03 May Press Shelter Novi Pazar: Inconvenient questions and inappropriate media
Media in Sandzak generally refer to events when it comes to giving praise or PR articles about a state institution, but when it comes to the topic that is in the interest of the citizens – then certain media are excluded. The excuses of the representatives of the institutions are the epidemiological situation, the e-mail server, or complete silence. According to the opinions of our interlocutors from the Sandzak media houses, the reason is something completely different – mostly “unpleasant questions”.
The editor-in-chief of Sto plus radio, Ishak Slezovic, says that state institutions relatively often do not invite certain media.
“This happens in situations when the person convening the conference wants to avoid possible awkward issues, and it seems to me that most often happens in the Novi Pazar General Hospital, sometimes in the municipality, or in the City Administration when an exclusive is wanted for media under direct control.” points out Slezovic.
He adds that journalists are generally used to such a situation in Novi Pazar. Polarization and control of national media are something completely new at the national level in Sandzak and Novi Pazar it is a well-known recipe that has been on the scene for more than two decades.
The editor of the internet portal S News from Novi Pazar, Medin Halilovic, agrees the polarization of the media has been going on for years in Sandzak.
“They do not have the courage to face the public, the truth, and what is needed to be heard. That is the basic reason and essence why they sometimes call us, and sometimes they don’t. So, when it comes to PR, or promotion, above all when it comes to the preservation of power, then they invite everyone. In the meantime, or at that event, a journalist may appear with an awkward question, and the basic job of a journalist is to ask questions, then they do not risk calling him. I am telling them they should use journalists, even though those journalists from the newsrooms have some different attitudes to theirs, to invite them and show how much they are ready to face the truth.” Halilovic points out.
The media are still considered the main enemy, and that should not be the case, says amongst other things the editor of RTV Novi Pazar Katarina Radovic. She points out that the representatives of the institutions should answer all the questions of the journalists, but that she cannot say with certainty what is the reason for not inviting certain media to the events.
“It seems to me that the media are still considered enemies in Novi Pazar and that they are being selected that way. I don’t think that should be a problem at all, absolutely everyone should be invited, who wants to come, of course, will come, who does not want will not come. In that way, representatives of the institutions simply stay objective. We called everyone, we should answer all the questions, there is always an answer, you should always answer journalistic questions the way you think and then it might be a little more relaxed when it comes to those topics. It is possible that lack of invitation follows some unprofessional announcement, in the sense that many things were taken out of context, that only what corresponded to certain media at that time was published, but all that can be solved somehow and there should be as many journalists as possible at the events.”, says Katarina Radovic.
She believes that more and more institutions are turning to the media and that they like to promote everything they do through the media, regardless of how important it really is and how important it is for the citizens of Novi Pazar.
The editor of the A1 internet portal, Alma Kardovic Radetinac, believes that the problem of not inviting journalists to events by institutions arises when the media begin to focus on a certain topic of general interest.
“Institutions invite to events mostly with a nice occasion, but when something creaks then the ramp goes down for certain media. We have witnessed during the pandemic that stopped the world that we were denied information and that only the privileged could get any news and again without answering key questions. Unfortunately, this is not the only example. They are just afraid of questions, but I see no reason why. If you have agreed to be a high-ranking official, it brings with it responsibility towards the citizens, so the representatives of the institutions are obliged to answer the questions of the journalists, because where they are – it is public, not private property. “, says Kardovic Radetinac.
Thanks to social networks, many things cannot go under the rug, no matter how much politicians want it. So, media now have an even stronger wind at their backs – citizens, she adds.
Some media have different experiences depending on the city, one of them is Sandzak Television. The director of this media house, Salahudin Fetic, points out that some institutions want to minimize certain media house influences by not inviting them.
“Our experiences are different. When it comes to local authorities, especially in Novi Pazar, Tutin, we still have this kind of deafness. We cannot call it anything other than the arrogance of local self-government. We want to always have both sides, to be objective, but it is not up to us when they do not want to invite us to the event or do not want to answer our inquiries, on the other hand, not we but the citizens are denied information. “Sometimes I think that in a way they intend to minimize the work of certain media, while on the other hand, maybe sometimes at a conference or an event they don’t want to get a provocative or, so to speak, awkward question,” says Fetic.
He concludes that some institutions do not want to invite all media because it raises the viewership and credibility of the media.
The director of the Sandzak TV network, Emir Hamidovic, says that they are rarely invited to the events, even though they are the only media in the television format. They do not know why.
“It is difficult to answer that question, and their attitude towards the media is not clear to us either. However, one gets the impression that the local self-government is behaving like a stepmother with its citizens. Like it doesn’t matter if the citizens are informed on time. For two years now, the local government has been refusing to cooperate with our television, even though we send them letters every day. We are a public service. It is in the public interest to follow the session of the Emergency Situations Headquarters, the sessions of the Municipal Council, especially now during the pandemic of the coronavirus that is ravaging the world” Hamidovic points out. Otherwise, the Law on Public Information prohibits direct and indirect discrimination of media editors, journalists, and other persons in the field of public information, especially according to their political affiliation and belief or other personal characteristics.
“The elected, appointed holder of public and political office is obliged to suffer the expression of critical opinions relating to the results of his work, regarding the policy he conducts, a and it is related to the performance of his function, regardless of whether he feels personally hurt by expressing those opinions “, it is written, among other things, in the Law on Public Information.
Enes Radetinac, portal A1