PODGORICA, August 2nd, 2021 – The existing legal framework in Montenegro is suitable for the development of media pluralism, but more in a quantitative than in a qualitative sense. The process of establishing the media, especially online, is extremely liberal. Existing regulatory and self-regulatory mechanisms, however, do not contribute to raising professional and ethical standards.

These are conclusions of the Montenegro report in Media Pluralism Monitoring for 2020, led by The Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom.

In that sense authors suggest developing media strategy through an inclusive debate, followed by amendments to media legislation, in which community media would also be recognized.

When it comes to posing risks to media pluralism, the report especially emphasizes the risk to social inclusiveness.

“First, Access to media for local and regional communities scores a very high 97% risk due to the absence of any special guarantees or legal support scheme for local and regional media as well as to the inexistence of community media. Second, Access to women also scores a high risk (75%) because women remain highly underrepresented in informative and political programmes, although they produce the majority of broadcasted information. Third, the indicator on Protection against illegal and harmful speech scores a high risk (81%) because the fight against disinformation in Montenegro is very limited”.

Also, the political independence area includes high-risk indicators for political control over media outlets, editorial autonomy and independence of PSM funding and governance. The mainstream media in Montenegro are mostly politically affiliated, and the national public broadcaster RTCG has been under the direct control of the state government.

“Market Plurality area records high-risk indicators in the field of news media concentration and the commercial and owners influence over editorial content. Institutional capacities in the field of competition protection are still underdeveloped. There are no safeguards to ensure that state resources allocated to local and national public service media (PSM) do not cause disproportionate effects on competition. Also, there are no mechanisms that would enable adequate protection of local media from the unfair competition of big regional media companies”.

As the authors state, there are no mechanisms granting social protection to journalists in the case of changes of ownership or editorial line.

“Moreover, there are no regulatory safeguards, including self-regulatory instruments, which seek to ensure that decisions regarding appointments and dismissals of editors-in-chief
are not influenced by commercial interests. Montenegro also does not have in place effective measures that would prevent journalists to participate in advertising activities”.

The report states that the legal establishment of the State-level Fund for Encouraging Media Pluralism and Diversity is a significant innovation that has yet to prove its worth.

In order to avoid abuse, they suggest establishing effective control over the ways of money from the fund and the effectiveness of its spending, encouraging the development and maintenance of community media, especially media intended for vulnerable and marginalized social groups, with money from the fund.

They also suggest expanding horizontal and cross-media concentration limitations to include digital media. It would also be recommendable to establish a single ownership register for all media and a single regulatory authority that would monitor compliance with cross-ownership rules.

“Efforts to create and implement rules for digital news media that limit political influence have generally been sporadic, insufficient, and ineffective. The authors suggest introducing a clear set of rules and limits for transparent monitoring of social media campaigns in the
Rules on electoral advertising”, it is stated in the report.

The Media Pluralism Monitor 2021 (MPM2021) is a scientific and holistic effort to document the health of media ecosystems, detailing threats to media pluralism and freedom in European Union member states and some candidate countries.

PODGORICA, July 30th, 2021 – Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (SMCG) strongly condemns the endangerment of the safety of the journalist of the daily “Vijesti” Jelena Jovanovic with the alleged “denial” that came from the detainee Mario Milosevic, suspected of two murders. We demand from the competent authorities to urgently clarify all the circumstances of this event, as well as to make an urgent assessment of the safety of the colleague Jovanovic.

We are asking the Montenegrin Bar Association to initiate proceedings against Milosevic’s lawyer Natalija Karadzic, in which it would be determined whether, by passing such a letter, she acted in accordance with the ethics and rules of the profession and endangered the safety of the journalist.

Jovanovic recently received a letter signed by detainee Milosevic, through her lawyer Karadzic, in response to the published text. On July 28, lawyer Karadzic sent an e-mail to the official e-mail address of the journalist and the editorial office where she works, which she called a denial, in which the suspect in the two murders states where the journalist lives, insinuating that Jovanovic is paying off the apartment by writing articles about him. The journalist, who is a witness to the murder for which the prosecution suspects Milosevic, interpreted the allegations as serious threats and an attempt to intimidate and discredit her because the information about where she lives is not public.

We appeal to the institutions of the system to be especially efficient and careful when it comes to the protection of journalists who report on sensitive topics, such as crime and corruption. Journalist Jovanovic has been the target of attacks before, and such intimidation is only aimed at preventing her from doing her job.

In 2021, Trade Union of Media of Montenegro through the SafeJournalists.net network, recorded 13 incidents and attacks to the detriment of media employees, and we think it is high time that the competent state institutions do everything in their power to end the atmosphere of impunity.

Main Board of SMCG