The A 11 – Initiative for Economic and Social Rights filed a complaint to the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media against Happy Television on July 2, 2020, because the guests in the show „Good Morning Serbia“, which was broadcasted on June 6, 2020, expressed inappropriate attitudes towards the African-American community in the United States.
In the show „Good Morning Serbia“, which was aired on June 6, 2020, the guests were the director of the Institute for Security, D.T., and professor D.M., while the moderator was host J.J. The main focus of this show titled „Who digs Trump’s pit?“ were riots and protests that are spreading throughout the United States, because of the death of George Floyd, who was suffocated during the police arrest in Minneapolis.
Although the idea of this show was to comment on the protests and the current situation in America, the course of the conversation led guests to present very problematic views on racial discrimination. Among other things, guest D.M. stated that „Every other person charged with murder in America is black. […] and if you look at Floyd anthropologically, at his eyes, face, he turns out to be a hero, a man who is a clear criminal“, only to add that „This is a man who is visibly on the margins of society and now he is a hero“.On the other hand, the director of the Institute for Security D.T. commented how „These people, these criminals that we see now on the streets of America who come from primarily African-American population, that’s the part from that drug cartel“, calling members of African-American community „colored“.
These isolated comments are just some of the overall views expressed in this show by both guests, followed by nothing more discreet questions and follow-ups by the host. As this show is broadcasted daily in the morning program, and that such attitudes that advocate racial discrimination came from both guests who are influential people, this situation is for every condemnation.
By broadcasting such content, the editor of the show and the Happy Television have grossly violated the provisions of the Law on Electronic Media, which stipulates that the media service provider is obliged to provide free, truthful and objective information, that the content should be able to contribute to raising the general and educational level of citizens, and most importantly, that the media service is provided in a way that respects human rights, and in particular the dignity of the individual, and that it does not contain information that encourages, in an overt or covert manner, discrimination, hatred or violence on the grounds of race, color, ethnicity, and other real or assumed personal characteristics.
Even the director of the show himself recognized the harmfulness of the made comments because the recording of the original show was edited and these problematic parts were removed, and such a „corrected“ video was posted on the YouTube channel of Happy Television. However, this was done later, so the insulting remarks could be heard and the general population had the opportunity to watch these presentations live, and therefore their consequences must not be diminished.