“It is absolutely inadmissible that the worldview of an editor or journalist influences the provision of objective information, which the national media outlet is obliged to provide by law, and which, after all, is also what all of us who pay the mandatory contribution, expect from it. But for this to happen during the election campaign is even more problematic because the journalist thus becomes a player in the election campaign that is playing for just one side,” said the Dean of the Faculty of Media, Dr Borut Rončević, in a comment on the story about the national media outlet, Radio-Television Slovenia, concealing information.
In an exclusive story, investigative journalist Bojan Požar revealed facts that prove the planned concealment of information from the public by some journalists and editors from the public RTV Slovenia. Namely, the team behind the show Odmevi (Echoes) did this intentionally, in the case of the article about Golob’s income tax return, which was scheduled to air on a certain day, but was then postponed to a few days later – after the elections, for unexplained reasons. Throughout the story, several questions arise, but the main question is about the questionable journalistic standards on the national television and the credibility of journalists who work there, which is, of course, reflected in the reputation and credibility of the public institution itself. With this kind of misleading and manipulating reporting, which does not show the whole story to the public, we are wondering about how this concealment of data in the run-up to the election period actually affected the outcome of the election. We asked the President of the Supervisory Board of RTV Slovenia, Dr Borut Rončević, for a comment.
So far, no one has denied Požareport’s claims
Despite the fact that “this aspect of the work of RTV Slovenia does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Supervisory Board,” which Dr Rončević chairs, this information also reached him, and if they are true, as “no one has denied these claims so far,” then Rončević believes that “everyone can now create an image of the independence and professionalism of the journalistic work of these people.” Požareport reported on the response of the journalistic and editorial team that works on the show Odmevi, who responded to the statements made by Dr Peter Gregorčič, who said that they deliberately concealed the information about Golob’s income tax return and made sure to report on it only after the elections, as that was more convenient for them. They responded to these claims with a public letter addressed to the Director-General of RTV Slovenia, Andrej Grah Whatmough, the editor-in-chief of the TVS news programme, Jadranka Rebernik, and some other officials from RTV, including the journalistic trade union. In their letter, they described Gregorčič’s claims as unfounded and offensive, however, Jadranka Rebernik later confirmed his story, which thus completely exposed the lies of the Odmevi team.
Such actions are inadmissible
Dr Rončević believes that “it is completely understandable that everyone has their own worldview and that we do not agree on everything. And there is nothing wrong with that, the differences can only enrich us. However, it is absolutely inadmissible that the worldview of an editor or journalist influences the provision of objective information, which the national media outlet is obliged to provide by law, which, after all, is also what all of us who pay the mandatory RTV contribution, expect from it.” It is a fact that RTV Slovenia, as a public television, is obliged to provide impartial and comprehensive information, so that all citizens can form their own opinion on the basis of all available information. However, it has repeatedly been proven that this is not the case, as we have already witnessed many one-sided and obvious data manipulations on RTV Slovenia, and our media outlet has repeatedly reported on these continuous violations of the Radio-Television Slovenia Act.
Concealment of information is problematic
“For this to happen during the election campaign is even more problematic because the journalist thus becomes a player in the election campaign that is playing for just one side,” Rončević added. However, he believes that the concealment of this information did not affect the outcome of the election. “The Latin proverb ‘quod licet lovi, non licet bovi,’ is also applicable in Slovenian politics. What is unacceptable for some, is easily forgivable for ‘our people.’ The reasons for the elections result being what it was are much more complex and are worthy of thorough sociological, historical and demographic studies,” Dr Rončević concluded.
Tanja Brkić
