PUTEREA PRESEI IN LUPTA LUMII

Author(s): Gheorghe Micle / Language(s): Romanian

published by: TIPOGRAFIA„ VIATA LITERARA 1946 Content: PRESA CA MIJLOC DE PROPAGANDĂ, DE LUPTĂ ŞI EDUCAŢIE POLITICĂ. THE PRESS AS A MEANS OF PROPAGANDA, PPOLITICAL FIGHT AND EDUCATION PRESA CA INDUSTRIE ECONOMICĂ PRESS AND INDUSTIRAL ECONOMY MISIUNEA ŞI PRACTICA DE CORESPONDENT MISSION AND PRACTICE OF A CORRESPONDENT PRESA ŞI TEHNICA SCRISULUI THE PRESS AND TECHNICAL WRITING PRESA -- FACTOR DE PACE ŞI PROGRES. THE PRESS – A FACTOR FOR PEACE AND PROGRESS.

Haški tribunal u štampi u Srbiji - februar 2004

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Serbian

Period: February 2004; Papers: Večernje Novosti, Politika, Blic, Glas Javnosti, Nacional, Kurir, Balkan, Blic News, Danas, Vreme, NIN, Reporter, Ekonomist; Topics: Arrests, Extradictions, Defence, Investigations, Indictiments, State cooperation, Trial, Sentences, Witnesses, etc...

Haški tribunal u štampi u Srbiji - januar 2004

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Serbian

Period: January 2004; Papers: Večernje Novosti, Politika, Blic, Glas Javnosti, Nacional, Kurir, Balkan, Blic News, Danas, Vreme, NIN, Reporter, Ekonomist; Topics: Arrests, Extradictions, Defence, Investigations, Indictiments, State cooperation, Trial, Sentences, Witnesses, etc...

Haški tribunal u štampi u Srbiji - decembar 2003

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Serbian

Period: December 2003; Papers: Večernje Novosti, Politika, Blic, Glas Javnosti, Nacional, Kurir, Balkan, Blic News, Danas, Vreme, NIN, Reporter, Ekonomist; Topics: Arrests, Extradictions, Defence, Investigations, Indictiments, State cooperation, Trial, Sentences, Witnesses, etc...

Gagging Runet, silencing society. ’Sovereign’ Internet in the Kremlin’s political strategy

Author(s): Maria Domańska / Language(s): English

The Russian leadership views the Internet primarily as a battlefield of an information war, i.e. an alternative to military action in the context of the ongoing confrontation with the West. Kremlin regards Russian Internet users who spread content critical of the Russian authorities as ‘enemy soldiers’ in this war. Therefore, the government has stepped up its efforts to tighten control over the Internet by the intelligence services and law enforcement bodies. This manifested itself in a proliferation of preventive-repressive legal instruments as well as in an intensification of illegal practices targeting free expression, the secrecy of correspondence and unrestricted access to information. So far, the government’s strategy has had limited success. This is due, to a large degree, to the Russian segment of the Internet being well-integrated into the global network. Together with other technical factors this creates an obstacle for more extensive government interference Hence, circulation of information in social media remains relatively unrestricted while Internet users are increasingly unsusceptible to official state propaganda which is being spread by more traditional media outlets. In this situation, the continuation of the struggle against the freedom of the Internet may pose a political risk for the Kremlin by stoking protest among Russian public.

Zakneblować Runet, uciszyć społeczeństwo Kremlowskie ambicje „suwerenizacji” Internetu

Author(s): Maria Domańska / Language(s): Polish

Władze Rosji postrzegają Internet przede wszystkim jako pole wojny informacyjnej – alternatywy dla działań militarnych w kontekście utrzymującej się konfrontacji z Zachodem. Elementem tej wojny ma być w percepcji Kremla rozpowszechnianie przez rodzimych internautów treści krytycznych wobec rosyjskich władz. Z tego powodu od lat nasila się dążenie do objęcia Internetu ścisłą kontrolą służb specjalnych i organów ścigania. Przejawia się to zarówno w mnożeniu prewencyjno-represyjnych mechanizmów prawnych, jak i w nielegalnych praktykach, wymierzonych w swobodę wypowiedzi, tajemnicę korespondencji i pluralizm informacyjny. Strategia władz przynosi jak dotąd ograniczone efekty. W dużej mierze wynika to z istnienia technicznych barier dla poważnego ingerowania w funkcjonowanie rosyjskiego Internetu, dobrze zintegrowanego z globalną siecią. Obieg informacji w sieciach społecznościowych jest wciąż dość swobodny, maleje też podatność internautów na przekaz propagandowy tradycyjnych mediów. Kontynuacja walki z Internetem może w tych warunkach stwarzać polityczne ryzyko dla Kremla, podsycając narastające w Rosji nastroje protestacyjne.

How much, to which media and related agencies did municipalities in Montenegro pay for their services?

Author(s): Damir Nikočević / Language(s): English

The project „How much, to which media and related agencies did municipalities in Montenegro pay for their services?” is carried out within the sub-programme Media and democracy of the Centre for Civic Education (CCE) and it aims to contribute to raise awareness on responsible expenditures from the budget of local governments. The specific objective of the project is also to underline the relations between municipalities in Montenegro and media and related subjects through the allocation of financial resources based on the contractual services. In this regard, from mid-July to the beginning of October, through the Free Access to Information Law, the Centre for Civic Education (CCE) collected data concerning the list of all media, public relations agencies, opinion polls agencies and production companies engaged and paid by Montenegrin municipalities during 2011 on the basis of contract services, specialised services or any other ground. Furthermore, the data processing included the amount paid to these entities by the municipalities in 2011 and the type of services for which the amount was paid.

Equal chances for all media in Montenegro?

Author(s): Ana Vujošević,Mira Popović,Jovana Marović,Tanja Maksić,Wanda Tiefenbacher / Language(s): English

The aim of the project “Equal chances for all media” is to contribute to creating of clear mechanisms and control of state financing and state aid given to the media, in line with the regulations of the European Union and best international practices and standards. Additionally, general goal of the project is to raise awareness of the public about responsible spending of the funds from State Budget of Montenegro, by pointing out to the relations public sector in Montenegro has towards the media through expenditures based on contractual agreements. Public sector, as a subject of a research, according to the Law on Budget of Montenegro, comprehends state bodies, municipalities (units of local self-government), independent regulatory bodies, public institutions and commercial enterprises where the state or municipalities own majority of shares, judiciary (courts and prosecutions), Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms and others. In order to achieve those goals, Centre for Civic Education (CCE) from February to December 2014, in line with the Law on Free Access to Information, gathered data related to that to which media, public relations agencies, production houses and public opinion poll agencies, and in which amount have the public bodies transferred funds, either based on service providing agreements, specialized services or any other grounds. Besides these findings, the publication contains analysis of media legislative and institutional framework, comparative experiences in the region and member states of European Union, as well as recommendations on how to improve existing practices. The project was based on previous work done by the CCE in this area, reflected in two annual reports for 2011 and 2012 titled: “How much and to who do the citizens in Montenegro pay for advertising?” Findings in these researches showed that there is a lack of clarity when it comes to financing of the media from the budget, and also that there is a need to bring order into this field. Tendency on the side of state bodies has been spotted to keep influence over media through selective and non-transparent financing, which directly makes the competition vulnerable through creating of non-equal conditions on the market, and also to “subtly” influence editorial policy. Lack of transparency in this process and (non)existence of proper criteria for allotment of the funds, accompanied with incomplete legislative framework has additional negative influence over already troublesome media scene in Montenegro. Having in mind that state bodies and bodies of local self-government in 2011 spent 2, 642,070.83 EUR on advertising, specialized media services and on other grounds, while on the other hand the overall media advertising market is between 8-9 million EUR, it is quite clear that in 2011 the state was big, if not the largest player on the market, which significantly influenced income of some media, and consequently their sustainability. In 2012 we noticed decrease of almost one million EUR for these expenses, so that the overall amount CCE team managed to find was 852.059.00 EUR, having in mind that this amount only includes spending of the Government and the Parliament, and does not include expenses of local self-governments as the report from 2011. However, the reduction of expenses was not result of following of recommendations and efforts made to bring order in this field, but mostly reflects limitations of financial capacities of state bodies. These findings of CCE attracted the attention of relevant international actors. The European Commission in its Progress Report for Montenegro states: “Concerns remain that the state is in breach of the law on the media, which prohibits the state from founding print media. Concerns persist also regarding possible state aid and advertising funding allocated to print media in 2012, which were not in line with public procurement rules and could jeopardize competitiveness on the media market. Also the report of the State Department on Human Rights in 2013 states: “Private media claimed that governmentowned enterprises openly discriminated in favor of the government-owned newspaper “Pobjeda” in the placement of advertising, despite the newspaper’s smaller circulation and more limited influence than its private competitors. On February 20, the NGO Centre for Civic Education reported that during 2012 “Pobjeda” received 93,000 EUR ($130,000) from government institutions for advertising, compared with the combined total of 21,000 EUR ($28,000) received by the three other private newspapers, “Vijesti”, “Dan”, and “Dnevne Novine”. The NGO concluded that there were no clear criteria by which government institutions chose media to advertise their activities, since the current selection did not appear to correspond to independent measures such as public trust, popularity, or the media companies’ pricing policies.” In order to continuously monitor this area, there was a need to once again conduct extensive research that would gather data for 2013. The research would provide comprehensive and updated overview of distribution of public funds to media for that year through analysis of obtained information, as well as through comparative analysis having in mind previous reports. The additions to the survey are specific recommendations (by local and international experts) about how to ensure transparency and what kind of criteria should be considered when allocating public funds for the media in Montenegro, in order for this process to be in line with the Acquis communitaire in the field of freedom of expression, independence of the media, competition, state aid allocation and public procurement. Without a clear mechanism for the allocation of state aid to media, the distribution of these resources has the potential to cause serious deviations in the media market and jeopardize the functioning of some media or to enhance the business of other media on discriminatory grounds and contrary to EU competition policy. It causes serious concerns when public funds are used for such purposes. Citizens, as taxpayers have a right to know how public funds are spent, and whether the method of distribution of these funds affects the impartiality of media coverage of state authorities and to which extent such distribution supports (or not) pluralism of the media. This report indicates the existence of the mechanism through which control and the pressure against media can be exercised. It also offers recommendations how to end such practice, which denies citizens of Montenegro right to have free and independent media that are able to accurately and impartially report about activities of state authorities, political parties, other institutions, and also about issues of public interest.

Eroding Freedoms: Media and Soft Censorship in Montenegro

Author(s): Vladimir Vučković,Ana Vujošević / Language(s): English

In Montenegro, soft censorship is exercised primarily through politicised, discretionary and non-transparent distribution of public money and subsidies to media. Lack of transparency and standard and equitable procedures in allocation of public funding seriously distorts the media market, improving business prospects of some outlets and endangering the existence of others. This is directly related to how favourably or critically media outlets report on governmental activities. The media landscape in Montenegro is deeply and widely politicised. A sharp division between “supporters” and “critics” of state policies has grown more vivid in recent years. There are on-going attempts to diminish the influence of some media outlets on the Montenegrin public. “Hard censorship” has included violence against journalists—the murder of the editor-in-chief of daily Dan, Dusko Jovanovic, on 27 May 2004, remains unresolved, as do most attacks on journalists and on media property, which doubtless evokes self-censorship among media practitioners concerned with self-preservation.2 Much more common in recent years is soft censorship: indirect, often financial pressures, intended to weaken the capacities and even threaten the viability of targeted media outlets that criticize the government. “Soft censorship” is defined as an attempt by government to influence media reporting through various forms of pressures, without recourse to legal bans, open censorship of news content or direct physical attacks against media infrastructure or journalists. The notion of “soft censorship” as a form of official pressure on media is detailed in a 2005 paper by the Open Society Justice Initiative. It describes three principal forms of soft censorship: abuse of public funds and monopolies, abuse of regulatory and inspection authorities, and paralegal pressures.3 All these exist in Montenegro today. Additional reports by WAN-IFRA and the Center for International Media Assistance have raised awareness of this escalating problem.4 This paper catalogues the forms and maps the extent of soft censorship by Montenegro’s state and public institutions against media outlets and media practitioners. This is done primarily through the lens of finances, which is the dominant means of soft censorship in the country. Included is an overview of instruments that facilitate or limit official financial support: allocation of advertising services by public institutions to favoured media; selective distribution of subsidies and other state aid; paid content; and other forms of administrative and technical assistance or obstruction. The study covers public institutions relevant to media and soft censorship across the three branches of government, as well as other sociopolitical actors significant to understanding this problem in the Montenegrin context. The research team faced several challenges; no such research has been conducted before, and information from public sources was in many cases limited or released only very slowly. Moreover, the topic is taboo to many journalists who fear criticizing media owners or the government, and who sometimes have scant awareness of the mechanisms and impact of soft censorship. The lack of transparent and consistent procedures for distribution of public funds to media has substantial influence on media freedoms in Montenegro. This report presents evidence that public institutions have sought to manipulate media outlets and influence their editorial policies by selective and non-transparent financing. This also seriously undermines competition and inhibits development of a sustainable media market. Opacity in state media funding is aggravated by an inadequate implementation of the legal framework for media support, further opening opportunities for official actors to exploit media for partisan purposes. This report describes various means for distributing public funding to media through which political actors exercise control or pressure on media content and viability. It analyses mechanisms of potential influence of public institutions on media editorial policies, and gives examples of abuse of public funds to manipulate media reporting to pursue partisan political goals. This report’s key findings summarize challenges concerning soft censorship in Montenegro. Its recommendations urge actions that would reverse the erosion of media freedom in Montenegro—and improve prospects for development of free independent and pluralistic media that could provide the accurate, impartial reporting on activities of the government, political parties and other institutions required to promote democratisation of Montenegrin society and governance.

Equal chances for all media in Montenegro - 2015 Annual report

Author(s): Ana Nenezić / Language(s): English

The project “Equal chances for all media” aims to contribute to the creation of clear oversight mechanisms for the public finances and for the allocation of state aid to the media, as required by the European Union regulations and the international standards and best practice. The general objective of project is to raise awareness among the interested public about responsible management of the public budget, and analyse the relationship between the state institutions and the media in Montenegro as reflected in the financial allocations of public funds to the media on various grounds. The study focuses on the public sector as defined by the Law on the Budget of Montenegro, which encompasses public institutions, municipalities (local self-government units), independent regulatory bodies, agencies and enterprises in which the state or the municipalities hold a controlling stake, the judiciary (courts and the prosecution), Ombudsman, and others. Centre for Civic Education (CCE) first flagged this issue five years ago, and has been monitoring it ever since. The result of our efforts so far have been four national and one international report, which serve as the go-to reference on media financing in the country for various international actors. For the purpose of continuous monitoring of this problematic area, this year we again conducted another comprehensive study to collect information on the size and distribution of financial resources allocated by public sector bodies to the media in 2015 on grounds on service provision contracts, specialised services or other. The recipients included the media, PR agencies, production houses and public opinion polls. The analysis provides up-to-date and comprehensive review of the allocation of public funds to the media in 2015, at the national as well as the local level. We also compiled an illustrative overview of three-year trends in the allocation of public money for the financing of media in Montenegro.

Equal chances for all media in Montenegro - Annual report for 2016

Author(s): Ana Nenezić,Dragoljub Duško Vuković / Language(s): English

Project “Equal chances for all media” aims to contribute to promotion of media freedom and media pluralism in Montenegro, in accordance with regulations of European Union and best international practices and standards. More precisely, the project aims to mitigate the process of creation of clear mechanisms for allocation and control over financing of media from public funds and allocation of state aid to media in Montenegro, in order to harmonise this system with international standards and best practices which encourage development of media freedoms. Project is also focused on improvement of awareness of interested public in regards to responsible money expenditure from the Budget of Montenegro, indicating on relation of public sector in Montenegro toward media, through financial allocations on various grounds. Public sector, as subject of research, according to Law on Budget of Montenegro, includes state organs, municipalities (local self-government units), independent regulatory organs, public institutions and companies wherein state or municipalities have majority ownership share, judiciary (courts and prosecutions), Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms and others. Centre for Civic Education (CCE) first introduced this issue in Montenegro, and has been monitoring it closely for five years now. In this regard, CCE has produced five national and one international report that are relevant sources for numerous domestic and international addresses, though they still remain insufficiently used by Montenegrin institutions. Research for 2016 was conducted in this framework, within which there was information collected on media, informative agencies, public relations agencies, production houses, and etc. that were allocated financial resources from public sector organs on the basis of agreements on provision of services, specialised services, or other grounds. Analysis was produced that provides an updated and comprehensive overview of allocation of public funds on national and local level during 2016 to abovementioned subjects. Considering that certain trends are already being identified, cross section of total allocations for 2013 – 2016 is also provided. In addition, this publication contains review on media normative and institutional framework, as well as analysis of efficiency of implementation of Law on Free Access to Information and Law on Public Procurement (in the part of obligation of public sector organs to publish all tender documentation timely on the portal of public procurement of Public Procurement Administration of Montenegro). Finally, in relation to underlying themes, publication offers conclusions and recommendations for improving existing state, including proposals for amendments of appropriate legislative framework, which CCE has been advocating for quite some time now, so that this area would be harmonised with international standards in the area of freedom of expression and media independence, competition, state aid allocation and public procurement. Findings from previous five national reports and an international one have indicated existence of numerous irregularities and understatements when it comes to financing of media and related subjects from the Budget of Montenegro, as well as the need to regulate this area adequately. As it was observed, public sector organs have a tendency to maintain their influence through selective and non-transparent financing, thereby directly violating market conditions and competition, and exerting indirect pressure on editorial policy. Insufficient transparency of this process and the (non)existence of precise and binding criteria for allocation of funds, along with underived legal framework, additionally affects the ever-deteriorating state in Montenegrin media. Considering that the estimated advertising market in Montenegro amounts to EUR 9.5 – 10 million on annual level, amounts that are being allocated from public funds to media and related subjects lead to conclusion that state remains individually one of the key factors able to shape this market to detriment, or for the benefit of certain media, thereby their sustainability. According to available data of CCE, mostly relating to information that have been acquired from 66% or 67% of public sector organs, around 2.5 million Euros are being invested in media and related subjects from public funds on annual level, not including the additional 30% of organs that refuse to submit their information. This means that this is a realistic minimum figure, reasonably assumed to be significantly, if not twice, higher. In addition, this does not include allocations for public broadcaster RTCG, nor for local public broadcasters, with the addition of which a sum of at least 17 million Euros per year would be reached. Continued insistence on unclear mechanisms for allocation of budget funds to media will lead to further deviations on media market and it will jeopardise the functioning of some, or improve the operation of other media on discriminatory basis and contrary to competition policy of EU. Citizens, as tax payers, have the right to be informed on manner and criteria of spending of public funds, as well as whether the manner of allocation of those funds affects impartial reporting of media on state organs and decision-makers, i.e. to which extent that allocation (does not) support the pluralism of media and whether it helps or hinders development of timely, objective and impartial reporting. An important consequence of disorganisation in this area is the ever-present soft censorship, which accelerates the erosion of media independence in Montenegro. Furthermore, self-censorship is being strengthened as well as the already conspicuous polarisation of media, but also a poor quality of journalism which – as such – cannot adequately contribute to public debate when it comes to important matters of democratisation and Europeanisation of Montenegrin society, since it often neglects the code of journalists and professional standards. Causes should be sought in the fact that media were, and still remain, critical actors of clarification of numerous misuses by the government. There is not small number of cases in Montenegro when media, via investigative journalism, launched issues from various spheres, on which the public otherwise would not be informed. Those cases are drawing large attention of not just domestic, but of international public as well, thereby demonstrating the importance of media in the fight against corruption, abuse of political power, as well as against all forms of violation of human rights. However, in order for media to execute their monitoring role, they must be politically and financially independent in their work, operate under precisely regulated legal norms and free of inappropriate external political influences. Without clear mechanism and criteria of allocation of tax payers’ money, a dangerous space for interventions of government on media market is being opened. This report indicates paths which can be used to exert control and pressure on media and provides recommendations that would put an end to such poor practice, which deprives the citizens of Montenegro of their right to free and independent media, which accurately and impartially report on activities of government, political parties and other institutions, as well as on other subjects of public interest.

Fourth estate conscience - Self-regulation of media in Montenegro

Author(s): Duško Vuković,Daliborka Uljarević / Language(s): English

All media and journalists in Montenegro have unique code of ethics, adopted in 2002 and amended in 2015, but there is no single self-regulatory body at the level of the entire media community that takes care of respect of ethics. Part of the media, local and national, has founded the Media Council for Self-Regulation (MCSR) in 2012, and in the same year, a group of local print media established their own self-regulatory council. One private television with national coverage (TV Vijesti), two daily newspapers (Vijesti and Dan) and one weekly (Monitor) opted for ombudsmen as a form of self-regulation. The National Public Media Service RTCG, which is a member of the MCSR, also has its Commission for applications and complaints of listeners and viewers, as a body of the RTCG Council. In last years, a tendency of violation of professional standards and ethics has been noticeable in Montenegro.

SPINoFACT - Political advertising between spin and facts - Overview of political advertising in local elections in Mojkovac, Cetinje and Petnjica

Author(s): Damir Nikočević / Language(s): English

Political advertising is as any other advertising – based on good presentation of election offer and has persuasive character towards targeted public. Consequences of influencing the voters are visible, especially in the election campaign. Political decision represents a summary of individual decisions with collective consequences. We choose what is the most important for us by voting, with conviction it is also right for others. Therefore, elections are of also general importance and are subject of interweaving of interests and attention of party structures, business, media, many other social actors, but also citizens. Various subjects of political communication act in this field, and prof. PhD Miroljub Radojkovic from the Faculty of Political Sciences of University in Belgrade states the following: 1) Political establishment (government, opposition, parties, interest associations, administration organs); 2) Media (press, radio-broadcasting, digital media and media of civic selfexpression/journalism); 3) Outsiders (everyone who does not have access to decision-making arena) and social movements. On the waves of half-century of one-party system, large part of new-formed Montenegrin political structure has entered unprepared in multiparty system, insufficiently aware of importance of political competition for development of a society, with a surplus of political appetites, and shortage of democratic capacities. In the expansion of politics determined by foreign war factors – the first multiparty elections were organised. In time, historical and situational conditions have affected many political actors to start adopting technics of election and media presentation as per model of examples from developed democratic countries, while the election campaigns themselves started resembling more modern and more meaningful entireties. Party and media pluralism create assumptions also for greater effective participation of citizens. In contemporary society, which is characterised by new digital tools and technological achievements, role of media remains predominant for establishment of equal treatment and dialogue between various social actors. In the entire context, action of authorised institutions is of great importance, as well as of agencies and vocational associations, and the media themselves in providing objective information, contributing to transparency of the process and responsibility of all actors, and in evading situations in which amidst financial dependency they turn into noticeboard of election actors which occupy the space via advertisements and sometimes they also create news instead of journalists. Deep division of media community in Montenegro, also, has negative impact on quality of informing in election campaigns and often has diametrically different informing of media about one same event as a consequence. Project ‘SPINoFACT – Political advertising between spin and facts’, which part is this publication, has an objective to contribute to promotion of good practices and improvement of legislative framework when it comes to political advertising in media in Montenegro. Specific objective of the project is improvement of cooperation between media, relevant institutions, political parties and nongovernmental organisations, as well as to raise awareness of the public about importance of political advertising and more quality informing of citizens during election campaign. This pilot project relates to local elections in Mojkovac, Petnjica and Cetinje in November 20172, and was supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands. How much, in what manner and in which media have the election lists been advertising? How have media been reporting during election campaign? What does the legislative framework provide? What is the role of self-regulatory bodies? What is the role of media in election campaigns? How do media affect the election campaign? These are only some of the questions to which we attempted to respond through realisation of activities in this project, which included: analysis of legislative framework relating to political advertising, qualitative and quantitative monitoring of media during election campaign for local elections in Mojkovac, Cetinje, Petnjica, production, presentation and publishment of reports encompassing results of findings. Special part relates to raising awareness of the public on importance of political advertising and networking of interested parties, which was addressed through a series of infographics on social networks and on website of Centre for Civic Education (CCE), via which findings of research are additionally presented in a simplified and receptive manner.

SPINoFACT 2020 - Monitoring of media, social networks and comments on online media during parliamentary elections in Montenegro in 2020

Author(s): Danijel Radević,Jelena Mijanović,Jelena Jovanović Marović,Dejana Ponoš,Vesna Rajković Nenadić,Radoš Mušović / Language(s): English

The recently concluded parliamentary elections in Montenegro have brought a series of specificities to the election campaign. Instead of party rallies and door-to-door campaigns, the election race has largely shifted to traditional and new media. Thus, share and like have become a dominant feature of that competition, which was coloured by identity issues and emotional charge. In such an environment, the electoral lists marginalized specific economic programmes, issues of living standard of citizens, specific measures to combat corruption and fight against organized crime, and many other important topics. The two opposing narratives of “endangerment of the state” and “defence of the shrines” have suppressed also both the global threat of the COVID 19 virus pandemic and the worrying economic perspective. The media scene in Montenegro is deeply polarized and this rift is reflected in media coverage of the activities of political entities. Perhaps the most noticeable one daily was via front pages of the printed media, which were almost fan-edited. There was almost no media that reported neutrally and objectively on a certain electoral list, excluding the minority parties towards which a special kind of sensibility was expressed. The list „Decisively for Montenegro – DPS“ was represented in the media more than the three thus far opposition lists together („For the Future of Montenegro“, „Peace Is Our Nation“ and „Black On White“). At the same time, the DPS was the most attacked party, which is logical having in mind that it acted from the position of the government. Once again, the strong involvement of state officials in the campaign was not lacking, which the OSCE Monitoring Mission stated in its preliminary report as an „institutional advantage“. This was supported by the research of the Centre for Civic Education(CCE) through the analysis of media appearances of state officials who used these positions to promote the programmes of their parties and lists. Instead of changing the channel, the citizens of Montenegro preferred to click and scroll, and this is supported by the fact that over 65% of announcements about the elections were on online media, and the remainder on television and in printed media. However, the power of television as a still influential medium among the middle and older generation should not be neglected. Worrying, however, is the trend that approximately 50% of the analysed articles on online portals has had readers’ comments of controversial content, and there were examples that all comments on a certain text contained controversial content - from severe insults to hate speech. The comments comprise of insults to persons on national and gender grounds, but also insulting insinuations on personal grounds. Recently adopted legal solutions, following the initiative of the CCE, concerning comments on online media, must come to life in order to decontaminate the space of online comments from inappropriate content. In this election, Facebook has become perhaps a key arena where the battle for votes is taking place. Announcements have become more creative compared to all previous statements, and there is a visible greater investment in this form of political marketing. In particular, the growing influence of MEME pages is visible, which have openly classified themselves politically and have become agitators of certain political options. CCE has been monitoring election campaigns in the media for several election cycles, and this time on social networks as well and through comments from readers on portals. The objective of the project “SPINoFACT - monitoring of parliamentary elections in Montenegro 2020” is to contribute to the democratization and Europeanization of Montenegro by strengthening professional and independent media coverage. More precisely, the objective is to contribute to the fact-based informative value of media coverage of political campaigns and better informing citizens about the election offer for the 2020 parliamentary elections. We owe a special gratitude to the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Montenegro, which recognized the importance of this topic and supported it through the implementation of this project.

Media in Montenegro - Between the stranglehold of power and the struggle for the profession

Author(s): Duško Vuković,Daliborka Uljarević / Language(s): English

The most important factors at the root of the long-lasting and serious problems in Montenegrin media are the persistent attempts of the authorities to put media under their control. Overall, we can observe serious problems arising out of all three forms of censorship - hard, soft and self-censorship, compounded by deficiencies in the existing framework and practice of self-regulation and public regulation, and by political ‘subjugation’ of public broadcaster RTCG.

Parliamentary elections in Montenegro - 2020 Election programmes of parties and coalitions

Author(s): Miloš Vukanović / Language(s): English

The most important factors at the root of the long-lasting and serious problems in Montenegrin media are the persistent attempts of the authorities to put media under their control. Overall, we can observe serious problems arising out of all three forms of censorship - hard, soft and self-censorship, compounded by deficiencies in the existing framework and practice of self-regulation and public regulation, and by political ‘subjugation’ of public broadcaster RTCG.

Media in Montenegro from the perspective of citizens and journalists

Author(s): Damir Nikočević,Vuk Čađenović,Damir Suljević / Language(s): English

The emergence of a multi-party system in Montenegro was simultaneously accompanied by the development of the media scene through the formation of the first private media. This parallel would have no significance in societies with developed democratic and institutional mechanisms, but it does in a society where political and media intertwining is intense. The fourth branch of government, as the media are often informally called, has the role of guardian of the public interest. In this context, the trust of citizens is crucial for the media that aspire to be the serious actors. Within the general decline of journalistic standards, followed by ratings based on reality television programmes in which violence and light entertainment dominate, trust is what the media must strive for. In the harsh struggle for survival, in which marketing income often prevails over objective, professional and independent journalism, the fundamental functions of serious media such as informative, control and educational are easily forgotten. Therefore, it is not surprising that public opinion findings indicate that the vast majority of citizens (87.2%) consider that the media in Montenegro are willing or somewhat willing to publish sensational information that are not verified at all or insufficiently verified to increase circulation and ratings. At the same time, research of citizens’ perceptions of the media indicates that almost half of them consider that media in Montenegro are not impartial, and almost half of them think that media use facts mixed with rumours. The role of journalists in protecting the interests of citizens is enormous, and the only proper manner to respond to that responsibility is to remain committed to the profession, no matter who holds the levers of power. In a time of misinformation and fake news, a journalist is the regulator of the content given to the public. Even the best self-regulatory and regulatory bodies are not strong enough mechanisms if there are no journalists with integrity, ready to protect the dignity of their profession. Journalists should oppose any internal and external manipulations of various interest groups through credible reporting. In addition to empirical research, we conducted 10 profound, qualitative interviews with journalists, editors and media owners of different generations and genders, from the local and national levels. The publication also provides insight into their attitudes on the environment for the media work in Montenegro, the status of journalists, the role of the media in democratizing society, journalism ethics, influence on the work of the media (internal and external), sensationalism in the media, investigative journalism, economic sustainability of the media, etc. The additional value of this publication is that the responses of citizens and media representatives to identical questions can be compared in one place. Thorough, qualitative interviews with journalists, editors and media owners conducted and processed researchers of the Centre for Civic Education (CCE). On the other hand, expert support in conducting a public opinion poll, from 20 to 25 March 2021, was provided by the Damar agency, with application of the CAPI method, and with a random stratified sample of 991 adult respondents. Similar research on citizens’ attitudes was conducted by the Damar agency in 2018, which enabled comparative insight into the set of issues that can be valuable for understanding the complexity of the situation in the media sphere and planning further media policies, but also as an indicator of changes in certain aspects covered within this research. We owe special gratitude to the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway and the Balkan Trust for Democracy of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (BTD) who supported the production of this publication through the project “Media for Me!”, implemented by the CCE.

PAPER FAIRY TALES VS STEEL BROTHERHOOD: MEDIA PORTRAYALS OF SERBIA’S ALLIANCES IN THE AGE OF PANDEMIC

Author(s): Luka Šterić,Maja Bjeloš / Language(s): English

Countering Russian Disinformation about Ukraine in the EU

Author(s): Elżbieta Kaca / Language(s): English

Russia is actively conducting disinformation campaigns in the EU regarding its war in Ukraine, which may weaken the support for the latter country in some Member States in the long run. Although the EU is trying to counteract the messages, the challenges included the circumvention of sanctions by Russian media and the limited possibilities of controlling the activities of internet platforms. For Poland, it is important to further strengthen the EU’s ability to counter disinformation by, for example, expanding the East Strat-Com monitoring cell.

The Bohemianisation of the media. The acquisition of the Czech media sector by local billionaires

Author(s): Krzysztof Dębiec / Language(s): English

The deal finalising the sale of Nova TV to PPF on 13 October 2020 completed the process of key Czech media organisations being taken over by local capital. At the beginning of 2008, foreign entities controlled the vast majority of the Czech media market. However, a wide section of the popular press titles and radio and TV stations was taken over by domestic billionaires in the following years. They took advantage of the problems the owners of traditional media outlets had to face: both temporary (the decline in advertising revenue during the economic crisis) and structural (the increasing popularity of the Internet at the expense of the printed press). The expansion of domestic business empires in this sector was quickly branded as anoligarchisation of the media in the Czech Republic. Local billionaires treated their new assets as tools of political influence. They do not rely on the mass media as a source of profits. Instead, they use it as a means for protecting their businesses from attacks by competitors or state interference. The mass media has even become a tool for gaining or consolidating a political and business position. There are many indications that, for similar reasons, the richest Czechs are also buying media outlets abroad in countries where they do business.