Principal court has ruled that Goran Djurovic must be reinstated as a member of the Council of RTCG (the Public broadcaster). The decision to remove Djurovic from the Council was widely recognized as a politically motivated action: as a part of the ruling party strategy aimed at taking back control on the public broadcaster.
Administrative court has repealed the ruling of Agency for preventing corruption, but there is a small chance that Nikola Vukčević will be reinstated as member of RTCG council. Even though court has ruled that he was not in conflict of interest, Agency claims “he possibly could have been”. Now it is up to Montenegrin Parliament to decide whether it is going to name somebody to replace him.
Opposition does not think that the prime minister Duško Marković is going to stop political pressures on public broadcaster. They consider Marković to be more loyal to his party, then to the interests of Montenegro as a state.
Montenegrin goverment needs to make a move to preserve editorial independence of RTCG (public TV), otherwise its democratic credibility will be reduced. The US Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Brian Hoyt Yee thinks that allowing the ruling party to take over RTCG once again, it could be a major step back in terms euro-atlantic road of Montenegro.
In a recent interview Nikola Vukčević - Montenegrin movie director - said that he was removed from public television because the government want to change the editorial policy of RTCG: “Government and ruling party want to have a tool for their own needs, and are not interested in citizens needs of having a public broadcaster”.
There is not a single public broadcaster in the region that is fully independent from the government, media experts agree. A possible solution may be a system direclty financed by citizens.
According to “Vijesti” it is difficult to talk about freedom of the media, freedom of speech and professional journalism in a country that has not reached the most basic democratic standards and that has never managed to change the fact that everything is controlled by politics.
The Agency for preventing corruption started a case against journalist Tufik Softić based on anonymous tip. It happened just some days before a verdict was to be brought in a case where Softić sued the state for not having protected him after he was assaulted in 2007.
For the first time ever, a Montenegrin citizen was compensated by the State for an ineffective investigation. Journalist Tufik Softić was awarded 7.000 euros after the Constitutional Court decided that his right to life was harmed by not finding the perpetrators that attacked him in 2007.
To be active in contemporary society means that you are under media influence, so one has to learn how to read through media messages, understand contemporary media vocabulary, see the difference between an information and a sensation. Media workers, teaching professors and other professionals in Montenegro are discussing what are the professional and ethical standards challenges, wondering if an information is an act of creation. In one word: media literacy.
