The Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA) considers the conduct of the HDZ councillors in the Municipal Council of Proložac unacceptable after they demanded, at the Council’s latest session held on 9 July, that Radio NU from Imotski be prohibited from recording and livestreaming the session.
Although they had no authority to impose such a ban, and despite the fact that Mayor Toni Garac (HSLS) had invited the media to report from the session and had expressly approved both the recording and the livestream, the HDZ councillors, who hold the majority in the Municipal Council and are led by the Council President, insisted that Radio NU journalist Ante Dogan be prevented from recording and broadcasting the session live. They claimed that the livestream placed undue pressure on councillors, an argument we consider entirely unfounded.
In the end, they conditioned the journalist’s presence at the session on refraining from recording or livestreaming it. Faced with these restrictions, our colleague decided to leave the session and subsequently reported the incident to the Croatian Journalists’ Association.
The Croatian Journalists’ Association considers this case yet another example of politicians’ misunderstanding of what constitutes the public interest and the role of the media. A Municipal Council session discussing the municipal budget, in a municipality where extraordinary elections were held only at the end of April this year and whose residents may, in all likelihood, be called to the polls for a third time in just over a year because the budget once again failed to pass due to the opposition of the HDZ, is unquestionably a matter of public interest.
Journalists have both the right and the duty to cover such sessions and report on them, including by recording and livestreaming them. Politicians—in this case, the HDZ councillors—have no right to impose conditions on or demand restrictions of media coverage. By choosing to run for public office, they must accept that their work is subject to legitimate public scrutiny and media oversight.
On behalf of the Executive Board of the Croatian Journalists’ Association
Hrvoje Zovko, President of the CJA
Chiara Bilić, Vice-President of the CJA
Drago Hedl, Vice-President of the CJA