Scattered across desks at the offices of the Feral Tribune, a satirical weekly in Split, Croatia, are copies of "the" photo -- two men in bed, stripped to the waist, snuggling. The heads on the bodies are those of Croatia's president, Franjo Tudjman, and the Serbian strongman, Slobodan Milosevic. The trick photo, published in last December, skewered these two former archenemies for their perceived alliance against the Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina, for figuratively hopping into bed. Is THIS WHAT WE FOUGHT FOR? asked the headline.

Shortly after this controversial artwork appeared, the Feral Tribune's editor-in-chief was drafted into the army, training for about a month with a Croatian army brigade that the paper had severely criticized.

But the government's displeasure has not blunted Feral's edge. This past March, after the Croats and Muslims signed a peace accord to end the fighting between them in central Bosnia, Feral recreated the bedroom romp. This time, though, Tudjman was in bed with Bosnian president Alija Izetbegovic. The headline below asked WHO IS NEXT?

Feral regularly pushes the limits of acceptability in its coverage of Croatia's political scene. Crude and often profane, the tabloid nonetheless manages to present biting and often thought-provoking commentary in a nation that is struggling -- and sometimes failing spectacularly -- to overcome the constraints of its communist past and embrace democracy. The paper stands out against the bland state-influenced mainstream media.

Feral -- the word means lamp in a Croatian dialect -- began as a satirical supplement to the once fiercely independent daily Slobodna Dalmacija (Free Dalmatia). But after that daily was privatized, Feral struck out on its own. It is surviving on brisk sales and support from the Soros Foundation, which funds newspapers and other democratic institutions in Eastern Europe.

How do they get away with it? The authorities, says deputy editor Boris Dezulovic, "don't know what to with Feral, because they hate what it says. But as long as it prints, [President] Tudjman can claim there is freedom of the press in Croatia."

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