The state to protect the media sector in Montenegro

The Media Institute of Montenegro (IMCG) called on the state to help the sustainability of the media with quality media policies, laws and their consistent application, without favoritism and undue influence on their work.
The IMCG said that the media in Montenegro also face this Day of Media Freedom with the problems of survival in an increasingly complex media and political environment, exposed to pressure from different power centers, inappropriate influence from outside and the unfavorable socio-economic position of media workers.
All of this threatens professional integrity and results in a drop in professional standards - IMCG stated in a statement on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day - May 3.
They add that the World Press Freedom Day is an opportunity to remind the authorities of their obligations towards media freedom and the media community of their responsibility in exercising trust in the media.
But also to give recognition and honor to all our colleagues who, despite everything, persist in preserving journalistic ethics - they indicated in the announcement.
The IMCG said that the state has shown its will to regulate the accumulated problems in the media sector, through a media strategy and a change in the law, but that even after 18 months of work on these documents, it is not certain when they will be adopted.
If and when they are rolled out, practice will show whether the documents address the key problems of the media sector, such as sustainability of the media, concentration of ownership and transparency of the media, unfair competition, influence from outside, good management of the media, safety and the socio-economic status of journalists - it is stated. in the announcement.
This, as they said from IMCG, is certainly the subject of some future analyses.
According to them, there are improvements in the very fact that the state has decided to map problems and offer solutions for the first time through a media strategy. They add that the draft laws try to stand in the way of unregistered portals, by banning the advertising of state-owned enterprises on such platforms.
They said that concern for the sustainability of the media can be seen through the willingness to increase the amount of money allocated to the Fund for Media Pluralism.
The political influence on the editorial independence and management structures of the Public Service of Radio Television of Montenegro is being tried to be solved by strengthening the independence of these structures from inappropriate political influence - the announcement reads.
IMCG said that the problem is still unregistered portals, unfair competition, inappropriate media influence from outside.
The fact that only one media with national coverage is domestically owned makes Montenegro one of the rare countries with such a structure of broadcasters - they assessed.
Such an approach, as IMCG said, can be interpreted as a political unwillingness to protect the state's media system from excessive influence.
They said that the number of attacks on journalists and the number of unexplained attacks and murders of journalists from the previous period remain a matter of concern.
In addition, we are witnessing the inappropriate influence and targeting of the media by politicians, which speaks of the efforts of politicians and other power centers to put them under control and turn them into a propaganda tool for the production of enemies and division - the announcement says.
IMCG notes that they are concerned about the poor socio-economic position and the fact that a significant number of journalists work for a salary below the national average, that they do not have quality employment contracts, nor adequate benefits for the stressful and responsible work of journalism.
As they specified, newsrooms work with minimum capacity, and the fact that journalism has not been an attractive profession for a long time is evidenced by the decreasing interest of young people to stay in the media.
IMCG said that the increasing exposure of citizens to the media, especially young people, requires the strengthening of media literacy of all citizens.
This, as they said, requires the state to pay more attention to this topic, in order to empower citizens to be resistant to propaganda, manipulation, misinformation and hate speech.
We pay respect to all our colleagues, who, despite everything, remain consistent with professional ethics - IMCG concluded.
M. J.