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Đana LUŠA, Hrvoje JAKOPOVIĆ*
WEBSITES AS A GOVERNMENT TOOL OF 
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY: FRAMING THE ISSUE OF 
UNEMPLOYMENT*
Abstract. This article analyses how online public diplo-
macy in two Western Balkans states, Croatia and Serbia, 
framed the issue of unemployment through official gov-
ernment websites. It looks at the topics associated and 
represented with unemployment in each government’s 
online news releases and the main subject of officially 
released photos. This paper uses the concept of online 
public diplomacy as the “bridge concept” which targets 
foreign publics, but at the same time reaching domes-
tic publics as “side effect”. The content and the formal 
structure of the Croatian and Serbian Governments’ 
home pages were empirically analysed by looking at the 
frames in news stories on unemployment, but also by 
comparing how the aforementioned states harnessed 
“online communication tools” in their effort to reach 
audiences regarding specific policies. We focus on how 
both countries managed online public diplomacy dur-
ing the peak of the economic crisis from January 2009 
to December 2014.
Keywords: online public diplomacy, official govern-
ment web sites, framing theory, unemployment
Introduction
This article deals with how governments frame the issue of unemploy-
ment by examining Serbia and Croatia’s approaches to online public diplo-
macy, understood as public diplomacy by means of online communication, 
particularly through official government websites. This paper conducts a 
comparative analysis of Croatian and Serbian public diplomacy through 
government websites. Both countries acted according to their respective 
public diplomacy or public affairs doctrine, by using it as an instrument of 
* Đana Luša, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb; Hrvoje 
Jakopović, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb. 
**  The text has not previously been published nor it is in press with another scientific journal or mono-
graph.
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soft power in order to present the country in a more attractive light and 
to promote their policy agenda to the domestic and foreign publics. The 
Internet has provided public diplomacy with a new, digital turn, giving it the 
potential to profoundly change the practice of diplomacy. Therefore, this 
paper argues that the Internet (specifically official government websites) 
not only provides governments with the means to more effectively pursue 
their interests and traditional strategies through a different channel of com-
munication, but also has a revolutionary influence on the practice of public 
diplomacy.
Focusing specifically on the use of websites as a tool of public diplo-
macy, the primary goals of this article are to establish, firstly, the extent to 
which public diplomacy can benefit from the use of online communication. 
And secondly, how the Croatian and Serbian Governments have organised 
their public diplomacy and public affairs practices in regards to the struc-
ture and objectives of the communication about unemployment published 
on their official websites. Within this context, the differences in each state’s 
approach to online public diplomacy will be observed by examining official 
government websites, focusing on the issue of unemployment as one of the 
biggest contemporary challenges for governments in Europe1. We conduct 
a content analysis in order to extract the secondary meanings from the news 
published on each website and explore how the issue is framed. The con-
tent and the formal structure of the home pages are empirically analysed 
by looking at the frames deployed in news stories on unemployment. We 
also compare how Croatia and Serbia both harness online communication 
tools in their effort to reach audiences (foreign and domestic) related to 
specific policies. Our study deals with the management of the mentioned 
issue from January 2009 to December 2014, at the peak of the economic cri-
sis, which severely hit the countries of South East Europe. Serbia and Croatia 
were chosen as our case studies because of their high unemployment rates 
during the crisis (Serbia 20,1% and Croatia 21,6% in 20132) to which similar 
economic policies, as well as similar forms of online public diplomacy strat-
egies were expected. 
Nevertheless, one point of contention stems from the difficulty of send-
ing one message to international audiences and another to domestic audi-
ences in an information environment that lacks territorial borders. We 
1 The government official websites is not a proper methodological source of data to investigate public 
diplomacy of a state. Rather, the latter should be confined only to websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 
diplomatic representations or merely the Office of the Prime Minister/ President of the state, who are offi-
cial representatives of the state in international relations. However, by using the concept of online public 
diplomacy and by analyzing Croatia and Serbia’s government website we are bringing together the inten-
tion to target foreign public and to reach domestic public as “side effect”.
2 http://www.indexmundi.com/factbook/compare/serbia.croatia/economy (January 15th 2017)
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argue that as a result of the Internet and other forms of communication it 
is nearly impossible for governments to regulate the flow of information 
to target specific groups. Therefore online public diplomacy can be seen 
as a “bridge concept” that brings together the intention (targeting foreign 
publics) and its “side effects” (reaching domestic publics) in that state’s use 
of public diplomacy. 
There appears to be a presumption that public diplomacy only involves 
engaging with foreign publics and is only conducted abroad. However, 
social media and the increasing mobility of global citizens have blurred the 
distinctions between domestic and international audiences (Huijgh, 2013: 
63). This supports our starting position that the online world of the Internet 
has provided governments the ability to simultaneously reach international 
and domestic publics, but the governments must be careful not to focus pri-
marly on one or the other. By framing the issue of unemployment, govern-
ments are simultaneously focused on domestic and foreign audiences. “Over 
the years diplomacy’s walls have been crumbling and a myriad of actors 
have pushed their way in, while the boundaries between international and 
domestic public and policy spheres have simultaneously blurred”. Although 
some governments try to present conflicting stories abroad and at home, 
internal legitimacy remains a precondition for international respect. There-
fore domestic concerns, such as unemployment, are increasingly linked to 
international events (economic crisis and recession), having become a part 
of the diplomatic process (Huijgh, 2010: 126).
The aim of this article is to perceive Croatian and Serbian online pub-
lic diplomacy in terms of its influence on domestic and foreign publics by 
analysing the issue of unemployment on official government websites. We 
found that both countries’ efforts concerning unemployment resulted with 
different issues coming to the fore, such as concrete investment projects, 
foreign direct investment, as well as economic restructuring and different 
legal frameworks. Unemployment is mostly a domestic policy issue. Yet, 
while thinking about the broader context of the global economic crisis, it 
is easily translated to the online public diplomacy agenda (Leonard et al., 
2002: 12). 
The article is divided into four parts. The first section presents the theo-
retical framework for discussing public diplomacy by means of official gov-
ernment websites in the light of presenting the issue of unemployment. The 
next two sections present the methodology along with the results of our 
research. The last part sets out the main conclusions with lessons learned 
from the two countries under study.
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Different views on public diplomacy
Since the end of the Cold War, public diplomacy has traditionally been 
associated with states imparting information to a foreign public, while simi-
lar communication with a domestic audience has frequently been defined 
in terms of public affairs3 (Huijgh, 2013: 66). According to Heller and Pers-
son (in Snow and Taylor, 2009: 225–233) the fundamental division between 
the two aforementioned concepts can be found by comparing the core 
commitments, purposes and primary audiences. On one side, the core pur-
pose of communication in public affairs is to inform specific domestic audi-
ences, while public diplomacy’s core commitment is to shape the global 
mental environment in such a way that the opinions, actions and percep-
tions of people in other nations are more in line with the country’s national 
interests. While public affairs must inform a domestic population about 
government actions and motives, public diplomacy is about influencing the 
publics and leaders of foreign nations. On the other hand, some scholars 
consider public diplomacy to be the international face of a foreign minis-
try’s domestic public affairs agenda and stress that both use similar activi-
ties and techniques directed towards domestic and international audiences 
(Potter, 2009). In this sense, our article looks at online public diplomacy as a 
tool of communication with both, foreign and domestic publics. 
Public diplomacy as practiced today engages its target audience in a dia-
logue. There are some researchers who argue that the use of social media 
is a form of propaganda, as it only promotes a positive image and does not 
highlight the full policy objectives of a country. However, this article looks 
at public diplomacy as it entails real-time responses to events and newly 
innovated and adapted instruments that leverage the networks, technolo-
gies and demographics of our networked world. Furthermore, social media 
amplify the ability of public diplomacy to reach more audiences (who are 
crucial to traditional diplomacy objectives) virtually instantaneously, thus 
speeding up the process of communication (Hayden, 2009: 533–548).
In general we can distinguish three categories of public diplomacy 
action: monologue, dialogue and collaboration. Monologue consists in one-
way, closed-container forms of communication for addressing mass audi-
ences, while dialogue refers to a two-way information flow leaving room 
for the audience to engage. Collaboration consists of the effort by citizens 
of different countries to complete a common project or achieve a common 
goal (Cowan and Arsenault, 2008: 10–13). One can therefore conclude that 
3 There is a difference between public relations and public affairs. Public affairs relates to matters 
that concern the public directly, such as legislation, policing and public administration, while public rela-
tions focuses more on a company’s relations with the public. See more in: https://www.prdaily.com/Main/
Articles/Public_affairs_vs_public_relations_What_is_the_dif_16506.aspx ( January 15th 2017)
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framing the issue of unemployment on official Croatian and Serbian govern-
ment websites can be classified as a monologue, but also as a collaboration 
by promoting different investment projects and possibly stimulating differ-
ent publics to focus on achieving a common goal of opening new working 
places and making a profit.
Public diplomacy is a “term to describe the efforts by nations to win sup-
port and a favorable image among the general public of other countries, usu-
ally by way of news management and carefully planned initiatives designed 
to foster positive impressions” (Connor and Bean, 2012: 203–220). As the 
Internet has created an international space where communities around the 
world are more connected than ever, it is imperative for states to utilise new 
media tools to communicate with domestic and foreign publics (Harris, 
2013: 1–16). Some even claim public diplomacy is one of the most salient 
political communication issues in the 21st century. However, the concept is 
not new and designates diplomacy oriented at the foreign public to foster 
an understanding for the nation in question, as well as its policy (Kersaint, 
2013).
There are different definitions of public diplomacy. While Cowan 
and Cull (2008: 6–8) understand it as a an international actor’s attempt to 
advance the ends of public policy by engaging with foreign publics, Arm-
strong (2008) argues public diplomacy involves “understanding, influenc-
ing, developing a relationship with and providing information to the gen-
eral public in order to create a favorable environment for achieving national 
security, political, cultural and economic objectives”. Our research supports 
Armstrong’s argument in terms of promoting economic goals and attract-
ing foreign investment. Furthermore, public diplomacy serves as a promo-
tion of national interests by informing and influencing the citizens of other 
nations (Pratkanis in Snow and Taylor, 2009: 111–153). Nye (2008: 94–110) 
ends up defining public diplomacy as an important tool in the arsenal of 
smart power strategies that combine hard and soft power resources. There 
is a hierarchy of impact that public diplomacy can achieve: increasing peo-
ple’s familiarity with one’s country, increasing people’s appreciation of 
one’s country, engaging people with one’s country and influencing people 
(Leonard et al., 2002). 
Online public diplomacy as an “internet moment” in foreign 
policy
British foreign secretary Lord Palmerston reacted to the introduction 
of the electric telegraph with the words: “My God, this is the end of diplo-
macy” (Hocking and Melissen, 2015). However, social media have added an 
important real-time dimension to diplomacy, making communication faster, 
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but also often less precise. Barrack Obama used Web 2.0. social media plat-
forms as a strategy to win the 2008 presidential election (as well as Hillary 
Clinton and Donald Trump in 2016), leading to social media being used 
as a tool to cultivate relations between the government and the individual 
(Cogburn and Espinoza-Vasquez, 2011: 189–213). Social media have shown 
their strategic value as a political tool. Therefore, in order to enhance public 
diplomacy initiatives abroad, one needs to account for social media’s devel-
opment, and incorporate the new tools that currently dominate communi-
cation worldwide (Harris, 2013: 2–3).
The question is why has social media become such an important asset 
in influencing public opinion and how is it being used as an effective tool 
within public diplomacy? More or less it depends on a willing receiver. This 
is the starting point of our research, meaning that influencing policy in a 
democratic country demands reaching out to the public. This understand-
ing presents the fundamental premise of online public diplomacy. As the 
public has become increasingly active, and the Internet has become an 
important source of information, the state has needed to pick up the pace 
in dealing with these issues. Since reputation has always been a consider-
able factor in foreign policy, the abundance of free information and diverse 
heterogeneous voices increase the need for convincingly embedding pol-
icy choices into a narrative (Nye, 2003). Government administrations have 
come to the conclusion that they need to incorporate new tools such as 
websites and social media into their public diplomacy practice; resulting 
in the relatively new concept of online public diplomacy (the use of the 
Internet and new information communication technologies to help carry 
out diplomatic objectives). This has led to public diplomacy’s adjustment in 
embracing social media, with an e-diplomacy or online subcategory, public 
diplomacy 2.0. This stage of development of the Internet has been charac-
terized by the shift from static web pages to dynamic or user-generated con-
tent and the growth of social networking. Therefore, it features a spectrum 
of new possibilities related to emotion, sensation, the simulation of real life 
experience and the construction of parallel, virtual worlds. The rise of Web 
2.0. technologies has presented every individual with the opportunity to 
share information with the world, which in turn has resulted with traditional 
diplomacy losing its position as the main facilitator of contact and commu-
nication across diplomatic boundaries (Payne et al., 2011).
Snow (in: Snow and Taylor, 2009: 3–12) defines Web 2.0. technology as 
an increasing and substantial new domain for public diplomacy – a pub-
lic diplomacy campaign led by people, not by the government. There-
fore the terms “grassroots” public diplomacy and citizen diplomacy have 
emerged to encompass the multitude of international engagement activi-
ties undertaken outside the purview of government sponsored outreach. 
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The emerging scope of diplomatic activity, augmented by new communica-
tion tools and technologies is less autocratic, more democratic and provides 
myriad opportunities for the involvement of individual citizens. Publics do 
not represent passive elements of political structure anymore, but engaged 
individuals who use social tools to demonstrate their presence in local, as 
well as international, relations. There are networks through which all users 
can correspond with each other horizontally, rather than as passive receiv-
ers of information (Payne et al., 2011).
The Internet has provided public diplomacy with a change in its prac-
tice or as the U.S. State department calls it “the Internet moment in foreign 
policy” (http://www.state.gov/statecraft/overview/index.htm (August 15th 
2016). The first generation of web technologies known as Web 1.0 embod-
ies and facilitates one-way communication strategies in which users are 
passive recipients of the information supplied by different sources on the 
Internet. Websites built in the Web 1.0. style provide users with access to 
information on various subjects. The handicap is that there is little or no 
possibility of interaction with the audience. On the other side, the second 
generation of online technologies, Web 2.0, is primarily designed to encour-
age user contribution and interaction. The content is predominately user-
generated, and participation is through opportunities to comment, like, for-
ward, and retweet. The Web 2.0. model supports two-way communication 
exchanges and encourages active users participation. It is expected that the 
next generation of web technologies Web 3.0. will be based on semantics 
and personalisation (Payne et al., 2011).
We decided to focus on Web 1.0 diplomacy by analysing the official gov-
ernment websites, which “live” or “ die” based on whether they can con-
vince users to visit their pages either through cross-linking, search engine 
placement and/or viral popularity. Netratings.com (2008) estimates show 
that an average user visits 1522 web pages each month, but spends only 
an average of 48 seconds on each site, which presents a challenge for gov-
ernments that want to convey their message through this media. Notwith-
standing their popularity, social media and other 2.0. technologies have not 
replaced Web 1.0, just as public diplomacy 2.0 will not replace the need for 
more traditional forms of engagement. There are still largely informational, 
“read-only” websites prevalent on the web and many websites, particularly 
those belonging to governments, use a combination of Web 1.0 and 2.0 fea-
tures. Despite being focused on the content analysis of the official govern-
ment websites as a Web 1.0 tool, we acknowledge the possible feedback 
from the audience expressed through different channels. Therefore, the 
starting challenge for online public diplomacy is to understand the target 
audience, based on the response one desires. We argue it is possible to initi-
ate a response and to receive the desired results also by simply delivering 
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a message to an audience through a website. This was demonstrated in our 
research, particularly through each government’s efforts to present the issue 
of unemployment by promoting a healthy investment climate and foreign 
investment projects aimed at opening new working places, thus bringing a 
positive, government response to the fore. The aforementioned approach 
was focused on changing the negative perception of each country’s eco-
nomic environment among domestic as well as foreign publics. The issue of 
unemployment in Croatia and Serbia helped foster this negative image for 
each country in general and for each government in particular.
Online public diplomacy and the issue of unemployment
Accepting public diplomacy as a tool for presenting a country’s foreign 
policy agenda and building the image of the nation among foreign publics, 
we argue that the issue of unemployment is simultaneously a domestic and 
foreign policy issue. As the financial crisis of 2007–2008, also known as the 
global financial crisis, is considered to be the worst financial crisis since the 
Great Depression, and lead cause of the 2008–2012 global recession, which 
contributed to the European-sovereign debt crisis, we decided to take one 
of its outcomes as the core subject of our analysis. Namely, the rise in unem-
ployment in a majority of European countries presents one of the most 
dramatic consequences of the protracted crisis in Europe. Therefore, our 
research focuses on framing the aforementioned issue on official Croatian 
and Serbian Government websites, particularly on promoting the measures 
to mitigate this problem and prevent the deepening of the unemployment 
crisis as a major undertaking in Europe.
Policies for economic growth and issues such as unemployment have 
been viewed as domestic problems largely separate from foreign policy. 
However, the global financial crisis and high unemployment have brought 
the domestic economy more into the focus of national security and foreign 
affairs. The economy has entered into national security and foreign policy 
debate through its impact on the nation’s hard power, the efficiency of 
which depends greatly on the ability of a country to provide for it through an 
ever growing and innovative economy. At the same time, national security 
and foreign policy depend also on the soft power or the ability of a country 
to use its economic power to project its national values. This entails provid-
ing economic security in the form of income and business opportunities for 
individuals, as well as in promoting a secure investment. Therefore, unem-
ployment presents both, a domestic and foreign policy issue. Namely, by 
using their official websites to address the issue of unemployment, govern-
ments inform domestic and foreign publics simultaneously; in the first case 
to gain public support for their policies, and in the later to attract foreign 
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investment by presenting a healthy investment climate within the country. 
One of three mayor elements of a country’s foreign direct investment (FDI) 
strategy, besides product and price, is promotion. The promotion process 
used by states is one of the key controllable factors that influence the suc-
cess of states in attracting FDI (Schuster et.al., 1987: 268–272). Our analysis 
of the issue of unemployment on official government websites gave some 
interesting and tangible information on each county’s investment climate 
and image, as well as details concerning Croatia and Serbia’s policy on 
attracting FDI.
Effects of the global financial crisis and problems concerning unemploy-
ment in Croatia were noticed at the beginning of 2009, when the unemploy-
ment rate began to grow. The unemployment rate measures the number 
of people who are actively seeking work expressed as a percentage of the 
overall labour force (tradingeconomics.com, 2015). From 1996 to 2015, 
Croatia had its lowest unemployment rate in July of 2008, 12,20% (Figure 
1). The unemployment rate reached an all time high in January of 2014 at 
23,60%. As Figure 1 shows, the unemployment rate in Croatia has started to 
rise by the end of 2008.
Figure 1:  CROATIAN UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FROM 2007 TO 2015
Source: Trading Economics and Croatian Bureau of Statistics, 2017.
Serbia’s unemployment rate history shows that an all time high of 25,50% 
was reached in the first quarter of 2012, while its lowest point of 13,30% was 
recorded in the first quarter of 2008 (Figure 2). By the end of 2008, Serbia’s 
unemployment rate began to rise.
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Figure 2:  SERBIAN UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FROM 2008 TO 2015
Source: Trading Economics and Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, 2017.
Framing theory is used as a theoretical background for our empirical 
research. Framing explains how and why individuals use mental maps and 
shortcuts (frames) to understand the world that surrounds them. This theory 
first emerged from anthropological (Bateson, 1955: 39–51) and sociological 
(Goffman, 1974) perspectives. It was soon embraced by media studies as 
one of the main theories of mass communication (Scheufele and Tewks-
bury, 2007: 9–20; Kunczik and Zipfel, 2006; Semetko and Valkenburg, 2000: 
93–109). Moreover, it can be understood as an extension of agenda-setting 
theory. Framing theory goes one step further by explaining not just how 
stories and events are selected and set in media, but also how media audi-
ences interpret and takeover media frames, and how this affects their deci-
sion making process. 
Material and methods
Research questions and hypotheses
The empirical part of this article focuses on determining how Croatia 
and Serbia’s public diplomacy frame the issue of unemployment through 
official government websites. The research was structured around the fol-
lowing three research questions:
RQ1: Which topics associated with unemployment are mostly repre-
sented in government, online, news releases?
RQ2: Who is the main source of information in government, online, 
news releases associated with unemployment?
RQ3: Who is the main subject of news release photos?
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The goal was to test following three hypotheses:
H1: As unemployment presents a serious political and economic issue 
for Croatia and Serbia, government websites mostly frame it through activi-
ties that suggest possible solutions (i.e. investment projects, new work 
places and an openness to foreign investments).
H2: The importance of the issue of unemployment is enhanced by the 
dominant appearance of the prime minister as the main source of informa-
tion and the main actor in online news releases.
H3: The Croatian Government’s online news releases are more focused 
on laws and socio-economic rights associated with unemployment than the 
Serbian Government’s.
Sample
We collected data on the Croatian (www.vlada.hr, May 20th 2016). and 
Serbian Government’s (www.srbija.gov.rs May 25th 2016) websites, which 
were selected based on the assumption that Western Balkan states dis-
played different dynamics and online public diplomacy patterns during the 
economic crisis. We searched for and extracted online news releases that 
were tagged with the word “unemployment.” The aim of the research was 
to observe the period of time defined by the economic crisis in the Western 
Balkans, dating from 1 January 1, 2009 to 31 December, 2014. The reason 
why previous years (when the global crisis started) were not included in the 
analysis is due to the fact that officially, according to concrete parameters, 
the crisis started in the Western Balkans in 2009 (Dalić in Novotny, 2013: 
67–88). From that year the seriousness and consequences of the financial 
crisis were manifested in the decline of GDP and a steady rise in the unem-
ployment rate. 
The research material that we collected consists of online news releases 
in English as it is considered that news releases published in English are 
intended for foreign and more diverse publics. Nevertheless, we observed 
online news releases in all three languages, English, Croatian and Serbian, to 
identify whether there are differences in the content. We noticed that Croa-
tian and Serbian Government websites actually represent a three-sided tool 
for online public diplomacy, public relations (PR) and public affairs (PA) by 
using similar content in different languages. From one side, the websites are 
communicating with domestic publics and functioning in terms of PR as a 
“strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relation-
ships between organisations and their publics.” (PRSA, 2011/2012). In addi-
tion, it is also a mode of public affairs with the “aim to influence public pol-
icy, build and maintain a strong reputation and find common ground with 
stakeholders” (PubAffairs, 2017). On the other side, communication with 
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foreign publics through government websites functions as a form of public 
diplomacy – “government communication aimed at foreign audiences to 
achieve changes in the ‘hearts or mind’ of the people” (Szondi, 2008: 6). In 
this context, the observed thematic issues are of interest of both – foreign 
and domestic policies because of the proportion of the economic crisis. 
Online news releases in English published on Croatian and Serbian Govern-
ment websites are the unit of analysis. Every single online release associ-
ated with the issue of unemployment published in the period from January 
1, 2009 to December 31, 2014 (N = 339) was examined. During the afore-
mentioned timeframe the Croatian Government published 141 online news 
releases related to unemployment, while Serbian published 198 in English.
Method
The main aim of our research is to determine how Croatia and Serbia’s 
online public diplomacy frame the issue of unemployment through govern-
ment websites. Therefore the method of content analysis, that highly cor-
responds to the concepts and ideas used within the framing theory, was 
implemented. Furthermore, the content analysis was used as a quantitative 
method for analysing online news releases. “Content analysis is any tech-
nique making inferences by objectively and systematically identifying speci-
fied characteristics of messages” (Bryman, 2012). Tonkiss (in Seale, 2004: 
367–382) defined it as a method “to analyse texts in terms of the presence 
and frequency of specific terms, narratives or concepts”. It can be used for 
analysing both textual and visual content as implemented in this research. 
Two independent coders analysed the content of online news releases 
using the same coding scheme. An inter-rater reliability was tested with Hol-
sti’s method on 10 online news releases, randomly selected from the sam-
ple. The inter-rater reliability test showed that all variables ranged from 0,81 
to 1,00 while the average inter-rater reliability coefficient was 0,91. We also 
observed the frequency of words, sentences and phrases, with the comput-
erised keyword analysis in those online news releases in which unemploy-
ment was the main topic.
We came up with a coding scheme with a focus on following variables 
concerning unemployment on both governments’ online news releases:
1. Subject matter – 32 categories for identifying main (dominant) topics 
represented in the online news releases;
2. Subject matter significance – 4 categories for identifying the importance 
of the represented topic; 
3. Information source – 11 categories for identifying the main (dominant) 
source of information in the online news releases;
4. Graphic content – 11 categories for identifying the main (dominant) 
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subject in the graphic content (photography, illustration or video) of an 
online news release.
Results
The issue of unemployment, as one of the major problems experienced 
by Croatia and Serbia’s Governments in the last few years, was presented 
through various topics. This not only demonstrates the complexity of the 
issue of unemployment, but also shows in what ways Croatia and Serbia’s 
Governments tried to maintain a healthy business climate for possible 
investment. In the overall presence of different topics from Figure 6, it is 
possible to notice that several of them are dominant and give a brief over-
view of Croatia and Serbia’s approaches to communication on the issue of 
unemployment. Not surprisingly, the most frequently used topic in online 
news releases was the growth of the unemployment rate (18,9%), as in 
the following examples: “Stabilization of economic situation necessary” 
(www.srbija.gov.rs, September 26th 2012) and “Interview with Prime Min-
ister Zoran Milanović in Jutarnji list: I will be satisfied when we will have 
a better credit rating” (www.vlada.hr, March 31st 2012), where the high 
unemployment rate is emphasised as a key problem. Furthermore, one can 
notice the most regular occurrence of the following topics: investment pro-
jects (11,8%), economic restructuring (9,7%), attracting foreign investment 
(8,3%), job openings in the country (7,1%), the Labour Act and other laws 
concerning employment (7,1%). Investment projects are presented through 
new job opportunities, for example: “Bujanovac area convenient for invest-
ment due to Corridor 10 proximity” (www.srbija.gov.rs, April 7th 2011). Eco-
nomic restructuring often refers to the transformation of the tax system as 
in “Deputy Prime Minister Branko Grčić: projects co-financed with EU funds 
and change in tax system will contribute to growth of GDP” (www.vlada.
hr, August 29th 2014). In the case of “Diaspora called on to invest in Serbia” 
(www.srbija.gov.rs, July 5th 2010), the focus on foreign investments is justi-
fied with the comparative advantages of the “diaspora” knowing the lan-
guage, culture and circumstances, which facilitate the process. The results 
presented in the Figure 3 indicate that the topics dealing with attracting for-
eign investments and investment projects, if they are put together, have the 
highest frequency and therefore support the first hypothesis (H1).
Đana LUŠA, Hrvoje JAKOPOVIĆ
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Figure 3: TOPICS RELATED TO UNEMPLOYMENT
N = 339  
Sources: Authors
The issue of unemployment is, except from the growth of the unem-
ployment rate (15,60%), presented on the Croatian Government’s website 
through the topics related to the Labour Act and other laws concerning 
employment (14,20%), followed by the decline of the unemployment rate 
(12,60%) and investment projects (8,20%) (Figure 4). The Croatian Govern-
ment is highly focused on regulations and laws when dealing with the issue 
of unemployment, which could be related with Croatia’s EU accession pro-
cess and the need to promote the country through “the rule of law”.
Đana LUŠA, Hrvoje JAKOPOVIĆ
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Figure 4: CROATIAN GOVERNMENT TOPICS RELATED TO UNEMPLOYMENT
N =141  
Sources: Authors
The Serbian Government was, besides the growth of unemployment 
rate in the country (21,20%), mostly focused on attracting foreign invest-
ment (13,60%), investment projects (13,60%) and economic restructuring 
(12,60%) (Figure 5). The issue of communication with the corporate sec-
tor was of more interest to the Serbian than the Croatian Government. On 
the other hand, laws and regulations were of secondary importance, with 
the Labour Act and other laws concerning employment being mentioned in 
only 2% of cases.
In general, the results show that unemployment does not present the 
main issue in the Croatian and Serbian Governments’ online news releases 
that were tagged with the word “unemployment” (Figure 6). In the case of 
Croatia it is mostly a “secondary issue” (41,1%) and “just being mentioned” 
(36,90%). In Serbia the situation is similar with 42,40 percent for unemploy-
ment as a “secondary issue” and 34,10 as “just being mentioned.” Unem-
ployment is perceived mostly as a sensitive and a negative issue, avoided or 
combined with other more positive stories and events, as the main issues in 
the published news items.
Đana LUŠA, Hrvoje JAKOPOVIĆ
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Figure 5: SERBIAN GOVERNMENT TOPICS RELATED TO UNEMPLOYMENT
N =198  
Sources: Authors
Figure 6: IMPORTANCE OF THE ISSUE OF UNEMPLOYMENT
Sources: Authors
Đana LUŠA, Hrvoje JAKOPOVIĆ
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After we determined in which online news releases unemployment was 
the main topic we analysed the frequency of words and phrases. The cri-
teria and the reason for conducting a computerised frequency analysis of 
one word, phrases with 3 words and phrases with 7 words was to obtain 
insight in not only the key words concerning unemployment, but also to get 
a clearer perspective, meaning and context in which certain key words are 
mentioned. Table 1 displays that certain hidden messages can be derived 
from the word frequency of news releases, when unemployment is the main 
issue. For example, seasonal hiring in the tourism sector was presented as 
one of the solutions for unemployment. Furthermore, the issue of unem-
ployment for persons with disabilities also appeared. By using the word 
count, we came to the conclusion that youth unemployment is particularly 
emphasised as a serious and significant issue.
Table 1:  UNEMPLOYMENT AS THE MAIN ISSUE ON CROATIAN GOVERNMENT 
WEBSITE – WORD FREQUENCY (N = 20) 
Some top phrases containing 7 words (without punctuation marks) Occurrences
“thanks to seasonal hiring mostly in touristic” 3
“Minister of Labour and Pension System Mirando” 3
“providing accommodation and preparing and serving food” 3
Some top phrases containing 3 words (without punctuation marks) Occurrences
“persons with disabilities” 14
“employment service for” 8
“employment of persons” 7
Word count Occurrences
percentage 119
unemployed 50
unemployment 49
employment 39
government 34
persons 31
Croatia 30
youth 30
In online news releases, where unemployment is the main issue, the 
Serbian Government mostly referred to Government sources, but also pro-
moted investments through the Serbian Investment and Export Promotion 
Agency and the Ministry for Economic and Regional Development (Table 
1). Moreover, it was consistent in emphasising general employment as well 
as detecting the problem of unemployment among young people. The 
results show a frequent mention of the EU and its regulations (Table 2). In 
Sources: Authors
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accordance to the previous results, derived from the content analysis, a word 
frequency count shows that the Serbian Government is positively oriented 
towards resolving the problem of unemployment by accenting the regional 
development agency that promotes investments and national employment.
Table 2:  UNEMPLOYMENT AS THE MAIN ISSUE ON SERBIAN GOVERNMENT 
WEBSITE – WORD FREQUENCY (N = 28)
Some top phrases containing 7 words (without punctuation marks) Occurrences
“– deputy prime minister and minister of” 5
“the Serbian investment and export promotion agency” 4
“prime minister for economic and regional development” 4
Some top phrases containing 3 words (without punctuation marks) Occurrences
“deputy prime minister” 20
“the national employment” 15
“and regional development” 13
Word count Occurrences
Serbia 110
employment 83
unemployment 57
minister 54
people 40
EU 34
young 34
Serbian 31
When it comes to the source of information, the Croatian Government 
published news releases from only one source in 34,80% of our observa-
tions, often using the form of an interview (25,50%). The Serbian Govern-
ment was more prone to use just one source of information (65,20%), very 
rarely publishing new releases without any source of information (0,50%). 
Table 3 shows that the Croatian and Serbian Governments mostly relied on 
their Prime Ministers as their main sources of information; followed by Dep-
uty Prime Ministers and other Government members. Investors are rarely 
seen as a source of information, and never as the main one. Citizens who are 
mostly affected by the issue of unemployment were also not identified as 
the source of information. On the other hand, the frequency with which the 
Prime Minister was the main source of information shows that unemploy-
ment is taken as one of the key policy issues for each given country. The 
Minister of Labour was the main source of information in only 7,30% (Croa-
tian Government) and 5,10% (Serbian Government) cases. The results also 
show that in its in online news releases the Croatian Government used more 
Sources: Authors
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experts (8,1%) as the main sources of information than the Serbian Gov-
ernment (3%), while the Serbian Government was more reliant on sources 
from their own Government. 
Table 3: MAIN SOURCE OF INFORMATION IN ONLINE NEWS RELEASES
Main source of information 
www.vlada.hr
N = 123
% Main source of information
www.srbija.gov.rs
N = 197
%
Prime Minister 37,4 Prime Minister 33,0
Deputy Prime Minister 17,1 Deputy Prime Minister 25,9
Minister of Labour 7,3 Minister of Labour 5,1
Ministers 15,4 Ministers 20,3
Mayor 0,0 Mayor 1,0
Local politicians 4,1 Local politicians 5,6
Foreign politicians 2,4 Foreign politicians 4,1
Experts 8,1 Experts 3,0
It is hard to define 8,1 It is hard to define 2,0
The graphic content indicates that the main actors in the observed press 
releases were the prime ministers, followed by the deputy prime ministers 
and other Government members (Table 4). The Serbian Government gave 
a little more space to foreign politicians and investors as the main subjects 
of its photo releases, while the Croatian Government was more focused on 
local politicians and experts from certain fields.
Table 4: GRAPHIC CONTENT IN ONLINE NEWS RELEASES
Graphic content  
www.vlada.hr 
N = 75
% Graphic content 
www.srbija.gov.rs 
N = 155
%
Prime Minister 43,7 Prime Minister 36,2
Deputy Prime Minister 10,3 Deputy Prime Minister 23,2
Minister of Labour 2,7 Minister of Labour 4,5
Ministers 16,0 Ministers 16,8
Local politicians 6,7 Local politicians 4,5
Foreign politicians 5,3 Foreign politicians 8,4
Experts 5,3 Experts 2,6
Investors 1,3 Investors 2,6
Citizens 1,3 Citizens 0,6
Something else 7,3 Something else 0,6
Sources: Authors
Sources: Authors
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Conclusion
By presenting two cases based on framing the issue of unemployment, 
our research cannot offer universal lessons. For that we should have evalu-
ated more countries and compared the results with similar studies. Yet, it is 
still the first analysis of unemployment as an issue of public diplomacy on 
official government websites in the Western Balkans and therefore it offers 
some relevant insights. It both corroborates and questions certain theoreti-
cal assumptions about the role of public diplomacy in general, and in two 
Western Balkan countries in particular, as well as about using websites as a 
public diplomacy tool.
The key findings of our research focused on framing the issue of unem-
ployment on official Croatian and Serbian Government websites mostly 
demonstrated an effort by both Governments to mitigate the problem and 
prevent the deepening of the unemployment crisis. This was attempted by 
promoting a healthy business climate for foreign direct investments (FDI) 
and by presenting the public with positive examples of projects aimed at 
opening new work places. It shows the Croatian and Serbian Governments 
organising their public diplomacy efforts in regards to their perceived audi-
ence, although using a one-way communication tool, which indicates a top-
down approach in the Governments’ strategic communication. The research 
also indicated how challenging it is to draw a line between public affairs 
and public diplomacy, having in mind the lack of clear boundaries between 
domestic and foreign publics, as well as the issue of unemployment being at 
the heart of the domestic, as well as of the foreign policy agenda. Therefore, 
we used online public diplomacy as a “bridge concept”. Although there is 
a proliferation of social media being used as the basic government pub-
lic diplomacy tool, offering a potential for a two-way communication and 
direct dialogue, official websites still present an important platform to pro-
mote official government policy.
The results show that Croatian and Serbian Government websites mostly 
frame unemployment through activities that suggest possible solutions 
(i.e. investment projects, new work places, economic restructuring and an 
openness to foreign investments). Furthermore, by focusing on their prime 
ministers as the main sources of information and the main actors in online 
news releases, they are implying that the issue of unemployment represents 
one of the priorities for both Governments. These findings related to the 
issue of unemployment indicate each Governments’ efforts to promote a 
“collaboration frame”, which shows that they cannot deal independently 
with this issue (that is why they are inviting foreign investments and the cor-
porate sector to join in). A comparative analysis revealed that the Croatian 
Government’s online news releases were more focused on legal regulations 
Đana LUŠA, Hrvoje JAKOPOVIĆ
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and socio-economic rights associated with unemployment than the Serbian 
Government’s, which is indicative because of Croatia’s accession to the 
European Union and the need to promote the concept of “the rule of law”.
In order to develop more general conclusions regarding the use of web-
sites as tools for government’s public diplomacy in framing the issue of 
unemployment, future research should include more countries, different 
public diplomacy doctrines and approaches, as well as comparison with 
social media being used for public diplomacy. To estimate whether Croatia 
and Serbia’ public diplomacy efforts resulted with concrete FDI and the rise 
of their employment rates, requires further research.
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