Feral Tribune - History

History

Feral Tribune's name is likely a play on Herald Tribune. "Feral", in Dalmatian dialect, represents a petroleum or gas lamp, typically used on night fishing excursions. Dalmatian culture has a very intimate connection to the sea, and the term Feral is often used as the name of local sport clubs, performing groups etc... While the term "feral" typically refers to qualities associated with a wild or undomesticated animal in English, it is unlikely that the Croatian-speaking editors chose the title Feral for its meaning in English. On the other hand, it is quite possible that the editorial office enjoyed the double entendre that it elicited among foreign observers, giving the newspaper title an aura of its editorial independence and unwillingness to be tamed by political pressure.

The paper was founded in 1984 by a trio of young journalists Viktor Ivančić, Predrag Lucić, and Boris Dežulović. The trio named itself by combining letters in their names to form "VIVA LUDEŽ", meaning "long live madness". Their works appeared in weekly humour supplement of Split daily newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija, as well as weekly newspaper Nedjeljna Dalmacija. Some of its saucier articles brought public condemnation from local Party officials, as well as criminal proceedings which ended with the arrival of democracy. Some of VIVA LUDEŽ members were also active in Omladinska Iskra, Split magazine published by local organisation of Socialist Youth League.

Feral received little attention until Yugoslavia broke apart in the early 1990s. Due to the change in the political system, there was nationwide confusion on many issues at the time. "Financial engineering", corruption, and the renewed independence resulted in changes in the government, a burst of patriotism, nationalism, and xenophobia. As a political satire paper, the Feral Tribune was provided significant material from the warmongering and profiteering associated with the era.

As the political situation got more and more serious and the country was at the threat of occupation, the contents of Feral Tribune steered away from pure satire and the editors began criticizing dominant political figures. The government took over Slobodna Dalmacija in early 1993. A few months later, the Feral Tribune was introduced as an independent paper.

Feral was among the first Croatian newspapers to openly report on various topics that the state-controlled newspapers would not report on including war crimes perpetrated by Croatian soldiers, the Croatian army's involvement in the war in Bosnia, Franjo Tuđman's opinions of the Ustaše in the context of generic Croatian nationalism, the Herzegovina profiteer lobby, connections between the government and the Catholic Church, etc.

An important moment in the history of the magazine involved a cover page featuring digitally altered images of Tuđman and Milošević as homosexual lovers as an attack on policies leading to division of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In 1994, a 50% sales tax typically imposed on pornographic magazines was imposed on the Feral by the HDZ government. This tax received criticism and in 1995 the Constitutional Court (Ustavni sud) overturned that decision. In 1996, HDZ passed a law under which public criticism of the highest officials was punishable. The Feral's editors were among the first to receive lawsuits for defamation.

Despite these issues, Feral Tribune continued to survive in part because of donations from abroad.

Franjo Tuđman died in 1999 and his party was voted out of power on 2000 parliamentary elections. The magazine also encountered other problems - the loss of Tuđman, who was its most iconic target, left many of the authors without inspiration and the quality of humour decreased. Attempts to replace Tuđman's role with George W. Bush also led to the magazine embracing a stronger ideological profile and promoting radical left views which alienated some of its old readers and allowed other Croatian weeklies, most notably Globus and Nacional to rise in their relative popularity. Feral was also affected by personnel changes with the departure of one of its founders.

While the magazine's circulation and influence were limited by these factors, the Feral Tribune continued to maintain a strong critical approach to the government. It criticised Račan for his unwillingness to distance himself from Tuđman's legacy and exposed corruption scandals related to his government. In 2003, after the return of HDZ, the Feral Tribune began to see a resurgence in popularity.

In December 2005, Drago Hedl, the paper's editor, received an anonymous death threat by mail, for his reporting on the abduction and murder of ethnic Serb civilians in Osijek in 1991 and 1992. This year, the International Center for Journalists is awarding Hedl a Knight International Award for excellence in journalism.