that issue," said Boris Dežulović who was deputy editor at the time. "We believe they planned to send him to the front lines in Bosnia, but after all the noise this case has raised, they have left him in the barracks instead."[9] He was eventually released.[7] International media took notice of the cover, and a framed copy was even put up in the New York Times newsroom.[7]
Although the magazine was humorous in nature, it started addressing more serious issues as the Yugoslav wars ensued. Feral was among the first Croatian newspapers to openly report on various topics that the state-controlled newspapers would not report on including war crimes perpetrated by Croatian soldiers, the Croatian army's involvement in the war in Bosnia, Tuđman's revanchist opinions of the Ustaše in the context of generic Croatian nationalism, the Herzegovina profiteer lobby, connections between the government and the Catholic Church and other topics.[citation needed] It denounced Croatian racism, Antisemitism, corruption from the governing party as well as Croatian war crimes.[8] HDZ officials criticised Feral, accusing it of anti-Croatian reporting at a time when the country was at war.[7] In 1994, a 50% sales tax typically imposed on pornographic magazines was imposed on the Feral by the HDZ government.[10] This tax received criticism and in 1995 the Croatian Constitutional Court overturned the decision.[10]
Due to the change in the political system, there was nationwide confusion on many issues at the time. "Financial engineering", corruption, and the renewed independence resulted in changes in the government, a burst of patriotism, nationalism, and xenophobia. As a political satire paper, the Feral Tribune provided significant material from the warmongering and profiteering associated with the era.[citation needed]Feral arguably represented almost the only influential opposition to the HDZ administration on the media scene.[10]
In 1996, HDZ passed a law under which public criticism of the highest officials was punishable. The editors of Feral editors were among the first to be sued for defamation. Feral was the subject of dozens of libel suits and criminal charges laid by government officials, including by Tudjman's daughter.[11] In 1998, they were sued by the government for an article criticizing Tudjman's plan to move the remains of Ustaše soldiers and bury them alongside World War Two concentration camp victims at Jasenovac.[11]
In 1997, Feral published an interview with Miroslav Bajramovic, a former member of the reservist police battalion under the command of Tomislav Merčep, who detailed war crimes committed against Serb civilians in Pakračka Poljana.[10] After it ran the story, Feral staff members had to be given police protection because of the death threats it received.[10]
Despite these issues, Feral Tribune continued to survive in part because of donations from abroad. Tudjman died in 1999 and his party was voted out of power on 2000 parliamentary elections.
Attempts to replace Tudjman with George W. Bush as a target led to the magazine embracing a stronger ideological profile and promoting radical left views which alienated some of its old readers and allowed other Croatian newsweeklies, most notably Globus and Nacional, to rise in their relative popularity. Feral was also affected by personnel changes with the departure of one of its founders. [who?]
While the magazine's circulation and influence were limited by these factors, the Feral Tribune continued to maintain a strong critical approach to the government. It criticised Prime Minister Ivica Račan for his unwillingness to distance himself from Tuđman's legacy and exposed corruption scandals related to his government. In 2003, after HDZ's return to power, Feral Tribune began to see a resurgence in popularity. In December 2005, Drago Hedl, the paper's editor, received an anonymous death threat by mail, for his reporting on the abduction and murder of ethnic Serb civilians in Osijek in 1991-92. In 2006, the International Center for Journalists is awarding Hedl a Knight International Award for excellence in journalism.[12]
In June 2007, the paper missed two weekly issues due to financial problems. The editorial staff announced that their bank accounts had been blocked due to a VAT debt, and that several court rulings against the paper had imposed additional strain on their accounts. The staff accused the Croatian government of favoring governmental and nationalist media by writing off their VAT debts, thus creating an unfair competition to Feral. The finance ministry's decision to freeze the weekly's bank accounts was widely condemned in Croatia. Croatian officials, including the President Stjepan Mesić and the Prime Minister Ivo Sanader both pledged help to Feral Tribune, both acclaiming it as a contributor to the development of democracy in Croatia, but no help was actually offered.[13]
On 28 June 2007, the paper began publication again. It was reported that, due to financial difficulties, it was to be bought by Europa Press Holding (EPH), the largest publisher in Croatia (Globus, Jutarnji list), sparking speculation regarding the future of Feral's independence. However, in June 2008, after the EPH started avoiding the paper's officials in takeover negotiations, Feral Tribune editors announced the end of the magazine. After 15 years, and numerous lawsuits from politicians, editors cited financial troubles due to lack of funding and the failure of negotiations with EPH as the causes.[citation needed]
Pavelić, Boris (2014). Smijeh slobode: uvod u Feral Tribune[The Laughter of Freedom: Introduction to Feral Tribune]. Biblioteka Monografije; knj. 7 (in Serbo-Croatian). Zagreb: Adamić. p.688. ISBN978-953-219-492-0.
Related Research Articles
Slobodna Dalmacija is a Croatian daily newspaper published in Split.
Miljenko Smoje was a Croatian writer and journalist.
Viktor Ivančić is a Croatian journalist, best known as the founding member and long-time editor-in-chief of satirical weekly Feral Tribune.
Boris Dežulović is a Croatian journalist, writer and columnist, best known as one of the founders of the now defunct satirical magazine Feral Tribune.
Ante Tomić is a Croatian left wing writer and journalist.
Aleksandar Tijanić was a Serbian journalist and director-general of the country's public broadcaster Radio—Television of Serbia from 2004 to 2013. During his career he was a star columnist for leading newspapers and magazines published in SFR Yugoslavia and Serbia, editor in chief of several prominent television stations, political advisor to prominent Serbian politicians, and Minister of Information for four months in 1996 in the government headed by Mirko Marjanović during the rule of Slobodan Milošević.
The Gospić massacre was the mass killing of 100–120 predominantly Serb civilians in Gospić, Croatia during the last two weeks of October 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence. The majority of the victims were ethnic Serbs arrested in Gospić and the nearby coastal town of Karlobag. Most of them were arrested on 16–17 October. Some of the detainees were taken to the Perušić barracks and executed in Lipova Glavica near the town, while others were shot in the Pazarište area of Gospić. The killings were ordered by the Secretary of Lika Crisis Headquarters, Tihomir Orešković, and the commander of the 118th Infantry Brigade of the Croatian National Guard, Lieutenant Colonel Mirko Norac.
Hanza Media is the leading media company in Croatia and Southeast Europe, with 5 daily newspapers, more than 20 magazines, and 20 digital editions.
Igor Mandić was a Croatian writer, literary critic, columnist and essayist. According to Croatian historian Slobodan Prosperov Novak, Mandić was the most important and the most versatile Croatian newspaper writer of the second half of the 20th century. His polemic texts have marked a Yugoslav publicist epoch of the 1960s and 1970s. Known for his fresh, sharp writing style and contrarian views, he has been dubbed "the master of quarrel".
During the Yugoslav Wars (1991–2001), propaganda was widely used in the media of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, of Croatia and of Bosnia.
The mass media in Croatia refers to mass media outlets based in Croatia. Television, magazines, and newspapers are all operated by both state-owned and for-profit corporations which depend on advertising, subscription, and other sales-related revenues. The Constitution of Croatia guarantees freedom of speech and Croatia ranked 63rd in the 2016 Press Freedom Index report compiled by Reporters Without Borders, falling by 5 places compared to the 2015 Index.
Miroslav Kutle is a Bosnian Croat entrepreneur. He became notorious for his involvement in the Croatian privatization controversy and has since been sentenced to jail time for embezzlement on two occasions.
Novosti is a Croatian weekly magazine based in Zagreb. It is published by the Serb National Council. The organization was established in July 1997 in Zagreb, based on the provisions granting the right to self-government for Serbs in Croatia as set in the Erdut Agreement.
Ivica Đikić is a Bosnian writer and journalist. He was born 1977, in Tomislavgrad, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia.
Tuđmanism or Tudjmanism is a form of Croatian nationalism which reached its strongest peak during the administration of Croatia's first president, Franjo Tuđman. Tuđman himself defined the ideology as non-communist nationalism with "re-examined Croatian history".
Denis Kuljiš was a Croatian writer, entrepreneur and journalist.
Štefica Galić is a Bosnian-Herzegovinian journalist and human rights activist. During the Croat–Bosniak War, Galić saved about a thousand people from internment in a detention camp. She is a vocal critic of nationalist politics. Since September 2019, Štefica Galić has been protected by the Bundestag.
Petar Luković, nicknamed Pero s onog sveta(transl. Pero from the Great Beyond), was a Serbian journalist, newspaper editor and onetime rock critic. He attended the Sixth Belgrade Gymnasium, and graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Belgrade.
↑ Saboljev, Sandra (4 April 2015). "Feral je danas potreban više nego 1993" [Feral is needed today more than 1993]. Novi list (in Serbo-Croatian) (22046): 81. ISSN1334-1545.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
