The media scene in Montenegro, in addition to the evident progress that has been achieved, is marked by unresolved issues of attacks on journalists, politically biased media coverage, but also numerous misinformation and hate speech, especially on portals, said the Minister of Culture and Media Maša Vlaović.
As reported by the PR Center, Vlaović spoke with the head of the OSCE Mission in Montenegro, Dominik Vag, about the situation in the field of media, the Media Strategy and changes in media laws.
She assessed that this issue is extremely important and at the top of the priorities of the Ministry and the Government.
Vlaović emphasized the importance of the support of the OSCE mission in Montenegro to the process of improving the media sector and creating conditions for the safe and quality work of journalists.
As she said, the Ministry is open to all suggestions and initiatives coming from international organizations in Montenegro and will carefully define all future activities in that area.
"Despite the evident progress that has been made, the media scene in Montenegro is marked by unresolved issues of attacks on journalists, politically biased media reporting, but also numerous misinformation and hate speech, especially on online portals," Vlaović pointed out.
As announced, in the context of the preparation of the Media Strategy, the willingness of the OSCE Mission to provide long-term support in the implementation of that strategy from next year was expressed.
Vag said that the strategy has many goals that the Mission could contribute to.
"Our common goals are to improve the quality of information for citizens, to strengthen mechanisms for combating hate speech, online harassment and misinformation," Vag said.
In this context, as she added, the Mission will continue to cooperate with self-regulatory mechanisms, work to strengthen freedom of expression and media professionalism, as well as the capacity of journalists and media workers.
"Together we must improve the safety of journalists, their working environment, but also media literacy in Montenegro," said Vag.
Vag expressed satisfaction that the Mission supports the development of a digital tool for online media literacy, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Media and other partners, such as the Ministry of Education.
"We expect to finish two modules by the end of this year and we are ready to continue this cooperation in 2023," Vag added.
She said that she was satisfied with the observational presence of the Mission in the process of changing the media laws.
As she added, the Mission supports the RTCG Public Service in its ongoing transformation processes.
"This year, the Mission will support the RTCG in developing the Development Strategy, but also initiate the development of the Strategy and Action Plan for digital transformation," Vag said.
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