''Duga'' (''Дуга'', ; meaning ''Rainbow'' in English) was a high circulation Yugoslav and Serbian biweekly newsmagazine, which was published from the early 1970s until the 2000s by the Belgrade-based BIGZ publishing company. It had a predecessor which was closed in the 1960s.

History and profile

Led by Aleksandar "Saša" Badanjak, ''Duga'' magazine was launched by the same staff that had previously worked on the ''Eva i Adam'' (Eve and Adam) erotic magazine. Having reached a circulation of 270,000 copies in

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

, with particular popularity in

SR Slovenia The Socialist Republic of Slovenia (, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Slovenija, Социјалистичка Република Словенија), commonly referred to as Socialist Slovenia or simply Slovenia, was one ...

, ''Eva i Adam'' was eventually shut down in the early 1970s by executive order of the City Committee of the

Communist League The Communist League ( German: ''Bund der Kommunisten)'' was an international political party established on 1 June 1847 in London, England. The organisation was formed through the merger of the League of the Just, headed by Karl Schapper, and th ...

's Belgrade branch amid public morality accusations of 'spoiling the youth'. Just like at ''Eva i Adam'' previously, Badanjak assumed the editor-in-chief role at the newly-launched ''Duga'' as well. At its inception, the Belgrade-based biweekly magazine's initial circulation was around 90,000 copies. ''Duga'' quickly became famous for opposition to communism, and interviews with Yugoslav dissidents. In SFR Yugoslavia, from the 1980s especially, the media freedoms existed that were unimaginable in other communist countries. Nevertheless, chief editors were often sacked due to publishing controversial material. In the 1990s ''Duga'' continued controversial reporting, until Dada Vujasinovic was shot dead in 1994, possibly due to an unflattering article about the Serbian warlord and gangster

Arkan Željko Ražnatović (, ; 17 April 1952 – 15 January 2000), better known as Arkan (), was a Serbian warlord, mobster and head of the Serb paramilitary force called the Serb Volunteer Guard during the Yugoslav Wars, considered one of the most f ...

. It also carried a column by

Mira Markovic Mira (), designation Omicron Ceti (ο Ceti, abbreviated Omicron Cet, ο Cet), is a red-giant star estimated to be 200–300 light-years from the Sun in the constellation Cetus. ο Ceti is a binary stellar system, consisting of a vari ...

, wife of

Slobodan Milosevic Slobodan ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан) is a Serbo-Croatian masculine given name which means "free" (''sloboda'' / meaning "freedom, liberty") used among other South Slavs as well. It was coined by Serbian liberal politician Vladimir Jovanović w ...

and sociology professor, that often had poetic reports about the seasons amid horrible events in the country, but also carried indirect announcements of high politics sackings in the government. Her column was printed in the magazine until 1997.

References

{{Authority control Biweekly magazines Defunct magazines published in Serbia Eastern Bloc mass media Magazines with year of establishment missing Magazines with year of disestablishment missing Mass media in Belgrade News magazines published in Europe Magazines published in Serbia Serbian-language magazines Defunct magazines published in Yugoslavia