The deregulation of media sphere and the transformation of regulatory framework in Serbia has begun at the end of last century with a mission to bring it closer to the developed countries of Europe. However, the process of ownership transformation has only formalized new media monopolies and quality legal solutions were marginalized by poor and inconsistent implementation. The framing of communication images into distorted media frames has strengthened the negative perception in society, because the absence of media diversity in reporting has put very strong tabloid and sensationalist discourses to the forefront. The changes that we are pointing to transform the meaning of a journalistic paradigm. Private media corporations and digitized platforms, increasingly focused on budget funds, construct ideologically desirable narratives, becoming part of the propaganda and clientelist industry.

This work is focused on reporting of daily newspapers in Serbia during coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and specifics of dominant narratives and relationship between the government and popular press. The content research includes the first half of 2020, when 1,271 from eight influential daily papers were analysed. While the representatives of the quality press have tried to steer the attention of citizens and introduce serious questions most tabloids trivialised the danger as another spectacle which will secure larger sales irrespective of social consequences and ethical norms of journalistic profession. Objectivity and unbiasedness are sacrificed for sensationalism, spectacle and political clientelism. Celebritization of medical profession has only led to spread of confusion in public opinion, while revealing how political elites eagerly use crisis for promotion of their own ideas and programs, instead of professional debate.

Radio has held various degrees of significance in the world of mass media throughout history, though today it is often overshadowed by newer media forms. Nevertheless, radio still maintains a significant audience that follows content through traditional radio sets and in other ways. On the other hand, sports represent one of the powerful global industries and an important segment of the daily life of a large number of people. Additionally, sports can be significant in discussions of unity and divisions within a society. Considering all this, the aim of this paper is to examine the editorial policy regarding sports in media enterprises that provide radio services through terrestrial transmission across the entire Republic of Serbia. Specifically, it explores how and in what ways sports, as an important segment of society, are presented in the programs of radio stations with national frequency, and what importance it receives as part of the media agenda. Here, a significant difference is already evident between the approach of the national public media service and the lack of such content in commercial broadcasters.

The paper problematizes substantial presence of black chronicle in print media reporting. Through a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the content of ten daily newspapers in Serbia, we researched genre characteristics and editorial policies used in presenting the content from the black chronicle segment. It can be seen that daily newspapers on a large-scale deal with the topic of violence and death, but also that the reporting quality does not correspond to the quantity of the published texts. Looking at the content, it can be concluded that serious daily press invests certain efforts in the maintenance of professional standards of the journalist profession, unlike tabloids that dominate the media space. During the analyzed time interval, there was almost not a single day when tabloids, on the pages reserved for the content from the black chronicle segment, did not reveal some details related to the lives of victims, possible perpetrators of criminal acts, as well as other actors, along with the observed violations of the rules of journalist ethics. Therefore, it is necessary to work on emancipation in two directions, towards greater responsibility of editorial staff, editors and journalists, and towards stronger media literacy of the public itself.

The research is aimed at showing the ways in which the media image of the European migrant crisis changed on the front pages of Serbia's dailies from 2015, when this crisis hit the headlines, until the end of 2020, when it subdued substantially, but continued to find its place occasionally on the front pages. The lack of discussion in public space is observed, so that the tone of the narrative is adjusted to the opinion of the ruling structures. Simplification and stigmatization are specific for tabloids that, under the guise of market competition, resort to sensationalism, problematic news and unconfirmed information, while serious press rather tends to promote the human aspect of the crisis, with a more profound analysis of the context. Since spring 2016, the writing about this topic has become less intense, but also a slight qualitative change in the narratives in which the emphasis is laid on the possibility of migrants' longer stay in this territory as well. Moreover, with time, there is a significant shift in the context from the humanitarian towards the security aspect.