Questioning how public money is spent or how power is exercised is in the public interest and a hallmark of responsible journalism. Republishing official statements is not.
On its official website, the City of Slavonski Brod issued a statement accusing certain local media outlets of increasingly publishing “false or distorted information related to the work of city administration employees.” The statement claims that the City responds to all journalistic inquiries regularly, promptly, and with verified data, but that “unfortunately, in some cases the City’s official responses are not published at all, while in other situations their message is interpreted in a way that does not reflect the real situation.” Without providing a single concrete example, the statement labels “certain local media” as unprofessional and irresponsible and alleges that they use media space as a means of exerting pressure on the City.
Such sweeping assessments and accusations, which allegedly “appeal to responsible journalism” but in reality attempt to silence critical thinking and scrutiny of the city administration’s work, are, in the view of the Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA), a dangerous reversal of facts and entirely unacceptable.
We remind the city administration that media freedom is among the fundamental pillars of democratic societies. The Media Act explicitly stipulates that public authorities, including units of local self-government, are obliged to provide the media with accurate, complete, and timely information on matters within their competence, under equal conditions for all. We expect the City of Slavonski Brod to implement this legal obligation consistently and without selective treatment of individual newsrooms.
We reiterate that journalists are not a “service” of the city administration. Scrutinising how public money is spent or how power is exercised is in the interest of citizens and a defining feature of responsible journalism. Republishing official press releases is not.
On behalf of the Executive Board of the Croatian Journalists’ Association,
Hrvoje Zovko,
President of the CJA
On behalf of the CJA Branch in Brod-Posavina County,
Višnja Ružojčić,
Deputy Chair of the Branch