How the modern journalism "works"

[Nević Nenad]

Canadian journalist using language misunderstanding with Serbian traffic police for self promotion. Very nicely illustrates how pretty much the whole of the western media works.

First the "journalists" video. For people who speak only english and who doesn't pay close attention it truly could look like corruption and bribery. Thats what the "journalist" is claiming to be:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPhYl81--fY


But, in reality with translation what the cops are saying, and with some explanation picture is not looking like that at all:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN9c-bSPV1g


And some more and better explanation on the mater from american reporter who stayed and now living in Serbia, in his plastic but interesting style. (video is in english):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbFN_rpV1gE


A day later he didn't resist to not slam the journalism a bit more :) (in english):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1-lhE1mBGU



BTW for behaving like that, the "journalist" would probably be arrested, if not something worse in the USA. Which the american guy in the last two videos is noticing also.

 

[Persej]

Haha. It really is horrible video.

I decoded what exactly happened.

The police officer told him that he has to pay 2500 dinars (21 euros, or 29 Canadian dollars). And the guy gave him 1100 dinars and 20 euros (2400 dinars). Which is overall 3500 dinars (1100 + 2400).
And for some reason he wrote on the paper how much this guy gave him. But when this guy saw that, he thought that the officer is now asking him to pay 3500 dinars. But the officer never said that, he only wrote how much that guy gave him. Why would he write that down if he really wanted to take the bribe? He would just take the money without writing anything.

The only thing that is embarrassing for Serbian police is that many of them don't speak English at all. That woman speaks nice English, though.

 

[Nević Nenad]

I wonder how good Canadian police speaks serbian language? Or any other police in any other country any other language.

 

[Persej]

I wonder how good Canadian police speaks serbian language? Or any other police in any other country any other language.

Probably no good at all, but they are the traffic police on one of the major European routes. So, if I was a police chief in this country I would put some English speaking police officers on that highway. And pay them some extra money for their skills, of course.

But since we know what kind of people run this country, something like that will probably never get implemented. Unless EU force us to do that, like with many other things.

 

[Deleted member 11729]

What I really found annoying here form those guys and journalists how they took superior approach to the Serbian police officer, and how they make jokes etc ... that shows all this arrogance of "westerns" towards anything what is outside that world. Also this other guy who is talking about big article on corruption in Serbian police, that is hilarious! ... hahaha ... I just found it every time so annoying when Americans talk to us about corruption.

This is just showing up how people on the west are just so brain washed that anything that is not from their part of the world and mind set, must be less worth, corrupted, bad, dirty, etc ...

And the laugh when they ask "What is her salary for month" ... and how they can't wait to put it on youtube .... and how they sepnt so much mony in Serbia and now they have to pay more on exit etc etc etc ... that is so rude, that is just showing how they are disrespectfull to anyone who is not form their world. Arogant "journalists".

And on the other side in America there is no any possibility to talk with police at all, if you are stooped you are guilty and that's it. IF you say a word it can just get worst ... and here they Americans they are ignoring the work that policemen is doing, they still humiliating, putting this on YouTube etc ... I think someone can say to the policeman to sue those guys for disinforming public about his job, and disrespectfully behaving too.

 

[Persej]

and how they sepnt so much mony in Serbia and now they have to pay more on exit etc etc etc ... that is so rude, that is just showing how they are disrespectfull to anyone who is not form their world. Arogant "journalists".

Yes, they were very arrogant.

I remember one day, when I was at train station in one small city in Serbia, one guy, probably from England, came to the restaurant to buy hamburger. And he asked for the price, but the man who was working there didn't speak English so he pointed him to the big price list on the wall. He also asked for someone who knows English to help him and I volunteered. My English was not as good as today but it wasn't that bad.

So this guy asked me how much is hamburger. I looked at the menu and told him. I don't remember what was the price but I know that it was lower than the lowest price you could find in Belgrade. So it was really low, maybe 1 euro.

Then this guy pointed to "kajmak" and asked me what is that?

I told him that that is something like heavy cream and that they can put that into his hamburger for something like 20 euro cents. He said that he wants that.

I said ok and explained to the worker to give the man the hamburger with kajmak. The worker made this very big hamburger with heavy cream and the guy liked it.

But what he didn't like was the price. He thought that the entire hamburger with the heavy cream would cost only 20 euro cents!!

And he started cursing the worker, cursing me (F* you), threw the money and walked away.

And I couldn't believe that this man, coming from England, could think that he could buy this hamburger for such low price! How much would that hamburger cost in his England? And how much would speed ticket cost in America or Canada? Certainly much more than here, and they are still complaining like they charged them I don't not what.

It looks like many of those westerners really think that they can buy us all for couple of euros. Except for hamburgers, they want that for less that euro.

 

[Deleted member 11729]

yep ... we see that every day with tourists, mostly those brainwashed from Americans and British young people are just so arrogant and disrespectful, and you can tell that those who are behaving like that, they have been inflated through the whole system as super nations and they came to cheap places like ours, just to play their frustrations on us, that they can't play back home. Sure I don't want to generalize, but mostly that is the case, specially in tourism where people allow them to be treated like that, and partly taking self responsibility to be humiliated for a bit of their euros or dollars, as they not really complain on that behavior, thinking that money will compensate that for them.

I can just imagine how it looks like when they go to east, India, Indonesia, China etc ...

 

[casper]

It's amazing what some people allow, I completely agree with previous comments, finger up to Charles Cather and people like him.
Western journalism (at least this particular journalist) is limited in its pursuit of sensationalism, it would be interesting to see if he made the same "experiment" on the other borders of countries through which he traveled, honestly I do not know whether he and the team that was with him, then sent video clip from prison.

 

[Persej]

A lot of good comments here: _http://blog.panampost.com/yael-ossowski/2015/06/04/persona-non-grata-in-serbia/

One of them that nicely explains the situation in video:

Everyone who's ever gotten a ticket (parking or speeding or whatever) in all the Balkan countries knows that, the price (if you pay in the first 7-8 working days) is only half of what you should pay. The fact that he demanded 2500 at first or 50€ means he was trying to explain to you that you need to pay 2.5k or around 5k if you don't pay it now. Also he NEVER ONCE requested a bribe nor did he increase the costs. He was simply telling you to go to the POST (which is an enlgish word and you should've understood it) to pay the ticket. He didn't give you a "note with serbian words on it" but he gave you a ticket with the fine you needed to pay and the details of the police bank account. You simply had to go to the post office (or bank) and pay the amount. The fact that you guys are duchebags that can't be bothered to learn any language does not mean there is corruption everywhere. The only thing the cop is guilty of is not knowing english. He did know how to tell you the ticket fee and POST as in go to the post and pay. The other words he was saying was "after you pay at the post office, get back and you get your documents" and "get out of the car and talk to my superior because he knows english" which apparently you understood some of it. You yourself said in the video that he want's you to go talk to his colleague because he knows english but you remained a duche and didn't want to leave the car.

Stop posting stories of what tragedies occur to you in foreign countries because this is utter bullshit to EVERYONE that knows just a bit of serbian language.

 

[Nević Nenad]

This coment from the same link is also good, and gets to the core of the problem:

Number 150 was your speed, number 120 is allowed speed on all highways in ex Yu countries.You, as a real journalist, shouldn't do these kind of things.. You, if you were real journalist, should first check laws, rules and regulative, gather all the facts, find someone to translate you all that policeman said and then you should react on something that was wrong, if there's something that was wrong. You didn't understand well and it's ok, you don't know the language, fine. But you were rude, disrespectful and honestly; you deserved a slap for your behavior! Making fun of a man who's just trying to do his job? that officer tried to explain, he was patient. Can you even imagine how he felt knowing that he must explain to you and he don't know how to do that?? .He is not obliged to know english language to be a policeman! You call yourself a journalist? Your generation of "journalists" is the reason why people are being misinformed, your only goal is to sell story.. The fact that you are selling a lie is not even matter to you... And, no, you are not welcome anymore, anywhere on Balkan! Feel free to check that, but, friendly advice: you should first get a good car and health insurance!