"You can kill the journalist, but you can't kill the story" - is certainly one of the most significant phrases that the journalistic profession can be proud of. Unfortunately, it was created almost 50 years ago, with the murder of journalist Don Bols, who investigated and wrote about the relationship between crime and the police. After he was killed by a bomb planted under his car, reporters from about thirty American newsrooms took leave, vacations, some even quit, and decided to continue the work he had started.
Since then, "You can't kill the story" has become a way to show everyone who thinks they can ban or stop something that way, that violence against journalists is not worth it - the story will be published. After all, it will have even more range and deal more damage to those who tried to stop it.
In America, almost five decades ago, journalists were ready to stand in solidarity with colleagues who were threatened with death because of their work, or even paid with their lives. In Montenegro today, solidarity is missing even for the most banal things - whether all the journalists will leave the event that was announced and which is hours late, or whether the speaker was rude and unpleasant to one of his colleagues.
Interlocutors of the Media Institute, they are unanimous on this topic - journalistic solidarity in Montenegro is at a very low level.
The president of the Media Union of Montenegro, Radomir Kračković, believes that this is the result of the great polarization of the media that has existed for years, and which is also reflected in situations where, in his opinion, it is necessary to show maximum solidarity.
"Here, I am primarily referring to cases of attacks on journalists, and we have witnessed that in recent years, journalists and media workers from different media outlets, with different editorial policies, have been targeted, which means that the entire media community is in trouble. Journalists and media workers must therefore to be aware of the importance of joint action, when it is in the common interest. Solidarity with colleagues from newsrooms with different worldviews or editorial policies does not mean any kind of "betrayal", on the contrary, it is necessary if we want to improve the status of our profession", Kračković is clear .
Al Jazeera journalist Predrag Tomović adds that even when journalists and media express solidarity, it is usually superficial, declarative.
"There were certainly examples in the past when colleagues went out to protests after attacks on journalists and the media, but these were mostly expressions of solidarity and support from those editorial offices and colleagues who are on the same line of values, while the "others" remained silent and rejoiced. In relation to the behavior of the institutions, there is almost no solidarity or willingness to change the attitude of individual state bodies in some elementary matters - such as the inability of journalists and the media to fight for better treatment in certain situations. "Journalists are freezing, wet, and thirsty and hungry very often waiting for statements or some important events," Tomović gives examples.
ETV journalist Mirjana Miladinović says that the answer to almost every question about the media always begins with the well-known catchphrase "the media is a mirror of society", so...
"Our society is like that, our media is like that, so it is the same in this case - divided. So the answer to this question would be, unfortunately, that there is no solidarity. It is enough to look at the situation with associations of journalists and bodies that should lead, control and protect the media scene and media in Montenegro. There is no unity, so there is no unity when there are attacks on journalists. As a society, we have come to the point that, if something bad happens to a neighbor with whom we are on good terms, we will defend him, we will condemn, we will try to protect him, while, if it happens to someone else with whom we are, say, in an argument, the feeling team and the reaction is not the same, or is absent. It's the same in the media. I say again, unfortunately," says Miladinović.
Attacks on journalists, verbal, physical or online threats, were frequent in the past period. Politicians and holders of high positions in the country often take the lead in these attacks and targetting of journalists. Most often, the reason for such an attack is "dissatisfaction" with the way a journalist or media reports on a specific politician. The most recent example is the behavior of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development Nik Đeljošaj, according to TV Vijesta journalist Danilo Ajković.
Thus, the Deputy Prime Minister does not like the way in which journalist Ajković reports on the trial of Đeljošaj due to accusations that, as President of the Municipality of Tuzi, he once called for resistance. After each hearing, Đeljošaj came out with public accusations against prosecutor Ivana Petrušić, judge Ivana Becić and journalist Ajković that they were dealing with him and that they were corrupt. At the same time, Đeljošaj did not offer any evidence for his accusations, which he has been publishing on social networks for almost 15 months. And while judges and prosecutors defended their colleagues, few reacted to protect Ajković.
"Đeljoš's attack on Ajković is inadmissible, unfounded on facts and compromising for the entire Government of which he is the vice-president. The non-acceptance of criticism, which led to the brutal insult, apart from speaking of Đeljošaj's immaturity for the important public office he covers, is also an open attempt at censorship, which is common in the media and which is difficult for journalists to deal with. Anyone who knows anything about the media and journalism as a profession would have refrained from commenting in Đeljošaje's place, because it is the duty of politicians to create an environment that is encouraging for journalists and that strengthens their position," said the Media Union.
This is an example of an attempt to discredit and intimidate journalists. More often, politicians and powerful people hide behind attacks on the media.
When asked what is more "dangerous" in their opinion, lack of solidarity or fake solidarity, pro forma, our interlocutors answer differently.
"Well, both are bad. The absence of solidarity shows that we don't care about the problems we ourselves may find ourselves in at some point. Only if we find ourselves in a similar situation or become the target of an attack, then we realize how important solidarity really is. And pro forma solidarity is not sincere and also does not contribute to improving the position of journalists and media workers", says Kračković.
Tomović and Miladinović, however, believe that the absence of any reaction is much more dangerous.
"The most dangerous thing is the absence of any reaction, because that translates to "well, they got what they needed or what they deserved." Even false solidarity is sometimes dangerous, but we can mostly classify it as hypocrisy, in the sense, let's react so that it doesn't happen that we didn't speak out at all", says Tomović.
Miladinović points out that the absence of solidarity is more dangerous. "Because, if we at least "feign solidarity", at some point we will stop faking and it will become normal. If we don't at least try to correct it, there is no hope that the situation will get better," she says.
Kračković, as the man who is currently at the head of the largest media organization in the country, which gathers 700 employees in the media, expects that solidarity in the media community will be on a higher level in the future.
"We desperately need this, given that we have a number of common interests and that there are many problems that require immediate resolution in order to improve the position of journalists and the overall media environment in Montenegro," he says.
In the past three years alone, journalists and media in Montenegro were the targets of various attacks as many as 72 times, which speaks volumes about the working conditions in Montenegrin journalism.
The article is part of the regional project "Our Media: Civil Society Initiative for the Development of Media Literacy and Activism, Combating Polarization and Promoting Dialogue", which is supported by the European Union and is being implemented in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. The project is co-financed by the Ministry of Public Administration in Montenegro.
The article was created with the financial support of the European Union and the Ministry of Public Administration in Montenegro. The content is solely the responsibility of the Media Institute of Montenegro and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and the Ministry of Public Administration.
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