Similarities and Differences between Media Reporting and Fieldwork on Interethnic Relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2016–2024)

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21301/eap.v20i2.8

Keywords:

media, fieldwork, interethnic relations, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

Media reporting on interethnic relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina over the past few years has mostly contained a narrative aimed at (un)consciously maintaining the existing political and social system. This is a system based on the tri-national principle in which the three major constituent nations – Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats – together with “others” form the backbone of the country’s constitutional order. However, observing most “ordinary” events through an ethnic prism and attributing an ethnic connotation to everyday life situations within the framework of media reports not only preserves such system, but also creates the only possible narrative about relations between the three peoples (narodi). Among members of the Bosniak, Serbian and Croat communities, as well as among those who do not identify with the three aforementioned groups, attitudes and thoughts that differ from what is conveyed by the media regarding their mutual relations prevail. I have begun to notice such findings since I have been conducting fieldwork in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the past eight years. In this paper, I will try to present the similarities and differences between what the media reports on interethnic relations and the situation on the field, listing specific examples collected in the period from 2016 to 2024. I believe that pointing out this issue could represent a small contribution to developing a different view of how ethnic communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina function among themselves and to what extent the media speak differently about it. Depending on the way a particular news item is conveyed to the audience, interethnic relations – always based on conflicts – in media reports will be treated in a way that either enthusiastically or sarcastically states that they do not exist, or that interethnic relations are harmonious but are “spoiled” by politicians, religious officials, and other factors that people supposedly cannot influence. If the dynamic perspective of the so-conceived “third way”, i.e. actually the “middle way”, is introduced, it is indicated that people agree on certain issues and disagree on certain others. The majority of Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats do not perceive every situation in their lives through an ethnic prism, do not think about their ethnic and religious identity as something that shapes their entire habits, social and even economic relations, which makes their attitudes and thoughts different from what is conveyed by the media. On the other hand, the three groups are very aware of their own ethno-religious identities, borders, spaces and have certain expectations and aspirations regarding their own nation.

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Published

2025-07-03

How to Cite

Dražeta, Bogdan D. 2025. “Similarities and Differences Between Media Reporting and Fieldwork on Interethnic Relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2016–2024)”. Etnoantropološki Problemi Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology 20 (2):535–557. https://doi.org/10.21301/eap.v20i2.8.