The Montenegrin Constitution and laws guarantee freedom of speech and expression, but media freedom is still threatened by political interference, unpunished attacks on journalists and economic pressures.
This, as in the previous year, is stated in the World Press Freedom Index for 2024, published by the international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), on the occasion of May 3 - World Press Freedom Day.
Montenegro fell one position and is now 40th on the list of 180 countries. A year earlier, she achieved significant progress and went from the 63rd position to the 39th place on the list.
When it comes to the countries of the region, North Macedonia is ranked best (36), while Montenegro is ahead of EU members Slovenia (42) and Croatia (48). Followed by Kosovo (75), Bosnia and Herzegovina (81), Serbia (98) and Albania (99).
"Despite its small population (620.000 inhabitants), Montenegro has more than 150 registered media, including three daily newspapers, four TV broadcasters with national frequencies – including the public channel RTCG – and one news agency. Three of the four television networks with national coverage are partially or completely foreign-owned, mostly companies from neighboring Serbia," the report says.
"After the defeat of the DPS in 2020 - the former Communist Party, which was in power for 30 years and hostile to media freedom - government pressure and attacks on journalists have somewhat decreased. The new government has promised to harmonize the national legislation with by European law in 2024. However, there is concern that foreign owners of some media will influence the editorial policy that serves the interests of other governments (such as the Government of Serbia) or the interests of their local political favorites," RSF points out.
It is reminded that freedom of expression is guaranteed in Montenegro and defamation is decriminalized. "Despite having undergone several changes in recent years, there are still gaps in the legal framework regarding free access to public information and protection of confidentiality of sources. The result is insufficient protection of media independence in the face of political and economic pressure. The same applies to RTCG, despite the adoption of new legal provisions in 2020," it added.
As the main advertiser, he writes, the state has distributed most of its funds to "loyal" media in recent decades. "While RTCG and local public broadcasters are mostly funded by the state, private media are highly vulnerable to the influence of advertisers and market volatility. After the catastrophic economic consequences of the covid-19 pandemic on the media, the government provided them with financial support that proved insufficient to provide their viability."
It is also emphasized that Montenegrin society has "deep ethnic, religious and political divisions, in addition to an authoritarian political culture inherited from the past." "In such an environment, the media are often accused of working for foreign interests and of betraying the nation or the church. Campaigns against professional journalists are often led by politicians from both the ruling and opposition parties," it noted.
It is also stated that almost all attacks on journalists in the last few years have been solved, but that many of those that happened earlier remain unpunished, despite the promises of the government that came to power in 2020. "This is the case, for example, in the case of murder newspaper editor Duško Jovanović in 2004 and the attempted murder of investigative journalist Olivera Lakić in 2018. In 2023, after seven years of proceedings, journalist Jovo Martinović was finally acquitted of charges of unfounded membership in a criminal group," the report concludes.
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