The journalists from Peja and Gjakova region participate in the first workshop organized by AJK and UN Women.
PRISHTINË, 30. 11. 2919 – The Association of Journalists of Kosovo in cooperation with Un Women, has launched the two days session of workshops for local journalists on “The role of media on peace-building.
In the first workshop, the journalists from Peja and Gjakova have participated. The trainer is Gjerqina Tuhina, a well-experienced journalist, who was a reporter in the last war of Kosovo. Since 2000, she works as a correspondent from Brussels, who covers the EU integration issues, the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, etc.
Through this workshop, sessions are aimed to enlarge the knowledge on reporting the conflicts and media role on peacebuilding. However, it aims to build the capacity of journalists by applying a correct approach while reporting from the conflict from the perspective of gender issues as well.
Until the end of the project, four workshop sessions are going to be organized, which will be run by international experts. As a result of these workshops with local journalists and training with journalists of the central level, guidelines will be drafted about the mentioned topic.
PODGORICA. 29.11.2019. – Montenegro and the former editor of its state-owned newspaper Pobjeda were ordered to pay 5,000 euros each to two journalists for damaging their reputation by insulting them in print.
The Higher Court in Podgorica ruled on Tuesday that the state and the former editor-in-chief of Pobjeda, Srdjan Kusovac, must pay 5,000 euros each to two journalists from the independent weekly magazine Monitor, Milka Tadic Mijovic and Milena Perovic, for damaging their “reputation and honour”.
The court also ruled that Kusovac and the state must pay 3,795 euros in court costs.
“Kusovac and the state of Montenegro must compensate the journalists for the harm they have suffered… In this case, freedom of speech was abused to the detriment of the journalists,” the verdict said.
In 2013, the journalists filed a lawsuit seeking non-pecuniary damages, claiming they had been targeted with insults and hate speech.
Pobjeda, which was state-owned at the time, from September 2011 to April 2012 published articles in which the journalists were called derogatory names such as scum, dogs, “professional counterfeiters” and “media bullies in skirts”.
At that time, the editor-in-chief of Pobjeda was Kusovac, but after he left the position, he was appointed head of the Montenegrin government’s public relations bureau.
Tadic Mijovic expressed satisfaction after the verdict.
“One of the main creators of the case, Srdjan Kusovac, is a senior state figure today and head of the government’s [PR] bureau. His current position and all the privileges he has been able to seize appear to be a reward for his editorial achievements, for which the state is now paying court fees and penalties,” she told Vijesti newspaper.
Known as a sharp critic of the government of Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, Tadic Mijovic is a former editor of the only weekly magazine in Montenegro, Monitor, and is now editor at the Center for Investigative Journalism, CIN.
In a separate case in Belgrade in July 2016, a court ruled against news website E-novine for defaming Mijovic and ordered it to pay her about 8,000 euros.
According to the verdict, several articles that the website published in 2013 and 2014, as well as insulting captions under the photographs in the articles, focused on “demeaning the personality of the journalist”.
BELGRADE, 29.11.2019. – Miodrag Sovilj, an N1 reporter, became a target of Serbia’s authorities and pro-regime media after insisting that President Aleksandar Vucic answer his question about shady arms deals involving Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic’s father, even accusing the reporter of sending Vucic to a hospital, N1 reported.
The targeting slightly faded out but drew the attention of the Council of Europe (CoE) Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists because at it said – “No state reply yet,” 13 days after Sovilj tried to get the answer from the President.
SOURCE OF THREATNon-stateCATEGORYHarassment and intimidation of journalists PARTNER EFJ/IFJ
NO STATE REPLY YET
“Serbian journalist Miodrag Sovilj has been the target of a storm of criticism by media and officials close to the government. The reason for this backlash was the hospitalisation of Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić for health reasons hours after he publicly confronted him with allegations of government corruption.
President Vučić was opening a children’s park on 15 November in Belgrade when N1 reporter questioned him over the alleged role of Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic’s father in the suspect purchase of state-produced arms.
An exchange of several minutes took place filmed by a camera.
The journalist repeatedly asked the President whether he knows the document on his mobile phone – supposed to be the proof demonstrating the conflict of interest – while President Vučić asks him several times to read out the whole document, affirming he is not aware of the document’s existence and can’t read it.
In the end, Vučić gave an evasive response and asked the anti-corruption agency to investigate.
Following this exchange, Miodrag Sovilj faced intimidation, threats and smear campaign. He was accused by officials and media of “provoking the President”, of being rude, offensive and disrespectful, having a “shameful behaviour” that led to the deterioration of Vučić’s health – an insinuation that was denied by the President himself afterwards.
Photos of the journalist were taken from his student MySpace account and published to portray him as an alcoholic and drug addict.”
PROKUPLJE, 29.11.2019. – Zbog objavljivanje fotografije 2017. godine na portalu Prokuplje, moj kraj, za koju tvrdi da nikad nije ni bila na tom sajtu, novinar i urednik ovog portalaLjubiša Mitić osuđen je na 3 meseca kućnog pritvora, a presudu Osnovnog suda u Prokuplju, nakon žalbe, potvrdio je i Viši sud u ovom gradu. Mitić, koji je od ove godine dopisnik Južnih vesti za Toplički okrug, kaže da presuda ima niz nelogičnosti i misli da je u reč o podmetanju, a reaguju i novinarska udruženja.
U presudi u koju su novinari Južnih vesti imali uvid, stoji da je Mitić “kao službeno liceobjavio, neovlašćeno i bez pristanka”, fotografiju Milice Radosavljević u tekstu “Pijani tehničar maltretirao pacijente psihijatrije” iz marta 2017. godine.
Mitić tvrdi da je uz tekst objavljena fotografija ustanove, a ne Radosavljevićeve koja sa tim slučajem nije ni imala nikakve veze.
Smatrao sam da je ovo praktično bezazlen slučaj i svi su me uveravali da je samo neka vrsta pritiska, te sam računao da će to u nekom periodu stati. Verovao sam u nadležne institucije i da će suditi po zakonu – kaže Mitić.
On je osuđen jer je objavio fotografiju oštećene i time, kako stoji u presudi, “osetno zadro u njen lični život”. Međutim, Mitić negira da je ikada objavio tu fotografiju.
Nikakve veze sa pomenutom osobom i fotografijom koja se navodno pojavila na portalu nisam imao. Neko želi da me zastraši. U presudi stoji da je tekst nastao marta 2017. godine, a oštećena je izjavljivala da je fotografija nastala 8 meseci do godinu dana nakon objavljivanja teksta – kaže novinar.
Dodaje da oštećenu, čija se slika navodno pojavljuje u tekstu, nikad nije upoznao i ne vidi nijedan razlog da njenu sliku stavi u tekst, koju, kako kaže, nikad nije ni posedovao.
Sudski veštak nije utvrdio da li je 24. marta 2017. godine kada je tekst objavljen fotografija oštećene bila u tekstu, kao i da li je objavljena kasnije, ali je sud utvrdio da je činjenica da se nalazila u tekstu zato što su je videli svedoci, među kojima je i radnik Policijske uprave u Prokuplju.
Međutim, sud je kao validan dokaz uzeo i na papiru odštampan skrinšot članka koji je oštećena Radosavljevićeva dostavila sudu, iako je sudski veštak utvrdio da je tehnički moguće ubaciti bilo koju sliku u tekst članka pre štampanja.
NUNS: Novinar nije službeno lice
Marija Babić iz Nezavisnog udruženja novinara Srbije kaže da u presudama ima dosta kontradiktornih stvari, a pre svega ukazuje na trenutak kada je fotografija nastala i kad je ona objavljena.
Posebno je zanimljivo da veštak između ostalog navodi da nije moguće utvrditi da li je fotografija oštecene objavljena na tom portalu u martu 2017. godine – kaže Babićeva.
Kako stoji u presudi, iz iskaza oštećene zaključuje se da ni ona “nije sigurna u trenutak“ nastanka sporne fotografije jer se u presudi prvostepenog suda navodi da je oštećena izjavila da je sporna fotografija nastala početkom 2018. godine u vezi sa saobraćajnom nezgodom u kojoj su stradale njene komšije, dok se u pravnosnažnoj presudi ističe da “misli“ da je fotografija nastala novembra 2017.
Najviše iznenađuje i zabrinjava činjenica da je prvostepeni sud ocenio, a drugostepeni potvrdio da je novinar službeno lice zato sto je urednik portala. To je nedopustivo i opasno i nije u skladu sa zakonom – kaže Babićeva.
Nju iznenađuje i visina kazne jer kaže da je praksa naših sudova da i za teža krivična dela daju blaže kazne.
O presudi protiv novinara Mitića oglasili su se iz Udruženja novinara Srbije (UNS), čija advokatica Gordana Konstantinović kaže da tužilaštvo u Prokuplju nije moglo urednika i novinara prema Krivičnom zakoniku da kvalifikuje kao službeno lice, niti da pokrene postupak, jer se za osnovni oblik tog dela goni po privatnoj krivičnoj tužbi.
Prvostepeni i Viši sud u Prokuplju postupili su suprotno odredbama Krivičnog zakonika, jer su utvrdili, odnosno potvrdili, da je urednik portala “službeno lice u vršenju službe“ – kaže Konstantinovićeva.
Ona objašnjava da je za pojam službeno lice karakteristično vršenje službene dužnosti u okviru određenih javnih ovlašćenja, a da sa Mitićem to nije slučaj.
Presuda Višeg suda u Prokuplju je pravosnažna, a Mitić i njegov advokat najavljuju žalbu Vrhovnom kasacionom sudu.
The media is a mirror of society, and the state of media freedom is a benchmark, actually the real image of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in one country. Because, the media are the ones who promote, monitor and warn about cases of human rights violations, and also often journalists themselves are victims of human rights violations.
It is not without reason that freedom of expression, which also guarantees freedom of the media, is one of the oldest human rights protected by several international declarations and resolutions, but also by the highest legal act of our country – the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina .
After World War II, tremendous efforts were made internationally, especially in Europe, to thwart the re-emergence of totalitarian regimes and dictatorships. Such action has resulted in numerous declarations, resolutions, pacts … as well as an extremely complicated and complex system of human rights protection.
Good theory and bad practice
Theoretically, human rights have been put on the pedestal of the priorities of Europe and the world, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose Constitution has incorporated 16 international documents guaranteeing human rights, which makes them supreme over all laws in our country.
Unfortunately, not only in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region, but also in the world, there is an obvious, and seemingly insurmountable, gap between the normative and the proclaimed on the one hand and practice, in the sense of applying the adopted norms, on the other hand.
Experienced human rights defenders emphasize that the fight for human rights is actually a fight not for our being better off, but for better off future generations.
The degree of respect for human rights is rightly regarded by many as a measure of civilizing processes in a society, although full implementation of human rights is considered as a utopia in far more socially and economically developed countries than ours.
But there is irrefutable evidence that respect for media freedom has a direct bearing on the orderliness of states. This was also pointed out by British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt at a Global Press Freedom Conference in London in July. He cited that of the 10 “cleanest countries in the world, as ranked by Transparency International, seven are also in the top 10 of the World Media Freedom Index. Meanwhile, of the 10 most corrupt countries, four appear in the bottom 10 for media freedom.”
The suppression of human rights, through the suppression of media freedom, stifles every other progress. In today’s world, we are witnessing a series of examples that prove that the suppression of media freedom gives a chance to undemocratic autocratic systems dominated by closed centres of power with little or no citizen influence. Such systems go with nepotism, corruption, and cover themselves with propaganda through controlled media.
Hunt stressed that “the strongest safeguard against the dark side of power is accountability and scrutiny – and few institutions fulfil that role more effectively than a free media.”
It is important to reject the generalization and observation of any profession looked at through the prism of bad experiences and to accept that unethicality and unprofessionalism should never justify attacks or threats.
The collapse of media freedom in BiH
The Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees has no dilemma that professional media are natural allies, on the same mission and task of promoting human rights, affirming the principles and values of equality, tolerance and non-discrimination, educating citizens, encouraging change… Because freedom of expression is a catalyst for all other human rights and the professional media are one of the pillars of democracy and a key factor in promoting and respecting human rights in BiH.
Aware of their role and the need to create a partnership with the professional media, the Ministry has ensured the participation of more than 60 media outlets from across the country in drafting the first Report of the BiH Council of Ministers on the Freedom of Speech and the Media Freedom Situation in BiH . The report was adopted by the Council of Ministers and both houses of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly and formed the basis for a thematic session in the State Parliament.
It was pointed out that the attacks, violence and intimidation of journalists were not adequately punished. Among the proposals for additional measures for the protection of journalists was that an assault on journalist be criminalised as a separate criminal offense or as a more severe form of criminal offense defined as an assault on an official person in the exercise of official duty.
Apart from the need to create more effective mechanisms for a safer environment for journalists’ work, also the need for more journalistic unity and solidarity to improve the quality of journalism and the respect of professional standards and codes of ethics, was emphasized.
It was identified that illegal internet portals, non-transparency of media ownership, hate speech, pressures on the media, economic dependence are only some of the problems that the media in Bosnia and Herzegovina encounter in their work. Report states that “political pressures on all three public broadcast services contribute to giving priority to nationalistic and political interests over the public interest and call into question the role of public broadcast services as independent and professional media.”
The European Commission’s progress reports note that political and financial pressures on the media continue to prevail in BiH and also point out the need to adopt regulations in the field of ownership transparency in online media as well as advertising in the media.
The Report of the Reporters Without Borders (2019) points out that Bosnia and Herzegovina is enfolded in a polarized political climate marked with constant verbal attacks and nationalistic rhetorics. According to the Reporters without Borders, Bosnia and Herzegovina is now ranked 62rd out of 180 countries by the Media Freedom Index. A regression is best illustrated by the fact that 15 years ago we were ranked on the high 21st place.
Reporters Without Borders have pointed out that media editorial decisions reflect ethnic divisions and hate speech, journalists are exposed to attacks and poor working conditions with generally low salaries “while lawsuits for defamation or insult of honour and dignity have become tools of politicians who want to intimidate journalists and deter them from researching some topics”.
The focus of the Reporters was Banja Luka, where they cite an example when reporting of the protests related to the death of David Dragicevic was prevented, saying that “the authorities restricted both the freedom to assembly and the coverage of the demonstrations.”
The media market, especially in the domain of the unregulated area of online media, has become relentless – only the fastest and most appealing to the general public are winning. In such an environment, the sovereign rulers are sensationalism, a lack of professionalism that is reflected in a sea of unverified information, false news, hate speech, promotion of morally questionable social values…
This is also pointed out by ethics professor Milenko Perovic, who states in his work “Ethics of the Media” that the Internet brings a “nightmare of immorality” and that Internet communication enables everyone to become a media worker, which calls into question the “mechanisms of legal and moral oversight of content that exist in classic media ”.
All this is only part of the problem in the field of media freedom, which contributes to the suppression of the professional media and the degradation of the honorable profession of journalists. Ignoring this issue and the apparent lack of unity and journalistic solidarity, which is crucial in the fight for media freedom, has led to a staying-alive-is-only-important attitude.
The question is until when this state will be sustainable. In this context, the results of a survey conducted by the BH Journalists Association and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation on May 3 – World Freedom of the Media, which show that as much as 27 percent of respondents in the RS and 17 percent in the FBiH justify violence or attacks on journalists, are worrying . This is 14 percent more than last year’s results.
The situation is even worse when one considers that only 24 per cent of attacks reported through the help line for journalists are resolved through the justice system in favour of journalists. Such results are alarming, and unless adequate measures are taken, attacks on journalists will become socially acceptable. But it will not stop there.
Unpunished violence against journalists
Last year, on the occasion of the International Day to End Impunity of Crimes against Journalists, UNESCO announced that, from 2006 to 2017, 1,009 people working in journalism were killed worldwide, while 90 per cent accused of violence against journalists went unpunished .
OSCE Media Freedom Representative Harlem Desir recently highlighted the need to prosecute those responsible for crimes against journalists.
– Around 400 journalists have been killed in the OSCE region in the past 25 years. Less than 15% of these murders have been solved, said Desir and stressed that „the failure to prosecute can create an environment of impunity for those who might attack journalists, and breed further violence.“
And that means attacking the freedom of us all, not just journalists, but society as a whole. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, warned in a timely manner, stating that: “Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.”
That is why the warnings heard from all sides should be taken very seriously while not only fellow journalists are alive but also civilized democratic society.
(The author is Information Officer at Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees of BiH and a former journalist; This article was created as part of a project implemented by the BH Journalists Association and the German Embassy in BiH)
BELGRADE, 28.11.2019. – The Belgrade NIN weekly appeared on stands on Thursday with an almost blank cover page which drew an avalanche of criticism after announced on social networks on Wednesday because it showed an old photo of Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic at arms fair with a sniper barrel pointing at him, N1 reported.
The cover page is said to have been especially sensitive because Serbia is a country where Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was assassinated by a sniper in March 2003.
“Although the cover page is changed the content of the ‘Arms affair: Who is destroying Krusik’ story remains untouched,” Ringier Axel Springer, NIN publisher, said in a statement.
Photo: NIN
The state Tanjug agency said the photo wasn’t theirs but cropped to eliminate the two-thirds of the original.
The agency said it had never published such a photo, but that NIN took only one frame from the original, focusing on the sniper pointing at Vucic.
NIN’s editor-in-chief Milan Culibrk said later on Thursday the weekly would be printed with blank cover page in its further editions to avoid “someone’s talks about the photo.” He added the editorial board made a compromise with the publisher who saw the photo as inappropriate, “what it doesn’t seem to us,” to publish a blank cover page. “If the photo bothers you, I hope the text will trouble you even more,” Culibrk told Insajder.
He said it was not the first time. “Go on with doing that. While you are pointing a sniper at me, I’ll try to point a tip of a pen at some part of Serbia where we will build new roads and factories.”
“I agree with NIN’s headline in every sense. Firstly, they promoted an excellent sniper. Secondly, it shows in what kind of ‘dictatorship’ we live,” Vucic said alluding to the opposition accusation that he ruled as a dictator.
Prime Minister Ana Brnabic thanked the publisher for showing the responsibility by changing the cover page, but also to the public reactions, including Vucic’s opponents.
However, the Union of Serbia’s Journalists (UNS) described the withdrawal of the original cover page as “an act of censorship,” but added the publishing of the cropped photo was an editorial mistake.
UNS said the censorship showed that the publisher suspended the editorial right to independent policy, regardless of the publisher’s right to protect the company’s reputation.
The move prompted a Twitter exchange between Brnabic and Tanja Fajon, an MEP and Chair of European Parliament Delegation to Serbia.
I agree that freedom of media means also not to spread hate or violence, but we MUST BE clear: IT IS ESSENTIAL TO CONDEMN SUCH IRRESPONSIBLE JOURNALISM BUT WE SHOULD not MAKE THE MISTAKE TO SAY THIS IS a consequence of the freedom of media https://t.co/D0enZd6rax
Sarajevo, 28.11.2019. – The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) launched a campaign on November 25th, on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to encourage media organizations and media unions around the world to combat the so-called online trolling of female journalists who are victims of violence on social networks and websites.
Online trolling is aimed at women from all political, religious and ethnic backgrounds. Gender and sexuality are among the main causes of these attacks, and female journalists have been a growing target in recent years. The support of colleagues and media owners is often inadequate and the police and judiciary are quite passive in cases like these – these are also the reasons why the number of those reporting the attacks is low.
A survey conducted by the International Federation of Journalists in 2018 found that only half of victims of online violence (53%) report an attack to media management, the union or the police, with nothing done in two-thirds of cases.
Online trolling is a health and safety issue and the media industry must see it in that way. Media owners have an obligation to provide safety for employees in their workplace, as well as a strong mechanism for women journalists to report and protect themselves from online violence.
Violence must not go unpunished. Join the campaign and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
BEOGRAD, 27.11.2019. – Predsednik Upravnog odbora Nezavisnog društva novinara Vojvodine (NDNV) Norbert Šinković izjavio je danas u Beogradu da se mora insistirati na tome da je zaštita novinara i branitelja ljudskih prava od ključnog značaja za društvo.
„Ove godine novinarska udruženja beleže rast napada i pritisaka na novinare u odnosu na prethodnu godinu, što je pravi pokazatelj kakva je atmosfera u društvu“, rekao je Šinković na završnoj konferenciji projekta „Ko brani branitelje“.
Dodao je da, uz pretnje i napade, zatvorenost institucija pred novinarima stvara dodatni teret i onemogućuje im da rade.
Programski direktor Inicijative mladih za ljudska prava Ivan Đurić rekao je da su posebno ugroženi branitelji ljudskih prava van Beograda, u manjim sredinama gde skoro i da nema medijske pažnje i podrške drugih organizacija.
Stručnjak za bezbednost Pavle Petrović ocenio je da se napad na aktiviste obično odvija po istoj shemi.
„Obično kreće kampanja od vlasti i političkih aktera, zatim kroz medije i društvene mreže stižemo do pretnji i fizičkih napada“, naveo je Petrović.
Projekat „Ko brani branitelje“ bio je dvogodišnji projekat koji se bavio podizanjem svesti kod građana Srbije o aktivnostima onih osoba i organizacija koje štite ljudska prava.
Projekat je promovisao i pružao mehanizme zaštite od pritisaka sa kojima se branitelji ljudskih prava suočavaju gotovo svakodnevno i osnažio ih je putem ekspertize da odole tim pritiscima.
Učesnici u projektu su bili novinari, uzbunjivači, predstavnici sindikata, organizacije koje se bave suočavanjem sa prošlošću i ratnim zločinima, LGBT organizacije.
Kroz projekat je organizacijama pružana pomoć u vidu izrade plana rizika kojima su izložene i obuka u vezi sa bezbednosnim menadžmentom za neometan rad na polju ljudskih prava.
Konferenciju su organizovali i projekat realizovali Civil Rights Defenders (CRD) i Insitut za evropske poslove iz Beograda.
BEOGRAD, 26.11.2019. – Zašto institucije ne odgovaraju na pitanja i zašto se na kraju predsednik pita za sve, zašto se javni servis ne bavi temama poput afere Krušik, treba li nam Evropska unija da bismo normalno komunicirali – bila su ključna pitanja na koja su u Insajder debati odgovarali savetnik za medije predsednice Vlade Mladen Bašić, urednik internet portal RTS-a i član uprave UNS-a Zoran Stanojević i urednik BIRN-a Slobodan Georgiev.
U nedelji kada se Srbija podelila zbog konferencije predsednika Srbije na kojoj su novinari pitali za aferu Krušik, stigle su prve informacije kako će Evropska komisija u redovnom izveštaju oceniti napredak u slobodi medija. U izveštaju Evropske koji još nije zvanično objavljen, ali je RTS imao uvid i preneo delove, navodi se da u Srbiji nije ostvaren napredak u slobodi medija i da „sveukupno okruženje ne pogoduje slobodi izražavanja“.
Iste ovakve ocene predstavnici vlasti odbacivali su kao nerealne i političke u maju kada je objavljen poslednji redovni, šestomesečni izveštaj.
Na pitanje da li ima dobar savet za premijerku Anu Brnabić i kako će joj savetovati da reaguje, Mladen Bašić kaže da treba pridavati veliku važnost tom izveštaju. Kako je ocenio gostujući u Insajder debati, bilo bi jako pogrešno ukoliko bi se taj izveštaj „analizirao kao Biblija“, iako jeste važan za vlast kao analiza onoga što treba da uradi.
„Nemojte da zaboravite činjenicu da je Srbija u procesu pristupanja EU, da je odnos spoljno-politički. I da taj deo ima svoju političku crtu, ali ima i tehničku crtu”, rekao je Bašić, a na pitanje da li to znači da je i Evropska unija politički ostrašćena, kao što se često etiketiraju novinari koji postavljaju kritička pitanja, Bašić kaže:
„Ne, ali ja mislim da je važnije do kakvih ćemo mi zaključaka doći u debati, nego ono što piše u Izveštaju”.
Sa druge strane, urednik BIRN-a Slobodan Georgiev, smatra je važno da EU konstatuje da nema napretka u slobodi medija, uz ocenu da to u diplomatskom rečniku znači nazadovanje. Dodaje i da frustracija zbog toga postoji na svim stranama“.
„Vlast je frustrirana jer je htela da bude dobar partner EU, da kaže mi radimo sve što nam vi kažete, mi štikliramo sva poglavlja, radimo sve kako treba. Onda oni dođu kažu ne vi ne radite ništa, u toj oblasti padate dramatično. Novinarska zajednica je u nemoći da stvari promeni, da se izbori za bolje mesto, da objasni društvu da su političari prolazni a da su dobri mediji potrebni i da će uvek tu biti, ona je frustrirana i traži neku vrstu pomoći sa strane”, objašnjava Georgiev.
Na pitanje da li je Evropska komisija preoštra ili preblaga u svojoj oceni stanja medija u Srbiji, urednik internet portal Radio-televizije Srbije Zoran Stanojević kaže da bi trebalo da procenjuju političari.
„Mediji su ogledalo svog okruženja i ne može u tom ogledalu da se vidi nešto što ne postoji. Ova situacija sa medijima je samo slika kako mediji vide društvo. Nekome se ta slika ne sviđa, smatra da nije ispravna, da je lažna, ja ne bih rekao da je to ogledalo baš toliko zakrivljeno”, rekao je Stanojević u Insajder debati.
Stanojević smatra da postoji mnogo ljudi koji su zadovoljni stanjem u medijima.
„Govorimo stalno iz pozicije onih koji smatraju da mediji ne valjaju, a ja bih rekao da veliki broj ljudi u Srbiji nema neki posebno izražen stav, oni smatraju da su mediji u redu”, ocenio je Stanojević.
Georgiev: Od izbegavanja konkretnih odgovora, daleko opasnije markiranje
U brojnim situacijama novinari ne dobijaju odgovore na postavljena pitanja od nadležnih institucija, pa zbog toga na kraju svoje odgovore traže na konferencijama za medije od premijerke ili predsednika države. Sagovornici Insajder debate nisu se složili oko toga koliki je uticaj i institucionalna moć predsednice Vlade da promeni takvo stanje.
Mladen Bašić kaže da predsednica Vlade ne može da ima u svakom trenutku odgovor na svako pitanje i svaku temu. Na konstataciju da novinari Insajdera premijerki uglavnom pitanja prvo pošalju pisanim putem, Bašić kaže da je na novinarima da nikada „ne pristaju na trenutni stepen slobode medija”.
„Ja sam u jednom delu svog života bio novinar i bavio se tim poslom i mislim da je to uvek obaveza novinara i da su oni ti koji ne treba da pristaju na trenutni stepen slobode medija i izražavanja u zemlji. Oni su dužni da tu slobodu štite i da se za nju bore”, ocenio je Bašić.
Od izbegavanja konkretnih odgovora postoji daleko opasniji trend- kada predstavnici vlasti markiraju novinare kao nekoga ko ima agendu i ko se zapravo ne bavi svojim poslom.
„Takve stvari nisu dobra evropska praksa, bez obzira da li mi hoćemo da nam EU bude tutor ili ne, bez obzira na to što Stanojević govori da je dosta ljudi zadovoljno stanjem u medijima”, ocenio je Georgiev.
On dodaje da je problem mnogo dublji.
„Stvar koja se tiče ambijenta govori o tome zapravo da država nije demokratska, u nedemokratskoj državi ne može da bude slobode medija, ne može da bude slobode izražavanja. Ovo je čak i fingiranje, mogli ste da dođete i postavite pitanje, vama daju mikrofon vi postavite, uzmu vam mikrofon i onda oni pričaju sat vremena”, navodi urednik BIRN-a.
Kako navodi, institucije ćute na pitanja novinara „zato što ih nema”.
„Premijerka učestvuje u tome, ona je deo sistema, nije samo krivica Aleksandra Vučića što ćute institucije. Krivica je ljudi u tužilaštvu, koji sede u sudu, koji rade u zdravstvu, koji rade u obrazovanju, na sve strane, na RTS-u – svuda ima ljudi koji ćute”, kaže Georgiev.
Sa tim se nije saglasio premijerkin savetnik, koji kaže da je opasno izneti tvrdnju da institucija nema ili da ne rade svoj posao.
„Može da se kaže da u konkretnom slučaju nisu odgovorile na neki zahtev, ali ne da ne rade. Institucije po obavezama koje imaju prema Republici Srbiji svoj posao rade veoma korektno. To vrlo uzbunjujuće može da zvuči”, smatra on.
Afera Krušik – ćutanje premijerke, ćutanje RTS-a…
Polemika oko toga kako svoj posao obavlja javni medijski servis, Radio-televizija Srbije, u javnosti se vodi već mesecima unazad. Georgiev ocenjuje da je poput državnih institucija i „RTS kuća koja ne radi svoj posao”.
„Zato vi i druge kolege ispadamo svi čudni neki novinari, jer vi nikad na RTS-u niste čuli nijednu važnu temu, nijedno važno pitanje nije postavljeno. Oni su vratili RTS na vreme najgoreg komunizma”, rekao je Georgiev.
S time se nije saglasio urednik internet portala RTS-a Zoran Stanojević, koji je naveo da RTS u mnogim stvarima mora da prati rad institucija i da informacijama pristupa sa većom pažnjom.
„Kada RTS o nečemu izveštava i zauzme neki stav, stav je društva da je to opšti stav, da je to provereno, tačno i da je baš tako. RTS tu ne može da se zaleće. Drugi mediji mogu da idu mnogo dalje nego javni servis”, smatra Stanojević.
Na pitanje novinarke Insajdera zašto Radio-televizija Srbije nije više izveštavala o aferi Krušik, ispitala sva javno objavljena dokumenta, Stanojević odgovara da „postoje institucije kojima je to pre posao nego što je RTS-u”.
„Ta stvar nije nepoznata javnosti da bi je RTS objavio, neko je već objavio, dakle o tome treba da se izjasne sada neke druge institucije”, rekao je on.
Urednik BIRN-a ukazuje međutim da za RTS u drugim slučajevima ne predstavlja problem to što je informacija negde ranije objavljena.
„Vi objavite sliku kad vam neki građanin kaže da se nešto zapalilo, a ljudi istražuju, objave i to nije vredno da se pomene, ali je vredno da objavite izjavu političara ili kvazi ekperta koji govori da to što vi inače niste emitovali u programu nije tačno. To je komedija, to nije informativni program, to je Selo gori a baba se češlja, samo od pola 8 do 8”, smatra Georgiev.
Stanojević, sa druge strane, smatra da svaki medij ima svoju ulogu i da nije isto kada nešto objavi BIRN i kada objavi RTS.
„Ono što pusti RTS ima daleko veću težinu. Ne umanjujem značaj i ispravnost ono što radi BIRN. Ja mislim da RTS u inertnosti koju javni servis mora da ima u jednom društvu postiže da da odgovore na sva bitna pitanja. Mislim da se to događa, ne događa se onom brzim kojom bi Slobodan hteo, to razumem”, rekao je urednik internet portala javnog servisa.
Na pitanje kako to da se o aferi Krušik nije oglasila ni premijerka, iako se postavlja pitanje sukoba interesa ministra u njenoj Vladi, i to ministra unutrašnjih poslova, Mladen Bašić smatra da premijerka o tome nije ni trebalo da se oglašava.
„Jeste on ministar u njenoj vladi, ali mislim da u isto vreme imamo kontradiktornu situaciju. Da se pozivamo na nepostojanje institucija, a onda očekujemo od nekih ljudi kojima to posao nije da obavljaju posao umesto tih institucija. Ja taj deo stvarno ne razumem”, kaže Bašić.
Ko kome odgovara na Tviteru?
U Debati je bilo reči i o tome da li za nastalo stanje u medijima snose i novinari.
Na to pitanje, premijerkin savetnik za medije kaže da se izgubila razlika između toga gde novinari izveštavaju i gde postaju aktivni u društveno političkom životu kroz Tviter.
„Mislim da danas novinari vrlo često imaju dvostruki aranžman, da su jednog jutra analitičari, a da popodne pišu saopštenja političkih stranaka. Takve primere znam”, rekao je Bašić koji nije želeo da navede konkretna imena.
Pitanja putem Tvitera često premijerki Brnabić postavlja i novinar Slobodan Georgiev, a kako kaže, to ne radi na konferenciji jer je „vrlo jasno razumeo poruku premijerke kada je govorila o digitalizaciji”.
„Meni se to dopalo i ja sam potpuno se prepustio tom stavu, jednoj digitalnoj agendi, jednom digitalnom pristupu i zbog toga ja vidim da ona ima i svoj nalog i nalog predsednice Vlade i odgovara recimo ljudima kada joj to odgovara, recimo meni nikad ne odgovara”, rekao je Georgiev.
Na pitanje da li ga irititira to što i opozicija pojedine medije tretira kao “svoje”, Georgiev kaže da on ne očekuje ništa od političara, ni od vlasti ni od opozicije.
