Over 55 percent of citizens trust the media, which places them relatively high in the hierarchy of trust among all institutions. Social networks have become the primary source of information for many citizens, and middle-aged respondents (35-54) are the most likely to follow the media in general, while young people (18-34) follow social networks on a daily basis.
These are the results of the Public Opinion Survey on the Work of the Media and the Independence of Journalists in Montenegro, which was presented by analyst Miloš Bešić at the conference "Media in Montenegro - Achievements and Challenges".
Editor-in-chief of "Vijesti" Mihailo Jovović said he was very satisfied with the research.
"I often say about the media outlet I work for that the media can't be much better than Montenegro, but they need to work on it. I think this measure of trust is completely okay in relation to the environment."
He said that it is easy to differentiate between "media" and media, and journalists and "journalists", but that when it comes to research, they are all the same.
"First, something needs to be done to separate the media and 'the media'. If you don't want to do what journalists and the media do in a democratic society, you need to somehow make that known to everyone. Those who spread falsehoods and propaganda, and we have some of them, should be labeled as such. The question is who would put those labels on them...", said Jovović.
He sees the problem as being that citizens like to read what they already think...
"But of course, trust in the media needs to be greater and we need to separate those who try to do their job ethically and professionally from those who serve to spread fake news and propaganda, serving the interests of their political parties, and perhaps this network that the Ministry is trying to create will help to label those who spread false information as such," Jovović believes.
Editor-in-Chief and Director of RTV Nikšić Nikola Marković warns that we should not fall into the trap of wondering why citizens' perception of trust in the media is the way it is, because, as he says, this may indicate a lack of critical awareness among citizens and how they perceive media freedom.
"In Montenegro, traditional media, television, print, and we can also say portals, still have the upper hand, where we objectively have a much better situation than some countries in the region. And I believe that for many, the state of the media in the neighborhood is a point of reference," said Marković.
He sees the research as very useful, and what is interesting, he says, is that a large number of citizens believe that the media is under the influence of political elites, while on the other hand they trust the media.
"Which may seem paradoxical at first glance, but our citizens are largely determined by their political, national and religious preferences... We should ask which media outlets you trust and at the same time ask about your political and national affiliation," Marković suggested.
He referred to generational trust, or the fact that older citizens watch and trust television the most.
"We often fall into the trap that young people will grow old and then they will also watch television, and not stay on the networks. New generations are applying new technologies, we in the media have to be aware of that. When we talk about the media literacy needs of predominantly young people, we are all focused on the networks, and in this research we see that young people predominantly get their information through the networks, but that their trust in the networks is not great. Young people consume the networks, but they do not trust them. However, they influence us, we accept the language of the networks, the way of thinking, it is not just a matter of accurate information...", said Marković.
RTCG portal editor Marko Vešović says that the Public Service and its journalists are no different from other media.
"You can see in the research that the Public Service is just as important as the commercial media and faces the same challenges and problems. Perhaps the pressure is even greater than expectations - if we pay, then we have the right to receive balanced and fair reporting," said Vešović, adding that the history of Montenegrin journalism shows that it was built on serving the elites and that it is difficult to change established patterns, but that we are slowly moving away from that.
Bešić cited the example of the United States of America (USA) where there is a clear correlation that Republicans watch FOX and Democrats watch CNN, in Serbia, those who watch N1 and Nova vote against the government, and Pink and Happy for the ruling party, and that it is probably similar in Montenegro.
"The degree of connection can show to what extent the media are political actors, and behave as such. That's how you will receive such treatment from political actors and get a disturbed environment. The truth is a very complex matter, but real journalism is what we should strive for," he explained.
Jovović pointed out that in the world, but also in Montenegro, we see a tendency for political dissenters and powerful people on social networks to try to undermine the credibility of traditional media.
"Whatever they are, they are the best we have and I notice that this trend is slowly coming to Montenegro. The ruling party has an X order where everything it doesn't like is marked as fake news. I fear that this trend, which brings harm in all countries, will only get stronger. It's not just 'PES against fake news', but also failure to answer journalists' questions, party bans on communication with journalists..."
When asked what indicates whether a media outlet is free or not, Jovović answers that financial independence is key.
"How will the media prove that it is independent even though there is obvious ideological profiling? By reporting on everything, even parties that are ideologically close, so that readers see that you report professionally. You will prove that you are independent of the owner if you write about advertisers, the government and the opposition...".
Marković believes that the media has the right to a position and that this is not an unknown practice, but that it is important what that position is based on and that it does not affect the application of journalistic standards.
"I think that the media also have the right to a political stance, but not a party stance. Part of the answer to media freedom lies in the financial stability of the media. We also have different practices in which the financial stability of the media can be the opposite of media freedom, which depends on the origin of the money that provides that financial stability," said Marković.
Vešović also realizes that some political structures use networks to diminish the importance of traditional media.
"The goal is therefore to defend them and preserve their importance. We see that they are still very important and I think they have a future. We need to follow trends and protect our space on networks where there will be credible information," said Vešović.
Jovović said that he does not share Vešović's opinion that RTCG journalists share the fate of the others, because the Public Service has 100 percent secure funding.
"If you have secure funding, the 'value for money' that RTCG provides is very low. Now everyone comes to RTCG and says whatever they want, there is not enough critical attitude. The public service is not an official newspaper and should lead journalists, show standards," said Jovović and asked why there is no editorial office for investigative journalism now, which existed "during the worst DPS times."
He also raised the issue of the fact that, as he says, parasitic media copy texts published by traditional media.
"Media outlets with one, two or five employees just take what 100 employees do in Vijesti. Is there a possibility that something like that could be protected by copyright in some legal regulation," he asked.
Vešović replied to Jovović that he thought a lot had been done in the Public Service, but that it was not easy to carry out a reform.
"I don't think RTCG is an official newspaper, one could say it more freely than before. You have criticism from the ruling party, it's not particularly pronounced, but it is there," said Vešović and announced the relaunch of the investigative editorial office.
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