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April 9, 1999
Web posted at: 3:29 p.m. EDT (1929 GMT)

(CNN) -- As NATO officials stress in their news briefings that airstrikes on Yugoslavia are taking a toll on military troops and supply lines, Serb television flashes pictures of young people forming a human shield on a beloved bridge and firemen gallantly battling flames in the heart of Belgrade.

It raises the question: Should Yugoslavia's state media be viewed as a government weapon or as a window to help gauge the effect of NATO's attacks on Yugoslavia's people?

For NATO, the answer is simple.

"Serb radio and TV is an instrument of propaganda and repression," said British Air Commodore David Wilby, NATO's military spokesman. "It has filled the airwaves with hate and with lies over the years and especially now. It is therefore a legitimate target in this campaign."

But in some cases, the Yugoslav media may have bolstered support for NATO's campaign, even if it was aiming for the opposite effect.

Serb TV's broadcast of three captured U.S. soldiers, looking bruised and exhausted, may have galvanized U.S. public opinion behind the Clinton administration's aggressive stance against Yugoslavia.

Along with footage from Serb TV, the Western media have broadcast touching scenes of ethnic Albanian refugees forced from their homes into cold, wet camps in neighboring countries.

"The public, according to polls, is more prone to accepting the idea of ground troops and of prosecuting this war effort against (Yugoslav President Slobodan) Milosevic ... because of the images you have on television," said Ken Auletta of the New Yorker magazine.

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