Abstract

War of words

In May 1989 a small group of radio and newspaper journalists and media activists from Belgrade started a radio station, B92, in a storage room. The station, the first of its kind in any of the Yugoslav republics, offered a mix of objective news, urban music and irreverent critiques of the reigning powers of the moment. The Internet became an important tool of their radio project in 1994 as part of B92's overall strategy. The 1996-97 antigovernment demonstrations became known as the "Internet Revolution" because of their sophisticated use of the Internet. During the protests Radio B92's transmissions were cut by the authorities, with the imbecilic explanation that water had seeped into the coaxial transmission cables and prevented normal broadcasting. However, B92 redirected its feed and began live broadcasts over the Internet through a dedicated phone line coincidentally provided by the same Telecommunication Ministry that banned the radio station. These circumstances eventually lead Serbian government to surrender on his home turf, and raised B92 to new heights of success.