Radio doesn’t surrender in Montenegro

31/10/2018

PODGORICA 31.10.2018. – “Video killed the radio star” – is a song of The Buggles from 1979, a lament for the golden age of radio, when families gathered round the set to marvel at music and news, brought to their homes through voice and sound alone. Almost forty years later, even though it loses the race with modern technologies, radio survives.

Montenegro was a pioneer in radiotelegraphy in this part of Europe. For the first time in the Balkans, radio signal was emitted from Volujica, the hill near Bar. On 27 November 1944, Radio Cetinje, present-day Radio of Montenegro started broadcasting news and war reports.

In the meantime, however, many things have changed. From the radio waves the statesmen used to address the people, wars were announced, the landing of a man on the Moon was broadcasted, whilst in modern Montenegro radio seems to be increasingly perceived as pastime and entertainment.

Radio audience is likely to be defined by music. It is confirmed by the fact that in Montenegro dominate radio stations broadcasting mostly music. According to the Agency for electronic media data from March 2017, there were 36 commercial radio broadcasters in Montenegro. Four of them have no informative programmes, whilst the rest of them have short news, so short and unnoticeable that we almost cross them. The rest of the programme include advertisements, prize games, service information and some trivialities. On the average, on a weekly basis, the programme of commercial radio broadcasters contains 77% of the music.

Local radio stations, 14 in Montenegro, broadcast nearly 7 hours of different spoken programmes (informative, sports, culture), whilst the rest of the programme includes music.

The informative programme is the dominant feature of the Public Broadcaster, the First Programme of the Radio of Montenegro. The Second Channel of the Radio of Montenegro broadcasts mostly music. The First Channel broadcasts 13,5 hours of different contents (informative, culture and arts, documentary, science and education, sports, radio dramas…). According to the Research of Defacto Agency from August 2017, consumption of radio increases in comparison to 2016. Still, the data show that the National Radio is regularly listened to by 8,4% respondents, periodically by 27%, rarely by 17,8%, never by 46,9% of the interviewees.

The Research did not tackle the issue of trust and number of listeners of the National Radio. It has shown that radio as mass media is more often listened to than a year before.

The oldest electronic media was listened to by the half of the respondents during the last 24 hours, whilst in 2016. 37,3% of the interviewees did so. As expected, 25,6% of the respondents regularly listen to radio in cars, periodically 39,9%. At home, radio is periodically listened to by 37,4%, regularly by 15,9% of the interviewees. There is an interesting datum about online radio consumption. Although many predict that the future of the radio is on the internet, the data show something else, at least in Montenegro. Only 8,2% of the respondents listen to radio online, periodically 16,5%, never do 69,7%. Percents around the world are different, though. According to the biggest British research media agency, RAJAR, 20% of the adult respondents choose the internet radio. Polls say that the numbers tripled up in the United States as well as the number of those getting informed on the internet. That number increased in Montenegro too, but according to Defacto Agency, Montenegrins mostly get information from TV, 62,2%, on the internet 34,1%, in the newspapers 2,7% and the radio is at the bottom – only 0,6% of the interviewees are loyal to radio.

Considering all the available data, radio has been listened to and it puts up with the online competition in a dignified way. But decrease of informativeness and actuality of the speech-based content is worrying.

No doubt that absence of younger audience is a black hole of ours and global radiophony as well. Attracting younger listeners is, according to many, crucial. Just 20 years ago, radio was the main source of new information on the music, but that role was stolen by the internet.

Therefore, radio should use the internet for its own needs. Nowadays, there are podcasts, services on demand, streamings…and they should be used for right purposes. That`s not everything. For example, BBC, whose second channel, despite its tough commercial competition, is the most listened to in Britain, advocates returning to a contact programme hosted by experienced radio journalists. That sounds logical, having in mind that the very format of public debate on actual topics, where a journalist is an active participant, brought popularity of the radio. Return to the old formats or creative use of the modern technologies – it is a matter of choice, but the oldest electronic media should not give up.

This article has been produced as a part of the project Western Balkan’s Regional Platform for advocating media freedom and journalists’ safety with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia and its authors, and can in no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

Serbian journalists’ unions say weekly calls for media lynch

IJAS

31/10/2018

BELGRADE, 31.10.2018. – The independent unions of journalists in Serbia and Vojvodina (NUNS and NDNV) said on Tuesday that the Belgrade-based Ilustrovana Politika weekly latest front page was “a call for lynching the independent media and journalists and all those who criticise the regime,” the Beta news agency reported.

The headline in the weekly reads “Dogs are at large,” and the unions have said both the headline and the content of the article are equivalent to an open hunt season on independent media.

“It is frightening that this weekly has been spreading hatred and intolerance by branding professional journalists traitors and foreign spies, thus drawing a target on their forehead,” the unions’ statement said.

It has added it is even more upsetting since the weekly is state-owned and that a member of its Supervision Board is a member of President Aleksandar Vucic’s cabinet.

Serbia has been under scrutiny for what the international institutions see as lack of freedom of media and expression, the two criteria of great importance in the accession talks with the European Union.

The opposition and civil society activists in Serbia assert that some tabloids and other newspapers, as well as some TV channels, including those with the national frequencies, are too close to the regime.

Fake news in non–regulated online media space

BHJA

30/10/2018

SARAJEVO, 30.10.2018.-The false or fake news is not 21st Century product. They have always existed, not only in media intermediate communication but also in every day (human) communication.

For instance, parents often, all for the best cause, use lies (existence of Bugaboo, Boogeyman eating little kids etc), so they could have easier control over their kids and raise them at the very early stage in their lives. As far as media is concerned, the existence of so-called “yellow or tabloid” type of journalism, emerging at the end of 19th Century, brought some kind of first forms and shapes of false (fake), over – exhausted and sensational types of news.

Development of electronic media at the beginning of the 20th Century also produced the overflow of so-called “black propaganda” (false news), particularly during the world war times. False news, in this sense, aimed to produce a political effect. Expansion of commercial television, in the second half of the 20th Century, created conditions ideal for spreading of grey propaganda, in terms of the commercial advertisement that selectively highlights affirmative and positive characteristics of the certain product, with the purpose of better sales results.

Finally, the internet development era emerged powerful “explosion” of the large number of various online channels and platforms, through which false (fake) news could be shared and spread out very fast. Therefore, the internet development created conditions for the flow of false (fake) news in the public space, because there are even more channels that can intercede this kind of contents, without anyone being legally responsible for their posting.

The production of false (fake) news is mostly associated with so-called “savage“ internet websites, although the trend of posting this kind of media contents is common to traditionally “registered” mass media houses; on the contrary. Reasons for the production and posting of false (fake) news mostly include political (there is opinion that false (fake) news ensured the victory of Donald Trump during the presidential campaign in the USA) and economical background (most common form of economically motivated false (fake) news include classical commercial advertisements and popular click bait)1 . Social media represents convenient conditions for spreading false (fake) news over the internet. Precisely speaking, we estimate that social media, in fact, represents the infrastructure for fabricating and making the influence of false news.

False internet websites simply have much better influence and viewership when they share their contents over social media pages. Strong expansion of “savage” internet websites (internet websites that do not have clear ownership details, including editing policies etc) has influenced the changes in characters of traditional journalism in general.

The Internet allowed common individuals to post contents without control and responsibility much faster, comparing to traditional media sources. In this sense, mass media seems to lose this race for exclusive news, considering that they cannot follow presenting and scope of social media and various alternative online websites. In other words, the audience is no longer in position to receive the most recent news from mass media sources, because the news has already reached some social and internet platform. In this sense, it seems that traditional mass media can no longer be considered as gatekeeper, that is, tight thoughts defining the news; instead, they are rather gate-watchers (Bruns Vs Howard: 2013:60) having the role too, to some extent, verify the contents which have through various channels, reached the public space.

Often, traditional media without additional checking and with the purpose of having an exclusive taking the false news copied from “savage” and unreliable internet websites. A book example for this was the case of certain Serbian satirical web site, namely News.net, where a drunken Serb allegedly killed a shark by diving in and falling on it and this accident apparently took place at Sharm el Sheikh (Egypt) holiday resort. Without prior checking of the credibility of such information, journalists from traditional media in the entire region released this news, published the text, which even reached the New York Post.

Fake news in BiH

In the context of BiH, it seems that false (fake) news have (through history) mostly been used for the purpose of acquiring personal interests of powerful political subjects. During former single – party system in BiH, propaganda was very frequent and was aimed to homogenize the entire population, create leader personality cult and to sustain political and ideological status quo. Additionally, ever since the signing of Dayton Peace Agreement (1995), the entire BiH society was exposed to miscellaneous, politically and biased media contents, with all elements of propaganda, semi-information, misinformation etc. Media displays significant polygon for the promotion of certain politics but also represents the weapon in political conflicts, used cunningly by local politicians for the period of past twenty years.

Journalists’ authenticity, objectivity, responsibility, professionalism, and ethical values are mostly the victims of political disputes and conflicts through media sources. Consequently, media and public space have already been contaminated with biased and non-objective media reports serving for propaganda aims by many political subjects. This is how in 2016, Dnevni Avaz (a local newspaper) issued poll results where citizens unlimitedly showed their support for Fahrudin Radoncic, SBB political leader, who at the same time was the founder of and the first owner of Dnevni Avaz, and among questioned persons, the photo of Ricky Gervais, British comedian, and actor appeared (un) intentionally, along the name of Bosnian citizen, namely, Dževad Aličić, who had originally been interviewed.

It was later released that the photos of other interviewed people of this poll were also false and copied from various internet websites. Dnevni Avaz journalists released a public apology to all of their readers, including the interviewed people, because of rough, but yet unintentional and non-deliberate mistake. Although the apology released by Dnevni Avaz officials was publically released, the question was whether the purpose of this poll was to manipulate the public releasing the false poll results and showing the great support Fahrudin Radoncic by the interviewed persons. Political disputes and conflicts, where traditional media sources (due to existential dependability from political power centers) served only as the weapon for conflict with political opponents, has transferred and moved to the online field.

Therefore, false (fake) news or news with elements of false information is already there, but with the development of internet and social media, they are cherishing and experiencing their advancement and progress.

“Savage” internet websites and fake news in BiH

Internet websites make the significant segment of the media system in BiH. It is the fact that traditional media sources are slowly losing their audience that mostly uses internet sources for receiving information through online media platforms. Therefore, the responsibility during the work of information – based internet websites should be on a significantly higher level.

There is a significant number of information – based internet websites in BiH that operate or tend to operate in accordance with professional standards, complying with Press Code rules and online media guidelines in BiH. The following websites should make this list and these include: “Klix”, “Buka”, “MojaHercegovina”, “Depo”, “Frontal”, “Slobodna Bosna” etc whose professional conduct, among other things, is reflected through the information on editing structure (Impressum) as well as some information regarding the ownership structure.

Still, it seems that the number of websites that cannot be classified as professional and information – based and news websites are greater than those mentioned above. The is a great number of “savage” internet websites that appear overnight and out of nowhere in the media field in BiH and these websites do not comply with any types of codes in their work. Generally speaking, we could say that the BiH online media scene is mostly followed by great problems and issues, primarily those of non-transparency of media ownership and editing structures. Namely, the problem with the absence and lack of information, regarding the ownership structure is reflected in the fact that an individual, hidden from the public sights, may at the same time, own and possess more than one media house (which in fact obstruct the pluralism of opinions and stances) on one hand, and, on the other hand, this strengthens and reinforces the unilateralism in media reporting.

The public must be provided with the information on ownership background, so they could identify and recognize the goals and intentions of the certain media house. Besides, the absence and lack of transparency of ownership and editing structures allow the flow of so-called “copy-paste” journalism, that is, simply taking over and posting the contents from other media sources, without any permission whatsoever. Taking into consideration that there is no information regarding contact details on the official web pages of these websites, there is no responsibility for copied and taken contents either.

Furthermore, these websites may not only take and copy information – based and news from other media source, but also, they may serve as the polygon for posting of false (fake) and unchecked information that is motivated either economically or politically. Although there are official information and evidence, we could all, at first sight, recognize and identify the great number of “savage” internet (informative) websites (mostly of local character) in BiH serving the promotion of interests by particular political power centers, that is, disputes and conflicts with political opponents. Respectively, internet websites display a modern form of former political party bulletins aimed to get cheap political points and to homogenize their potential election voters.

For the promotion of such contents, political party activists are in charge and their job is to, using internet websites and social media, and depending on the context, praise or to criticize the activities of political subjects who serve as key protagonists of particular media contents. Apart from motivated misinformation or false (fake) news, in the context of online websites in BiH, it seems that clickbait contents are rather represented and present in BiH internet market as their goal is to aim for the profit and entertainment. This specific form of media contents has simply flooded the internet and social media. Clickbait works according to the tabloid – based rules, including sensational and so-called yellow type journalism.

The point is that sensational topics (such as: ”You won’t believe what happened”) draw attention and “bait” readers (viewers) so they could click on these topics. The content of these texts is absolutely opposite to what it originally stands for, but this is irrelevant, considering that their primary goal is to make a profit, rather than authenticity. Namely, after every single click or open link, certain profit is obtained which is furthermore multiplied with the enormous number of views, clicks etc. Apart from this, these contents spread throughout social media very fast and like a plague, they become viral as well. The danger is that viral occurrence has become the most important value, where other criteria, such as accuracy and authenticity, remain marginalized. Today, the number of shares and likes to mark and define the “quality” contents, which is why most internet websites compete for the largest possible reach. In this sense, the emerging of click baits contents is actually part of the wider wave of the tabloid – based journalists’ and social values.

Apart from profit context, false (fake) news may be considered as the product of simple entertainment of “digital savages” who by posting certain wrapped and manipulative video clips or photoshop false photos, prove their “superiority” in relation with “analogue” and insufficiently “(IT) literate” old –aged audience. One of these benign samples of photoshop made photo was the bear that was walking through the center of the town of Pale on 1 April 2015. Considering that it was 1 April, this joke caused the panic of the local population. However, on the other hand, there were cases of an even greater amount of irresponsibility and immaturity.

Apparently, during the great river floods, which happened and emerged in 2014 in BiH, the photo containing dead bodies floating in Drina River also appeared on the internet. Drina River flooded during this particular period, just as many other rivers in BiH. This kind of fake (false) news, apart from misinforming the general public, also caused great panic and fear. The problem is that there is no specific legislation that would disable or even obstruct the growing number of “savage” websites.

Press Council of BiH is the institution monitoring online media sources in BiH, but considering that this is also a self-regulatory body, it has no legal capacity to impose sanctions or fines by any means. The potential solution should include the passing of more appropriate and stricter legislative, but also the establishment of registry of all online media websites in order to increase transparency and additionally, to create the conditions for more professional work of these media houses. Raskirnkavanje.ba, a new local website recently began with its work and its intention is the disclosure of various forms of false (fake) news including misinforming, fake news, biased reporting, fact manipulation etc, that are posted on BiH internet websites and that are available to BiH general public.

This website represents refreshment in foggy online media space in BiH. Highlighting (un) intentional errors, online media attempt to raise awareness on false (fake) news as a negative occurrence that many individuals are still unaware of.

Conclusion: Media literacy as the key in the fight against false (fake) news

All in all, the existence of false (fake) news, in its widest sense, represents the danger for the functioning of democracy. The public, loaded with different contents of manipulative and propaganda – based character on daily basis, cannot reach the state of “critical maturity”, which again, is required and necessary for better comprehension and understanding of this issue, including critical valorization of social and political affairs. One of the most fundamental problems is the fact that the general public is (in the context of media issues) not sufficiently literate and usually does not question the authenticity of the contents they consume.

The need for media literacy is getting more significant in the era of the development of different online channels of communication and media platforms, which, among other things, means greater space for the occurrence of misuses and spreading and sharing of false (fake) and manipulative contents. As far as this issue is concerned, the public does need to acknowledge in order to help themselves understand the difference between quality based from poor quality contents and to check the source and authenticity of media contents regarding the aims and goals of posting of media contents. Taking into consideration the vast significance of media, the questioning of media contents, particularly the occurrence of potentially false (fake) news, should become a part of “personal hygiene” of every single citizen in this “global village”.

Apart from this, the wave of false (fake) news disables and disallows the public debate based on the force of arguments and facts. Life in the era of post-truth additionally makes this particular situation even more difficult. The core (post-truth) is that the facts no longer represent and display a significant role in the context of social relevance of information. People rather rely on their own emotions while making judgments and conclusions, instead of relying on facts and arguments. In this context, it seems that the BiH public believes our politicians and that their beliefs are based on pure emotions, instead of facing raw reality they are surrounded with and facing the environment they live in.

Therefore, we could say that false (fake) news represent some sort of fuel for the post-truth. Citizens indeed need reliable, correct and authentic information in order to have better positioning and to make political and quality decisions. In the time where false (fake) news dominates, that is, in times where misinforming is divided into “ours” and “theirs”, the space for healthy discussion is simply disabled and unavailable. The society is in the situation where all sides and parties in public sphere consider themselves right, that is, in the situation where there are no objective measurements of argument power.

On the contrary, it seems that the powerful arguments, disputes, arguing, insults, offends, hate speech and disrespect dominate in public space and are firmly supported by the emerging wave of the tabloid – based and spectacular reality, in which the society of 21st-century lives.

This text is a part of E-Bulletin– seventh edition of special serial of BHN online bulletin implemented through the “Media and Public Reputation” (origin. “Mediji i javni ugled”) project, also representing a contribution to public debate regarding the transparency of media ownership and upholding and encouraging the passing of set of laws aimed to advance media field and information market in BiH.

Through better co-operation between courts and the media to increase confidence in BiH judiciary

BHJA

30/10/2018

MEĐUGORJE, October 29, 2018 – A two-day workshop for media and judiciary representatives on media and justice in BiH: The right to free access to information in judicial institutions vs. Right to protection of the integrity and secrecy of judicial investigations and proceedings ” was held in Međugorje.

According to Deputy Head of the Office of the Presidency of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH, Marjana Popović, the aim of the workshop is to gather journalists and spokespersons of judicial institutions, and to improve media coverage of the course of court proceedings and prosecution investigations and to improve mutual cooperation at all.

The inter-professional seminar is being realized within the framework of the Council of Europe project – Reinforcing Judicial Expertise on Freedom of Expression and the Media in South-East Europe (JUFREX), dedicated to the transparency and accountability of the judiciary, access to justice from the perspective of the media and the improvement of communication channels between the judiciary and the media.

– What the justice is doing should be educative and public, and for the perpetrators of various criminal acts, and on the other hand, to enable citizens to build trust in judicial institutions – said the general secretary of the Association BH journalist Borka Rudic. She added that informing citizens about the work of judicial institutions is of utmost importance, especially in the segment of war crimes and serious crimes that are being prosecuted in the BiH judiciary, and for what reason there is not enough information for various reasons.

– On the first day of work, we concluded that it would be important to create a unique system for disseminating information about the work of judicial institutions, because we have different approaches, different criteria and different openness of courts and prosecutors at different levels of the judiciary in BiH – emphasized Rudić.

Practical examples were presented at the workshop, and stereotypes in communication between the judiciary and the media were discussed. Participants of the workshop had the opportunity to make suggestions and suggestions in order to improve relations with the media and increase the transparency of the work of judicial institutions.

Source: Fena

Insurance – an unexplored area for journalists

BHJA

30/10/2018

BRČKO, BANJA LUKA, SARAJEVO, MOSTAR, 27.10.2018.- “When it comes to financial literacy, citizens are much more concerned about what they sign when they open accounts in banks and take credit cards than they did a few years ago. However, it’s still a challenge for an ordinary citizen to approach such an important area as insurance, ” was concluded on the Workshop “How to Report on Insurance”.

“Due to insufficient information, most citizens do not understand the significance of insurance and therefore finds that there is no need for insurance products” – says Naris Bošnjović from UNIQA Insurance, adding that the key problem is the lack of a culture of insurance or the lack of knowledge of all the benefits of this activity.

For both the citizens and journalists, the insurance area has not been sufficiently explored and a small number of media professionals are dealing with this topic, so there are almost no articles that provide high quality, informative and educational content. Citizens do not have enough information and are not aware of all the benefits and benefits of insurance, both for themselves and for the economy and economy of the state, and are often denied for analytical and objective information regarding current news from domestic and foreign insurance markets, and opinions of experts and experts from insurance companies.

Mirsad Pehilj, editor-in-chief of Profitiraj.ba, agrees with the fact that insurance as a region has the potential for investigative journalism and that journalistic content created for the purpose of presenting insurance as a real need of every citizen and business entity, helped to affirm this area in our country.

Due to insufficient knowledge of the insurance area, the main goal of organizing the workshop is to improve the knowledge of journalists and editors about the significance of insurance for citizens and legal entities, using the correct terminology, that is, opening up a special topic that would bh media should deal with public interest.

Workshop in Mostar is the fourth in a series organized by the BH Journalists Association, under the auspices of UNIQA Insurance in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the rest were held in Brčko, Banja Luka and Sarajevo.

Milić: Problematično postupanje tužilaštva u slučajevima napada na novinare

IJAS

29/10/2018

NOVI SAD, 29.10.2018. – Advokat i stručnjak za medijsko pravo Veljko Milić izjavio je da je u procesuiranju krivičnih prijava koje se podnose zbog napada na novinare najspornije postupanje tužilaštava.

“U procesuiranju takvih krivičnih prijava najspornije je postupanje tužilaštva “jer je sporo i jer se brojne prijave u toj fazi postupka odbacuju”, rekao je Milić na seminaru sindikalnog ogranka za kulturu, umetnost i medije (KUM) Ujedinjenih granskih sindikata Nezavisnost, posvećenog javnim servisima i bezbednosti medijskih radnika, koji se tokom vikenda održava na Fruškoj gori.

Ocenio je da ni u pravosuđu ni tužilaštvu “ne postoji svest o važnosti novinarskog posla”.

Milić je naveo da se bezbednost novinara štiti, pre svega, Krivičnim zakonikom, kojim se propisuju sankcije za krivično delo ugrožavanja sigurnosti, i koje bi trebalo da se goni po službenoj dužnosti, ali su veoma retki primeri takvih postupanja tužilaštva u praksi.

On je dodao da novinar može slobodno da piše samo ako su mu garantovana lična bezbednost te bezbednost radnog statusa i zarade.

“Nažalost, dešava se da se, i u stuacijama kada sudovi zaštite ta prava, sudske odluke ne poštuju”, kazao je Milić i naveo primer Radio-televizije Vojvodine (RTV), čije rukovodstvo nije ispoštovalo neke sudske presude.

On je dodao i da je trenutno u toku radni spor koji su zaposleni u RTV-u pokrenuli protiv te medijske kuće zbog nezakonitog umanjenja zarada.

Komunikološkinja i predavačica na Filozofskom fakultetu u Novom Sadu Jelena Kleut ocenila je da u društvu ne postoji ni bazični dogovor o tome šta je javni interes i dodala da društvena polarizacija onemogućava da se on ustanovi.

Ona je navela i da javni medijski servisi u Srbiji, a pre svega Radio-televizija Srbije (RTS), sve više prelaze na tržišni ugao posmatranja stvari, odnosno da sprovode merenje rejtinga i ulaze u “medijski klinč sa konkurencijom”, bazirajući se na argumentima iz ekonomske sfere, iako to ne bi trebalo da rade.

Istovremeno, dodala je Jelena Kleut, RTS ne sprovodi nikakva istraživanja o kvalitetu sadržaja.

“To je potpuno pogrešan pristup, jer legitimnost javnih medijskih servisa neće doći ni od države ni od ekonomije, već jedino od građana”, kazala je ona.

Predsednik sindikalnog ogranka KUM Dragan Milanović Pilac ocenio je da javni servisi ne bi smeli da se u kreiranju programa vode kriterijumom gledanosti, jer je to suprotono njihovoj misiji.

On je kazao da sindikat Nezavisnost priprema strategiju edukovanja građana o njihovim pravima na slobodno i nepristrasno informisanje.

“Sindikat priprema strategiju kojom će pokušati da utiče na probleme apatije i nedostatka solidarnosti u društvu”, rekao je Milanović.

Filozof i religiolog Miroslav Keveždi ocenio je da bi javni medijski servisi morali da budu čuvari i branitelji javnog interesa, odnosno interesa običnih građana u odnosima sa centrima političke i ekonomske moći.

“Javni servis mora da bude gardijan (čuvar) onih nad kojima se vrši represija, a svaki put kad gardijan prelazi na stranu onog ko vrši represiju, gubi poverenje i gubi svojstvo branitelja”, kazao je Keveždi.

On je ocenio da je politička klasa u Srbiji “daleko odmaknuta od običnog sveta” i da, kao u priči o čarobnjaku iz Oza, vlast proizvodi neku stvarnost u koju većina ljudi veruje.

“Takvo društvo je nezdravo društvo. A uloga medija jeste uloga lečitelja, u takvom slučaju”, rekao je Keveždi.

Ocenio je da je informisanje u Srbiji danas “autistično i partizovano”, dok “medijski magnati” zloupotrebljavaju slobodu informisanja, kako bi odbranili svoju poziciju moći.

“Mi živimo u vremenu post istine. Tako da je borba za istinu plemenita ideja koja je na žestokom udaru. A primarna funkcija profesionalnih medija je da brane građanstvo od represije”, kazao je Keveždi.

On je dodao da represija uvek stvara neku vrstu reakcije, te da sistem cenzure prozvodi “bure baruta”, koje bi u nekom trenutku moglo da pukne.

Keveždi je ocenio da se energija otpora troši na društvenim mrežama, te da dolazi do stvaranja “medijske getoizacije”, gde se informacije razmenjuju u krugu istomišljenika, što ograničava delovanje.

The journalist has nothing to do with smuggling

TUMM

29/10/2018

PODGORICA, 29.10.2018. – The trial of Dusko Martinovic and other defendants, who are accused of international smuggling of cocaine, heroin and marijuana, and the creation of a criminal organization, has been continued on October 22 in the Podgorica High Court.

The testimony was given by Jonuz Hadzibeti, which was included in the charge of the Special Prosecutor, and who was arrested in Stockholm in August on the basis of Interpol’s Podgorica treasury and then extradited to Montenegro.

Hadzibeti denied his guilt and said that he would not answer the questions of the prosecutor because she and witness associate Naser Selmanovic “packed him the indictment”.

He also said that he normally left the country with his passport and went to Sweden. The development of events in Montenegro forced him to stay in Sweden: “When I saw that they arrested Jovo Martinovic who has nothing to do with this, I thought about what was waiting for me and I stayed there.”

He denied that the journalist Jovo Martinovic met him with the first indictee Dusko Martinovic, saying that they already knew each other from serving the previous sentence in the prison in Spuz.

Hadžibeti asked to face a witness associate. And that will happen at the next hearing scheduled for November 5. This week’s trial was also “jubilee” because three years past since the arrest of journalist Jovo Martinović.

Duško Martinović, Vaso Perović, Marko Šaković, Igor Vušurović, Milan Marić, Jovo Martinović and Branka Stanišić are charged with the criminal association and smuggling of cocaine, heroin and marijuana.

Journalist Jovo Martinovic is charged to have allegedly “networked” criminals and intervened in the sale of drugs. He was arrested in October 2015, spent more than a year in custody, and for months he didn’t know why he was being charged. Numerous domestic and international organizations for the freedom of expression and the protection of journalists demanded that a journalist be protected from freedom, and that he be allowed a fair trial.

New Media in Montenegro: Berane Municipality set to open a television

TUMM

28/10/2018

PODGORICA, 28.10.2018. – The intention of the local municipality in Berane to open local television is recently formalized by the Proposal of the decision on the establishment of a local public broadcaster Radio Television of Berane. The Proposal is set to be on a daily agenda of local parliament session already on Monday, November 6th.

The local public broadcaster Radio Berane currently operates in that city, and if the councilors give a green light to the proposal of the municipality’s leadership, Berane will have television for the first time.

The proposal for the decision on the establishment of a local public broadcaster Radio Television Berane also provides for mandatory financing by the municipality, which will be further specified by signing the contract with the new management of that media.

However, most employees and local radio management are not very enthusiastic about this idea. During a recent visit of representatives of the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro, they said that they are not against the further development and strengthening of their media, but they fear for the survival and wondering how the municipality will be able to finance television, which is a much more expensive media, if it can not stabilize the radio for years. Employees of Radio Berane didn’t received seven payments.

They also offer another solution from the local media: instead of opening the television, they propose further strengthening of the Radio Berane web portal, which proved to be a full hit and already recorded a significant number of visits. With much smaller investments in the portal, it would also provide a significant amount of video content that would be much more cost effective than opening television and would have a similar effect for informing citizens.

It is especially problematic that the employees in the radio and the management are completely uninformed about what is being prepared.

However, it is not the first time that local municipality employees in the local public broadcaster aren’t informed about the announced opening of the television. In a similar situation, employees of Radio Herceg Novi, where the establishment of Radio Television Herceg Novi is planned, are also uninformed.

The situation in local public broadcasters for years is very bad, almost all of them have financial problems, and only few of them regularly pay salaries to employees.

Serbia : RSF urges Serbian authorities to condemn verbal attacks on journalists

IJAS

26/10/2018

PARIS, 26.10.2018. – Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Serbian authorities to condemn an alarming series of verbal attacks on journalists in recent days and to stop this dangerous escalation in threats to the freedom to inform.

The most serious case has been the wave of hatred unleashed against Tatjana Vojtehvski, an investigative reporter for the commercial TV station TV Pra, after the station screened the third in a series of reports by her about alleged embezzlement at a factory in the town of Lucani.

The CEO of the factory and its spokesman reacted by staging a protest outside the plant and called for Vojtehvski to be jailed on the grounds that she had attacked a company that manufactures arms for the Serbian defence ministry. Even more troubling was the fact that the defence ministry itself relayed the protest call.

A well-known investigative journalist, Vojtehvski has long been the target of threats and harassment from Serbian politicians, including President Aleksandar Vucic, and these attacks have been relayed by social networks and the Serbian tabloids. But a street demonstration by members of the public or, at least, factory employees, is an altogether new phenomenon.

“We strongly condemn the harassment of a respected investigative journalist whose reporting ruffled feathers,” said Pauline Adès-Mével, the head of RSF’s EU-Balkans desk. “Regardless of the stories they cover, no journalists should have to fear being imprisoned because of what they investigate and report. We call on the Serbian authorities to public condemn these verbal attacks, which are polluting the public space.”

This serious incident was preceded by a series of verbal attacks on reporters and media outlets that have created an extremely toxic climate for independent journalism.

The Serbian officials and politicians indulging in this kind of verbal abuse in recent days include Marko Parezanovic, a domestic intelligence agency official who said the biggest threat to Serbia nowadays came from “foreign agents who work in the media, NGOs and political parties opposed to the government.”

At the same, Aleksandar Martinovic, a senior representative of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), said in the Serbian national assembly that Nedim Sejdinovic, the head of the Vojvodina Journalists’ Association (NDNV) “does not wish his country well” and wants to “harm everything positive that Serbia has accomplished.”

During a national assembly session devoted to the environment the next day, Marijan Risticevic, the representative of a party allied to the SNS, launched his own diatribe against Sejdinovic, accusing him of spreading “spiritual pollution.”

Slavisa Lekic, the head of the Serbian Association of Independent Journalists (NUNS), told RSF: “These recent incidents, which are typical of the criticism that Serbian politicians level against the media, create a climate of hostility towards journalists and generate new attacks.”

The NUNS has registered a total of 60 cases of threats, insults, intimidation and harassment of journalists by public officials since the start of 2016.

RSF also calls on the authorities to investigate a physical attack on Zeljko Matorcevic, the editor of the Zif Info news website, who was badly injured in Grocka on 9 October, when an unidentified young man followed him and them struck him on the head. Those responsible must be identified and brought to trial, RSF said.

The climate in Serbia has become more and more tense since Vucic, the former prime minister, was elected president in April 2017. Vucic uses the pro-government media to intimidate journalists and such labels as “treachery” and “spy in the pay of foreign countries” are becoming common.

Serbia is ranked 76th out of 180 countries in the latest 2018 World Press Freedom Index, after falling ten places in the space of a year.

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