BRATISLAVA, May 24 (IPS) – Fears are growing for the safety of Slovakian journalists following an assassination attempt on the country’s prime minister, with some politicians partly blaming local independent media.
Relations between some media outlets and lawmakers from the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Robert Fico’s Smer party have been increasingly strained since the government took power in October last year.
And while greeting the public after a government meeting shortly after Fico was shot and seriously injured on May 15, senior Coalition party members linked the attack to critical reporting on Fico and accused the media of spreading hatred against him. They accused me of letting it go.
The 71-year-old man who shot the prime minister is believed to have been politically motivated in his attack.
Since then, some other politicians and heads of media organizations have been called to stop trying to shift responsibility for the attacks on specific groups in order to ease tensions in society.
But senior figures in the ruling coalition party have continued to attack the media for what they believe is a role in stoking anger against the government and sparking the tragedy.
Journalists and press freedom watchdogs in Slovakia are concerned that this is increasing the risk of journalists becoming targets of violent attacks.
Oliver Money-Kyrle, head of European advocacy and programs at the International Press Institute (IPI), said: “Journalists have absolutely no responsibility for this and blaming them only adds fuel to the fire and increases the likelihood of another violent incident. “He told IPS. .
Fico and his Smer party, in power in Slovakia for the past 18 years, have publicly attacked individual media outlets and, in some cases, specific journalists for critical reporting on the various governments he leads.
When journalist Jan Kuciak, who was investigating allegations of corruption by people close to Fico’s government, and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova were murdered in 2018, critics said Fico’s rhetoric against journalists would make those behind the murders more vulnerable to the society they believe themselves to be. He said he helped create the atmosphere. You can act with impunity.
Not long after the murders, Fico was forced to resign as prime minister due to massive public protests against his government.
However, since taking power, he and other members of the ruling coalition have repeatedly attacked journalists they consider critical of the government, and his party has refused to communicate with certain newspapers and broadcasters.
The government has also advanced legislation that media freedom groups and European Commission members have warned could severely limit independent media and freedom of the press.
While some journalists at major news outlets have regularly received death threats and faced horrific online harassment for years, others have said they have grown increasingly worried about their safety in recent months, and that those concerns have now been exacerbated by Fico’s shooting. said. .
Many believe that years of aggressive and derogatory rhetoric have made them targets of hatred in a segment of society where distrust of the media is widespread. A recent survey found that only 37% of Slovaks trust the media.
Some media outlets took extra security measures following the assassination attempt, and the government said it would also provide additional protections for groups that may face higher security risks, including the media.
Media rights groups welcomed the move but said politicians must take the lead in reducing tensions in society and reducing immediate safety risks to journalists.
“The way to de-escalate the situation is to stop political hate speech in the media,” Pavol Szalai, EU/Balkans director at Reporters Without Borders (RSF), told IPS.
In the hours immediately following the shooting, some ministers appeared to be trying to calm the situation. At a press conference, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok appealed to the public, journalists and all politicians to stop spreading hatred.
Meanwhile, dozens of editors from print and broadcast media issued a joint statement publicly condemning the attack on the prime minister and calling on politicians and the media to work together to calm tensions.
However, even days after the shooting, senior government figures continued to attack specific media outlets or downplay the seriousness of comments made by their colleagues immediately after the shooting, labeling the media “disgusting pigs.”
The Slovak government did not respond to questions from IPS about the safety of journalists.
But there are concerns that, in addition to putting journalists at risk, assassination attempts could also significantly worsen press freedom in the country, according to research.
The government recently approved the bill. The bill is expected to be passed by parliament within weeks, completely overhauling public broadcaster RTVS and putting critics under de facto government control.
Ominously, Andrej Danko, leader of the ruling coalition Slovak People’s Party (SNS), warned that now “there will be a change in the media” after Fico was shot.
And on May 19, speaking to private news channel TA3, he said he planned to propose legislation that would set new rules on journalistic ethics, relations between journalists and politicians, and politicians’ “duty to endure” from journalists. .
Beata Balogova, editor-in-chief of the Sme daily newspaper, one of the country’s media outlets regularly criticized by government politicians, told international media the government could now take “cruel measures against the media.”
Local journalists said any repressive measures would make an already difficult task even more difficult.
“I have never thought about how our job could become more difficult in the future because it is already so difficult. It is very difficult to gather news about a political party that refuses to talk to us. Sme editor Michaela Terenzani told IPS:
But she added that it is difficult to predict what will happen in the coming days and weeks.
“At the moment, we are all trying to get over the shock and do our jobs as best as we can. This is an important moment in Slovak history and we will have to wait and see what happens to the relationship between the media and politicians. “Everyone is asking for calm and we hope we will,” she said.
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© Interpress Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Interpress Service
