PRISHTINË, 09.05.2020 – Association of Journalists of Kosovo with concern has reflected on the language used in a recent personal Facebook status of Deputy Minister of Defence and Member of ‘Vetëvendosje’, Mr Enver Dugolli.
On the 8th of May, Dugolli wrote this Facebook status on his personal profile “The exhausting and depressing screams of some ‘journalists’ to create a victim at all costs, in addition to being annoyed, are also offensive. It is incomprehensible when a media falls into such traps to create a ‘political victim’ at all costs, even by dedicating a live broadcast by the Police Station. There is an impression created then that a great crime may have happened. ‘Journalism’ and not a joke…”
Association of Journalists of Kosovo strongly condemns the use of such a language, especially when it comes from an individual who holds such a respected post, whose words have an impact and shape the discourse of public opinion.
It is first and foremost a basic right of journalists to report, and it is their sacred duty that this reporting takes place and not be hidden and manipulated as such. Journalists do not perform ‘screams’, they cover various events and developments during a working day. The case Mr Dugolli is referring to should not be left on a darkness media state, as claimed by Mr Dugolli.
AJK invited political officials and their respective political parties to distance themselves from such narratives and attitudes, which only further undermine the work of journalists in Kosovo.