''Slobodni tjednik'', also known as ''ST'', is a defunct

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n weekly

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

which was published in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

in the early 1990s. Owned and edited by Marinko Božić, it was the first Croatian tabloid.

History

''Slobodni tjednik'' ("Independent Weekly" in Croatian) appeared in February 1990, on the eve of first free elections in Croatia. While being one of many media outlets started in the final stages of

Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

, ''Slobodni tjednik'' was the first to use sensationalist headlines and similar content, which wasn't available in mainstream media of the earlier times. As such, ''Slobodni tjednik'' quickly became one of the most popular, most influential but also one of the most controversial newspapers in

. Controversy was its editorial policy. While its first issue was very critical of

Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union (, , HDZ) is a major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. Since 2016, it has been the ruling political party in Croatia under the incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. It is one of the ...

(HDZ) and Croatian

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

, in a matter of few weeks, ''Slobodni tjednik'' suddenly shifted towards the right, embracing

Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999) was a Croatian politician and historian who became the first president of Croatia, from 1990 until his death in 1999. He served following the Independence of Croatia, country's independe ...

and his policies. In 1992, with

being internationally recognized and

Sarajevo armistice The Vance plan (, ) was a peace plan negotiated by the former United States Secretary of State Cyrus Vance in November 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. At that time, Vance was the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the Un ...

bringing hostilities to temporary end, Croatian public gradually began to lose taste for extreme nationalism promoted by ''Slobodni tjednik''. New media outlets, like ''

Globus GLOBUS is a radar system in the town of Vardø in Vardø Municipality, Finnmark county, Norway. It is operated by the Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS) and its official uses are primarily space observation and Arctic airspace monitoring for Nor ...

'' magazine, proved to be better adapted for new circumstances, while economic woes of its readership also affected circulation of ''Slobodni tjednik''. That, financial mishandling, deteriorating health and death of its founder Marinko Božić on 16 December 1993 led to ''Slobodni tjednik'' being extinguished in 1993.

Sources

Smrtonosno novinarstvo
*
Mogu li kriminalci, propali špijuni, ustašofili i loši tajkuni zauzeti hrvatske medije?

External links

ISTRAŽIVAČKO NOVINARSTVO, TABLOIDIZACIJA I ETIKA
{{in lang, hr 1990 establishments in Croatia 1993 disestablishments in Croatia Defunct magazines published in Croatia Defunct political magazines Magazines established in 1990 Magazines disestablished in 1993 Mass media in Zagreb Croatian-language magazines Political magazines published in Croatia Weekly magazines