Report: Zombie idea in Croatian online media discourse: the case of meeting in Karađorđevo and division of Bosnia and Herzegovina

This report is part of the research activities carried out within the “Adria Digital Media Observatory” project funded by the Digital Europe Programme. The aim was to determine the frequency of occurrence and sentiment in Croatian online media regarding the claim, identified within the framework of the zombie idea, about the agreement on the
division of Bosnia and Herzegovina between the Serbian President Slobodan Milošević and the Croatian President Franjo Tuđman in March 1991 in Karađorđevo.

Key findings:

• The frequency of occurrence of the topic since 2002 shows growth and continuity, suggesting that issues related to the dissolution of Yugoslavia remain important in contemporary media and political discourse.
• The claim is identifi ed within the framework of the zombie idea • From January 2002 to June 2023, the topic appeared in 22 Croatian online media outlets in a total of 329 articles.
• The highest number of articles was published in the centreright Večernji list (66), centre-left Jutarnji list (35), and right-wing Narod.hr (31).
• Sentiment analysis shows a polarization regarding support or denial of the agreement on the division of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Karađorđevo – an equal number of articles have a positive (126) and negative (126) tone of the narrative, while 76 are coded as neutral.