Here are just a few links to the sources of the information discussed in the video.

From Raskrinkavanke: “Iza zatvorenih vrata: Direktori Telekoma i United Group-e se dogovarali kako da oslabe medije ove grupe.” 27 August 2025 — https://www.raskrikavanje.rs/page.php?id=Iza-zatvorenih-vrata-Direktori-Telekoma-i-United-Group-e-se-dogovarali-kako-da-oslabe-medije-ove-grupe-1507

From N1: “OCCRP: Direktor Telekoma i izvršni direktor United Grupe u pregovorima o slabljenju N1 u Srbiji.” 27 August 2025. https://n1info.rs/vesti/occrp-direktor-telekoma-i-izvrsni-direktor-united-grupe-u-pregovorima-o-slabljenju-n1-u-srbiji/

From Jutarnji list: “Događa se ono čega su se mnogi u Srbiji pribojavali: ‘Da, Vučić je osobno tražio smjenu direktorice‘.” https://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/svijet/uskoro-ce-postati-i-sluzbeno-srbija-ce-se-pretvoriti-u-europsku-sjevernu-koreju-occrp-objavio-vucic-je-osobno-trazio-smjenu-direktorice-15616650

Just to make the story complete, from Večernje novosti, a denial of the whole story that depends for its persuasiveness on the reader not understanding English. https://www.novosti.rs/vesti/politika/1521778/modus-operandi-laganja-solakovih-medija-occrp-tvrdi-vucic-nema-veze-otkazima-oni-nastaljaju-svoju-kampanju-lazi-foto

Also, if anyone was inspired by the title of the post and wants to look up the song “Right on for the darkness,” these are words of heresy, but Willie Wright’s version is better than Curtis Mayfield’s.

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Things were looking bleak for the student protest movement in July: they had caused themselves some political discredit with an evening of desničarenje, some divisions were becoming apparent, and the police repression seemed, for a time, to be working. Not so in August: the regime is once again losing the plot and the protests are gaining back force.

What made the difference? In a word, violence. Let’s talk a bit about how regimes that engage in violence undermine their own legitimacy and reveal their limitations.

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Milorad Dodik's criminal conviction, carrying a (short) prison sentence and a six-year ban on holding public office, has been sustained on appeal. Some politicians and other institutions in Serbia are making a little noise, but he is not getting much support from inside RS or BiH. The reason for his failure is his success: years of propaganda have meant that there is no substantial opposition to his (chauvinistic) ideas, and the informal network that he built to control all access to employment and public benefits can function just fine without him.

Remember that the stronger a leader appears to be, the weaker that leader is in practice.

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Today the students and citizens in protest are responding to a wave of arrests and police violence by blockading traffic routes in cities across the whole of Serbia. The strategy of blockading creates asymmetrical conditions in which the advantage does not fall to the side that is armed.

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Oh yes indeed, the protest was poisoned with all kinds of national bullsh*t. Here’s why, why it matters, and why it’s probably worth supporting them anyway.

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Local elections in two locations in Serbia yesterday have resulted in a standoff: both the regime and its opponents are claiming victory, both are claiming abuses by the other side, and both are saying that this moment is a watershed.

They are both right. I’m offering a (not very bold) prediction: parliamentary elections will be called this year. And I’m offering an overview of some of the high risks that come with entering into an election without electoral reforms that would make a free and fair competition more likely. And I’m offering an equivocal prediction: things could get worse, they could get better, they could enter into an extended deadlock, but whatever happens the situation will not remain the same.

* Here’s an initial report from the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy on irregularities in the local elections: https://bezbednost.org/en/police-under-informal-control-of-party-loyalists/

* Here’s the election observation report from CRTA: https://crta.rs/izvestaj-o-dugorocnom-posmatranju-lokalnih-izbora-kosjeric-i-zajecar/

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Today we are doing a little bit of propaganda analysis, from Večernje novosti, the paper that is the Miles Davis of sycophancy (that’s right Kurir, Informer, and the rest of you, you’re the Kenny G. And Politika, you’re Paul Whiteman).

For the masochistic or the curious, here is the article we will be looking at: https://www.novosti.rs/c/planeta/svet/1438855/tramp-svirao-kraj-lazne-ekologe-ova-vest-sve-promeniti-cuta-kokanovic-uskoro-morati-shvate

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We know about the faulty construction in Novi Sad that caused 15 fatalities. Here are two more news stories just from today:

The directors promise that there is nothing wrong with the roof of the Belgrade Arena — https://n1info.rs/biznis/otkrivamo-institut-godinama-upozorava-arenu-na-krov-direktor-hale-kaze-da-je-nebezbedno-odmah-bismo-zatvorili/

In Zaječar, “the burst pipes bear witness to the quality of this regime” — https://www.danas.rs/vesti/drustvo/rekonstrukcija-zajecar-popucale-cevi-rezim/

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Sorry about my hoarse voice, I was following election returns all night. Not that it was a satisfying experience.

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Are you as mystified as everyone else as to why a group masked thugs was sent to beat and throw explosives at a group of protesting students in Novi Sad? Most authoritarian regimes can tolerate losing some small prizes, like the student parliament at a university. The fact that the Serbian regime can’t tells us something about the character of the system of rule: it relies on informal networks of trust and exchange, and on people depending on these networks. This kind of system can’t afford to have too many holes in it.

Here is video taken by a student in which she encounters the thugs, who attack: https://www.021.rs/story/Novi-Sad/Vesti/388324/VIDEO-Novi-Sad-2024-godina-huligani-bacaju-topovski-udar-zbog-izbora-za-Studentski-parlament.html

And a news report of the incident: https://n1info.rs/vesti/napadnuti-student-oko-30-u-crno-obucenih-mladica-udarali-nas-i-policajca-bacili-sok-bombu-kolegama-pod-noge/

Long story short, if you look at when a regime decides to use violence and what kind of violence it uses, this tells you something about what kind of regime it is.

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