Media reporting on nato results of the Monitoring

Publisher: Public Policy institute in Podgorica www.publicpolicyinstitute.eu SvetlaneKaneRadević3,81110Podgorica Tel/Fax:+38220220393 E-mail:office@publicpolicyinstitute.eu

Project coordinator: SElEnaTaSić� MethodologistandProjectManager

experts: PRoFDRSTEvanlilić� PresidentoftheExecutiveBoard andExpertontheproject

MiRjanaMilaDinović� Researcher

associates: STaS�aĐuRiS� ić� Projectassistant

tehnical editor: anDRijaPERić� Projectassistant

Prepress: STuDioBRanKo–Podgorica

This publication is a result of the «naTo Reach out» project. The project wasfinanciallysupportedbynaToPublicDiplomacyDivision,aswellastheEmbassyof Slovenia in Podgorica. The content of this publication represents exclusiveresponsibilityoftheauthor.

December 2013

MONTENEGRO

NATOIN MEDIA

44

Sadržaj

Methodologyofmonitoring .............6electronic media (television stations) .............7Print and online media .............8Theresultsofmonitoring ..........11

1 PRINT MEDIA

Pobjeda ..........14Vijesti ..........14dan ..........15dnevne novine ..........16BlicMontenegro ..........17Monitor (weekly) ..........17

2 ONLINE PORTALS

analitika portal ..........20Portal rtcg ..........20PortalćaféDelMontenegro ..........20Portal Vijesti ..........21

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3 ELECTrONICMEdIa–TELEVISIONSTaTIONS

ThePublicServiceofMontenegro–RTćG ..........24Pink tV ..........24tV Prva ..........24rtV atlas ..........25tV Vijesti ..........25

Focusgroupswitheditorsandjournalists,november2013 ..........26 Metodologija ..........26

4 THE FOCUS GROUPS RESULTS

Journalists ..........30Theresultsoffocusgroups–Journalists ..........34 Phase i – analysis of public opinion and the media ..........34 Phaseii–analysisofproblemsidentifiedintheprocess

ofmediamonitoring ..........35 Phase iii – conclusions and recommendations ..........37

editors ..........38Theresultsoffocusgroup-EDiToRS ..........43 Phase i – Public opinion and media analysis ..........43 Phaseii–analysisofproblemsraisedbymediamonitoring ..........43 Phase iii – recommendations and conclusions ..........45

Monitoringteamconlusions ..........46

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MethodologyofmonitoringMonitoringofelectronic,printandonlinemediainMontenegrowascon-

ducted during September 2013. The corpus consisted of 5 editions ofdailypapers,1editionofweeklypapers,4onlineportalsand5televisionsta-tions.ThemonitoreddailieswerePobjeda,vijesti,Dan,DnevnenovineandBlicMontenegro.ThemonitoredweeklypaperwasMonitor,whilethemon-itoredonlineportalsincludethefollowing:analitika,vijesti,ćafeDelMonte-negroandtheportalofMontenegroPublicService(RTćG).Whenitcomestotelevisionstations,newsprogrammesofthefollowingtelevisionstationsweremonitored:RTćG1,RTćG2,TvPink,Tvvijesti,RTvatlas,andTvPrva.Mediamonitoring began on September9th 2013 and closed on September30th2013.DuetoanecessitytoobservetherealstateofthetreatmentofnaTotopicinMontenegrinmedia,themonitoringreportincludesaqualitativepre-monitoringanalysis(duringaugustandthefirstninedaysofSeptember),aswellasapost-monitoringanalysis(inoctober),whilethemonitoringperioditself is presented in the form of a quantitative-qualitative analysis (fromSeptember9thto30th).When it comes to the Tv stations, the corpus covered the following newsprogrammes:Dnevnik2at7.30PMonRTćG1andRTćG2,infomonteat6PMonPinkTv,vijestiat6.30PMonvijestiTv,Forumat6PMonRTvatlasandvijestiPrveat7PMonTvPrva.Bearinginmindtheveryparticulartopicandtheaimofthemonitoring,thecorpusentailsthosetextsandarticlesrelatedtothesecuritysector,withaspecialaccentontheamountofreportingonthesubjectofnaToand,mostofall,thequalityofadequatemediatreatmentofthemostrelevanttopicsthatconcernMontenegro’saccessionintonaTo.Thereport also covers theperiodbefore themonitoring,with a critical viewofsituationin2012and2013.Thedatausedoriginatesfromdifferentsources,all of which are cited in the text.Theaimofthemonitoringwasto identifywhatextentandinwhatwaythenorthatlanticalliance(naTo)waspresentedinMontenegrinmedia,placingspecialattentiontothecritical,informativeandsubstantialtreatmentofthenaTointegrationstopic,inthecourseofoneaveragemonthin2013,ayearprior to that inwhichMontenegro should receive the official invitation fornato membership.

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one of themost important criteria, which will have a crucial influence onextending this invitation toMontenegro, ispublicopinionsupport, and thissupport largelydependsonthemediacoverageof the issue.Theaimof themonitoring was also to gain insight into the evaluative context in whichthe media place naTo, taking into account that the membership in thisinternationalorganizationisoneofthepillarsofforeignpolicyconductedbytheStateofMontenegro.Themonitoringalsotookintoaccountwhetherthemediaarecontributingtothe deconstruction of the stereotypes and prejudice towardsMontenegro’smembershipinnaTo,aswellastheroleofthemediain(de)securitizationofthe topic of the very membership.Thematerialiscodedbasedonthepreviouslydefinedcodex,whichentailedthefollowingcategories:

ELECTRONIC MEDIA (television stations)

1. Mediainquestion2. Tittleofthenewsprogramme3. ordinalnumberoftheTvreport- inordertoevaluatetheeditorial

policyofthemediaduringtheassemblyofnews,basedontheprioritygiventothetopicofnaTo.

4. lengthoftheTvreport–toevaluatetheamountofattentiondedicatedto the topic.

5. Genre6. audio-visualpresentation–whetherthenewsprogrammehasamale

orfemalehost,whethertheyadoptapersonalizedapproach,whetherslide,map,graph,archivefootage,currentfootageoraudiorecordingarebeingused.

7. ćauseofthereport–inordertogaininsightintowhetherthereportisbasedonacurrentevent,pseudo-eventoramediainitiative.

8. location–whetherthenewsappliestotheinternationallevel(world),thecapitalofMontenegro,Montenegroasawhole,ortheregion.

9. Topic–thegoalherewastonotewhichtopicsaremostoftenassociatedtonaTo,whether theywereworldevents (Syria,afghanistanetc.),MontenegrointegrationinnaTo,negotiationswiththeEu,politicaland economic relations betweenMontenegro and the internationalcommunity,regionalcooperation,theissueofKosovo,economy,socialissues etc.

10. Subject – identifying social actors dealing with the topic mostfrequently. in fact, this is the largest area of freedom of the press

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because even when the topics have, according to some criteria, aspecial importance (“objective importance”), the media have thepowertochoosesubjectsthatwilldiscussthem,andmorespecifically,be the source of information and opinion.

11. ćauseofreporting,whichisespeciallyimportantsinceitshowsthepositioning of the topic on the social, political and media agenda,butisalsoanindicatorastohowmuchinitiativethereisamongthejournalists to report on the issue.

12. Personalizationofthesubject–firstandlastname,functionheld.13. audio-visualpresentationofthesubject14. object-actorofwhomthesubjectisspeaking,theonewhoisvalued.

Thesecouldbeinternationalorforeignpoliticalsubjects,subjectsintheregion,stateauthorityoffunctionholder,memberofthepoliceormilitary,politicalparty,experts, civil societyorganizations, citizens,journalists etc.

15. Evaluative context – the identification of constructions renderedeitherbythesubjectorbytheauthoroftheTvreport,wherespecialattention is placed on the tone of the media product – whether it is positive,negativeorneutral.

16. Scopeofreporting–iftheevaluativeattitudeistransparent–whetheritisinformative,critical,orpointstotheproblematizationofthetopic.

17. Provoking prejudice or stereotype – whether it is existent in thereport.

18. othernotes

PRINT AND ONLINE MEDIA

1. Mediainquestion2. Textlength3. Genre4. Textauthorship–theaimis toseewhethertheauthor issignedor

not,ifitisjustabroadcastofagencynews,anothermedia,ifitistheeditorial,anoutsidefactororsomethingdifferent.

5. ćauseofreport–sameaswiththeelectronicmedia(Tv)6. Visual presentation – same as with the electronic media (tV)7. location - same as with the electronic media (tV)8. Topic-sameaswiththeelectronicmedia(Tv)9. Subject-sameaswiththeelectronicmedia(Tv)10. Subjectpersonalization-sameaswiththeelectronicmedia(Tv)11. actor-sameaswiththeelectronicmedia(Tv)

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12. actorpersonalization-sameaswiththeelectronicmedia(Tv)13. Theevaluativecontextwithinwhichtheactorisplaced14. Thetypeofheadline–whethertheheadlineisrealisticormetaphorical15. Securitizationinthetext–whetheritispresentornot16. Securitizationinthephotograph(caricature)–whetheritispresent

or not17. Securitizationintheheadline–whetheritispresentornot18. Readers’comment–judgment/consent/neutrality/hatespeech19. notes

aftertheselectionofmaterial,thecorpuscontainedatotalof40newspaperarticles,29textspublishedonportalsand12reportsbroadcastedonma-

jornationaltelevisionstationsinthedurationof21day.Theprintmediadifferinthenumberoftextspublishedduringthemonitoringperiod–mostofthereportswerepublishedinPobjeda(14),andthelowestnumberofpublishedreportswasinDnevnenovine(3)andMonitor,whichisaweeklypaper(1).Whenitcomestoportals,PortalanalitikatakesthefirstplaceinreportingaboutnaTo,whileamongsttelevisionstations,MontenegroPublic service was the one to dedicate the most attention to nato.Thedatawillbepresentedforeachandeverymediaindividually,aswellasforthe corpus as a whole. The number of reports/texts in the corpus for eachmedia individually, forprint,onlineandelectronicmedia(Tv)isshowninTables1,2and3.

Table 1. PRINT MEDIA

MEdIj BrOjTEkSTOVa

Pobjeda 14

dan 7

Vijesti 6

dnevne novine 3

blic cg 9

Monitor 1

Total 40

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Table 2. ONLINE PORTALS

THE MEDIA IN QUESTION NUMBER OF TEXT

Portal analitika 14

Portal Vijesti 5

Portal rtcg 1

PortalćafeDelMontenegro 9

Total 29

Table 3. TELEVISION STATIONS

THE MEDIA IN QUESTION NUMBER OF REPORTS

RTćG1,2 5

tV Vijesti 2

tV PrVa 3

tV PinK 2

Total 12

Several topics dominated during the monitoring period: State BudgetRebalance;therelationsinthegovernmentcoalition;preparationofthePrideparade;epidemicsinBerane;aswellasregulartopicssuchasthenegotiationswiththeEuropeanunion,morespecificallytheadoptionofanactionplanforćhapters23and24;the“Snimak”affair;theKaPsituation.TakingintoaccountthatSeptembershouldaboundinreportsontheEuro-atlanticintegration(theadoptionofactionplansforćhapters23and24,upcomingcampaignfornaTomembership support), the amount of attention dedicated to analytical andsubstantialcoverageofthenaTosubjectcanbeassessedasinsufficient,withjustover20%presence, incomparisonto80%ofmediaspacededicatedtodomesticpolitics,economictopicsandpoliticalaffairs.Pre-monitoringperiodwassimilartothemonitoringperiodanditwasmainlymarked by different public and individual reactions towards the potential interventioninSyria,againwithnoessentialturnbackonaprofoundanalysisof Syrian conflict,distinctionofuSaandnaTo,andmainly focusingon theinterpretationofpoliticalmessagesofdomesticofficials.

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itispeculiarthattopicsandcontentusuallydifferfrommediatomedia,whileduringtheactualmonitoringperiod,alldailiesandweekliesfollowedthesametopicsandpostedthemoncoverpages.it is indicative that the media treated the same event either entirely positively orentirelynegatively(“lukšićtoshowevidenceagainstasad”(Dan),“lukšićtopunishthemonstrosityinSyria”(vijesti),andthen“lukšić:Wearegivingacontributiontostability”(Dnevnenovine)).TheinterpretationsofmessagessentbyBrusselswithinthesamemonth,withonlyaten-daydifference,werealsoquiteinteresting:“itistooearlyfornaTo”(Dnevnenovine),and“BrusselsmessageasignthatwearethenextnaTomember”(Pobjeda).Theexperienceofthecountriesthathavegonethroughthesamestepsintheprocess of Euro-atlantic integration shows that an average reader/viewer(citizen) is most likely to have a negative reaction to these contradictorymessagessenttopress.Thequantitative-qualitativeanalysisoftheentiremonitoringofthemediahasshown that the evaluative context in which the subject of nato is placed in Montenegromediaismainlyneutral-negative.additionally,oneofthemajorfindingsoftheresearchisthefactthatmediacoverage on the subject of naTo completely excludes any educationalcomponent and in-depth analysis of events and news when it comes to nato integrations.Moreover,inthemajorityoftheexamples,commonstereotypesandsecuritizedtopicsareexploited,topicsthatcrossovertoadomainofcliché,withavisiblelackofanyeffortstodesecuritizetheseissuesanddeconstructthestereotypes(example:theidentificationofnaTowiththeuSa,influencingtheemotional receptionby the subject’s audienceby repeating the issueofnaTobombingin1999).

The results of monitoring

atotalof69textsintheprintandonlinemediawereanalyzed,andatotalof12reportsbroadcastedonmajornationaltelevisionstations.Five percent of the reports covered the topic of nato directly – the international level(Syria,afghanistan),theregionallevel(TheBalkansixG6,relationswithćroatia in the field of defense, Serbia and Kosovo) the national level (nGoactivity, bilateral meetings of the officials). Texts which belong to a genre,analyticalandauthorialtextswereveryfew,(only6outofthetotalnumberoftextsanalyzed)anditcanthereforebeconcludedthatthepressiscoveringthesubject of nato arbitrarily.

Print media1• POBjEda

• VIjESTI

• daN

• dNEVNENOVINE

• BLICMONTENEGrO

• MONITOr(WEEkLY)

1414

POBjEda

inPobjeda,14similarincontenttextswereselected,whichaddressthetopicofnaTo.innineoutoffourteentextsnaToisthedirectsubject.Thegeneral

impressionisthatthe informationontheactivitiesofstateofficials, institu-tionsand thecivil sector, concerningnorthatlantic integrations, are repre-sentedtoagreaterextentthanisthecasewithotherprintmedia.outof14texts,8areconcernedwiththeactivitiesofthePrimeMinister,thePresidentandMinisterofForeignaffairs,MinisterofDefenseandthePresidentoftheParliamentofMontenegro,while1textcoversthestatementsgivenbyforeignofficials,2covertheviewpointofanotherstateand3observeactivitiesofthecivil sector. Whenitcomestogenre,themostfrequentarenewsofcurrentevents,followedby one interview with a civil sector representative and one report.Theauthorissignedin12outof14texts.aspreviouslystated,thetextsarethematicallysimilar.ThosetextsthatcovertheactivitiesofstaterepresentativesaremainlydirectedtowardsbroadcastinginformationfrombilateralmeetingsandgaininginternationalsupportintheEuro-atlanticintegrations,andtheevaluativecontextofthesenewsisneutralto positive. one piece of news thatwas presenting another state’s attitudewasestimatedasnegative,whilethenewsofcivilsectorcovertheirprojectsand have a positive tone. The actors addressing the public are most oftenrepresentatives of the government and different authorities aswell as civilsector representatives.Theheadlinesinallthenewscorrespondwithreality,whilesecuritizationispresentinnoneoftheheadlinesorphotographs.Thepost-monitoringperiodincludesafargreaternumberoftextsthatholdadistinctlypositivetone,withheadlinesthatpointtodirectsupporttowardsthecountry’smembershipinnaTo,andhaveinfluenceonthepublicopinion.analytic and educational texts were not found, and neither was a criticalvalorizationofcurrenteventswiththeaimofeducatingthepublic.Hatespeechwas also not present in the texts.

VIjESTI

inthispaper,whenitcomestoreportingonnaTo,therewasalsoreportingoncurrentevents,mainlythroughbroadcastofParliamentandGovernment

activities,which,intermsofgenre,weremainlypresentedthroughnewsandreports.However,thispaperalsoincludesrubricsinwhichreporters,intheformofcomments,columnsandauthorialtextsbringforththeiropinionsandanalysisonthesocio-politicalevents,whereseveraloftheserubricswereindi-

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rectlycoveringthetopicofnorthatlanticintegrationswithinthemonitoringprocess. (“stav” rubric).The evaluative context of the news headlines, as well as of the reports, isneutral or presenting a simple or automatic broadcast of information fromthe parliament board, public announcements by the ministry in charge ornGoactivity, inall6newsarticles.The textsdonotprovideanyadditionalclarificationofcauseandcontext,neithertheyprovideanykindofinterpretationofinformationgiveninthetext.When speaking of “Stav” rubric, the pre-monitoring and post-monitoringperiodmarkthebringingforthofopinionsofdifferentactorsontheissueofcurrent syrian crisis. one of these is an example of correspondence between two journalists that hold completelydifferent standson the issue, andwaspresented as a strident conflict of opinions regarding an open letter to theamericanambassador,whichhadadistinctlynegativeandoffensivetone.Thedemocraticprincipleoffreedomofspeechwastheprimarygoalhere,butwhatthepost-monitoringperiodnotedwasacolumnthatwascriticaloftheattitudethećhurchhadtakentowardthePrideparade,andthetextinquestionopenswiththefollowing:“WhatkindofstenchhaspoisonedandpollutedthecapitalBelgrade.Poison–amorehorriblethanuraniumleftfromthenaTobombs.”Knowing theway of information placement in themedia and the principleof concealedadvertisement (introductoryparagraph, a lead, announcementetc.),theapplicationofthismethodinpublicspaceresultsinapsychologicalimpressionwiththeaudience,onethat,inthiscase,identifiesthesubjectofnaToandtheParade,placingthembothinadistinctlynegativecontext,withspecialemphasisontheirpositioningonthesecurityagendaastwo,security-wise,mostsensitivetopicsandnexttotwoentirelydifferentcontextsintwodifferent states, practically announcing that the experience of one is theannouncement of the experience of the other.The conclusionof “Stav” rubric analysis is that, in a small numberof casesthe democratic principles in journalism are reached (such as an intellectual discussionofopposedstands,whichincludesabroadspectrumofhistoricalevents, theoreticians and political figures), without a basis which wouldprovide a neutral, educational, informative and critical foundation for thereader,onethatshouldaimtowardsthereaders’essentialunderstandingofthe issue.

DAN

during themonitoring period, daily paper Dan published 7 articles thatdirectlyaddressedthetopicofnaToandEuro-atlanticintegrations,but

pre-monitoringandpost-monitoringperiodnotedafargreateramountofat-

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tentiondirected towards thesubject, andwhen it comes tocontent, the re-portsdonotdiffergreatly.The general impression is that the information on the activities of theGovernmentregardingnaToismostlyplacedinanegativecontext.inoneofthetextspresentingtheanalysisoftheGovernment’sdecisionthatćroatianplaneswillbeprotectingMontenegrosky, theauthorplacesanassumption:“PerhapsplanesfromsomeofthesurroundingnaTocountrieswilltakeoffinordertoattacharesidentialbuildingonGorica.”additionally,therewasatextthatpresentsapersonalopinionofthejournalist,titled“ćheisalive”–ametaphoricaltittle,whichdoesnotintroducethesubjectofnaTountiltheveryendofthearticle,whereitstates:“insteadofshoutingno PaSaRan and preventing Montenegro from entering the fascist naTopact,youwaitforsomeothergenerationtotaketheresponsibility.iraisemyvoiceagainstthenewReichthatgoesunderthenameofnaTopact.”ThetwoarticlesalsotaketoadistinctlynegativeanalysisofthestandoftheMinisterofForeignaffairsandEuropeanintegrationsandplacestheminacontextofdualopinionsontheissueofsupportingeitherRussian,oramericansuggestionforthe intervention in syria.Post-monitoringperiodincludedalargernumberoftexts,ofaverynegativecharacter, with headlines of emotional-psychological character that can befound in examples stated in rules of propaganda. The ”Stav” rubric againanalysesthedecisionoftheGovernmentoncooperationwithnaTo,withanextremely negative discoursewhich calls upon the psychological-historical-cultural componentwith the reader: “FromnowonMontenegro can forgetaboutthecoombsandputitself innaTochains”,thusseverelyoffendingalltheformsofethicalreportingthroughthisformofhatespeech;“insteadoftheblueMontenegroflag,underwhich“thesonsofyourrocks”guardedfreedom,Montenegro sky will, according to some plans, be wired by ćroatian MiGaircrafts, thoseYuGo21cars repainted in red-white chessboard thatmadethelordstarthatingchess.ifuptonow,theFirstfamily,themafia,thenaToandEuropeanmudwerelordsonEarth,atleasttheskywasfree.Fromnowon,itwillnolongerbetheplaceforbeautifulgirlstoreflecttheireyesin,butaplace for croatian chess patterns to rumble around.” Further headlines are of thesameevaluativecontext:“TheyarećlearingtheSeaofnaToPropaganda”,“TheyćleanedtheSeaofPropaganda”–apieceofnewsthatrepeatedtwice;“naToKillsFivećivilians”, a framing information; “WhoDoesn’tlikenaTois Regressive” a shifting of context, a completely inaccurate quoting of thePresidentofYouthoftheatlanticassociationofMontenegro;“lukšićRefusestoćondemnnaToForBombingMontenegro”evokinganemotionalrelationtowards the past with the public; then there was “nato Pollutes the sea and

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Endangers People”, as a flagrant example of securitization by the sector ofecology.analysis and textsofeducationalcharacterarenone,andthecriticalvalorizationofcurrentaffairswiththeaimtoeducatethepublicisalsomissing.

dNEVNENOVINE

only3textswereselectedfromDnevnenovineinthemonitoringperiod,buttwooutofthreewereauthorreportsandanalytical ingenre,which

indicates that the journalists in this media choose to follow the issue on their own.authorreportsarepresent,whichagainshowsthatthejournalistshavechosen to follow the topic.Except for theactivitiesofMinisterlukšić, the textsdonotdiffergreatly incontent.onetexthasapositiveevaluativecontext,thesecondisneutralandthethirdisnegative,presentingthereactionofapoliticalpartytothepositionlukšićholdsontheissueofamericaninterventioninSyria.Thephotographsandheadlinesholdnoelementsofsecuritizationandmetaphoricaltwistingofthecontext,buttheydoholdanevaluativemarker“itistooearlyfornaTo.”Hatespeechisnotpresent.

BLIC MONTENEGRO

asadaily,Blicplacessubstantialemphasisontheactivitiesofauthoritiesandtopicsthataredominantinthemediaagenda,andinthatrespect6

outof9textsaddressthetopicsofnaTo.The3remainingtextsrefertotheawardingofthisdailybyannGothatfocusesonnaToactivities,theopeningofćlinton’slibraryandtheSyriainitiative.Theevaluativecontextofthetextsismostlyneutral,whileingenreitismostlynews.Thepreandpost-monitoringperiodalsoenteredthecorpusandtheyrecordnogreaterchangeswhenitcomestocontext,causeofreporting,actorsandtopics.Theframeofreporting inBlic isofamainly informative-neutralcharacter,onlywithmoreactivecoverageoftheactivitiesofnGosector.

MONITOr(WEEkLY)

theweeklypaperMonitorpublishedonly1textthatrepresentsajournalis-ticreviewofMontenegro’sparticipationintheSyriainitiative.Theevalua-

tivecontextofthistextisextremelynegative.elements of hate speech are present in the lexicon.

Online portals2• aNaLITIkaPOrTaL

• rTCGPOrTaL

• POrTaLCafédELMONTENEGrO

• POrTaLVIjESTI

2020

aNaLITIkaPOrTaL

analitikaportal published a total of 16 texts addressing thenaTo topic,which is thehighest numberpermedium (print or online) during the

monitoringperiod.in terms of genre, analitika portal mostly contained news and reports offactualreportingform.audio-visualpresentationofthetextisbasedontextandphotography.allthetextscovercurrentaffairsandnomediainitiativeispresent.The topics reportedonaremostly international, public authoritiesandnGosector,andsoaretheactors.the actors are mainly placed in a positive context.Hatespeech in the texts isnon-existent.Thereaders’ commentscontainnohate speech either.

RTCG PORTAL

thePublicServiceofMontenegroportalpublishedonlyonetextduringthemonitoringperiod.itwasashortnewsitemonacurrentevent,abroadcast

ofameetingofpublicofficialsandaforeigndiplomat,witharealisticheadline,ofaneutralcharacter,withnoeducationalcomponent.RTćGportaldoesnotcontaintextsrepresentingamediainitiative,nordoesitincorporateanalyticaljournalisticform(article,introductory,commentary,column),whenitcomestothesubjectmatterofthismonitoring.Hatespeechinthetextsisnon-existent.Thereaders’commentscontainnohatespeecheither.

POrTaLCafédELMONTENEGrO

cDMportalpublishedatotalof9texts,which ingenrearemostly factualjournalistic forms of news and short reports. all the texts address current

affairs,butexclusivelythosefromthesphereofpublicauthorities’activitiesorbroadcastsofannouncementsmadebyinternationalofficials.onlyoneofthetextsreportedonacurrentaffair–nGoactivities.Mediainitiativeislacking,allthetextsfallshortofanyeducationalcomponent,andhatespeechisnotpresent. Thereaders’commentscontainnohatespeecheither.

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POrTaLVIjESTI

Portalvijestipublishedatotalof5textsthatplacenaToasthecentraltopic.Regardinggenre,thetextsaremainlyreportsasfactualforms,withanalyt-

ical elements. The textsarenotably longer than is thecasewithotherportals.The topicsin two of them arenGos, and in the remaining three the topics are publicauthorities.Theevaluativecontextispredominantlyneutralandpositive,withtheexceptionofone,whichhadanegativecontext.Hatespeechinthetextsisnon-existent.

Electronic medija – television stations3• ThEPuBLICSErVICE OfMONTENEGrO-rTCG

• TVPINk

• TVPrVa

• TVaTLaS

• TVVIjESTI

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ThEPuBLICSErVICEOfMONTENEGrO-rTCG

thePublicServiceofMontenegroairedatotalof5reportsonnaToduringthemonitoringperiod.Thereportsweremainlyamongstthefirstinthe

newsshow.allthereportspredominantlyfocusonpublicofficialsandinter-national actors. none of the reports covered the nato topic in the context of advantagesanddisadvantagesof theaccessionofMontenegro tonaTo,butwereratherofaninformativecharacter,broadcastingmeetingsandsessions.the evaluative context of all reports is neutral. the Public service has the highestlevelofobligationtowardsthepublic,toeducate,informandprovidethe public with details of political processes run by the government. it is notable that the Service covers such complex topics of high interest to thepublicmainlythroughfactualnews.

PINkTV

PinkTvaired2reportson thenaTotopicduring themonitoringperiod,both in theircentralnewsprogram“infoMonte”. in termsoforder, they

comefirstandsecondrespectively,whichindicatesthatthissubjectisofhighpriorityintheeditorialpolicyofthenewsprogram.ćurrentaudiorecordingisusedfornewscoverage.Thecauseofreportinginbothcaseswasacurrentevent,whilethesubjectswererepresentativesofthegovernmentinbothcas-es,andtheactorswereinternationalrepresentatives.Theevaluativecontextwas positive in both cases.no educational or research elements of news were present.

TVPrVa

PrvaTvaired3reportsduringthemonitoringperiod.incaseswherethestateofficialswerethetopic,thenewswereamongstthefirstinthepro-

gramandinthecasewhereannGowasthetopic,thereportcamefifth.inallthreecasesthereportwascoveredwithacurrentaudiorecording.asstated, in 2 of the reports the topics were state officials and internationalactors,whileoneofthereportshadannGoasitstopic.Prva tV is the only television station to report on ngo activities related to the nato topic. all the reports have a positive evaluative context.

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rTVaTLaS

rTvatlasairedonlyonereportduringthemonitoringperiod,anditwasplacedfirst,withatopicthatwasnotdirectlyrelatedtonaTobutratherto

thepresenceofthePrimeMinisteratthe68thunassemblybroadcastinghisstatementthatMontenegrostrivestowardjoiningthealliance.RTvatlashadnoother,educationalor informativereportsonthesubjectofMontenegro’smembership in nato.

TVVIjESTI

tvvijestiaired2reportsduringthemonitoringperiod.Thereportswerepositioned second and third respectively.

Theactorsinbothcaseswerestateofficialsandinternationalactors,whosestatements were inspired by current affairs.both reports had a neutral evaluative context.

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Focusgroups witheditorsandjournalists, november2013Methodology

Focus group was the most suitable qualitative research instrument forgainingvalid information thatwouldcomplete thepreviouslyconducted

mediamonitoring.Theresearchteambelievedthatthemainadvantageofthefocusgroupasatechniqueliesinthefactthattheresultswouldrepresenttheopinionsofpeoplerelevanttothesubject,ofsimilarfeaturesandexperience,whowouldexpresstheiropiniononthesubjectandthechallengeswithinthesubject.aquestionnaireconsistingof12questions for journalistsand17questionsfor editors of the media was used as the research instrument within the focus groups.allEditorsatthemediaincludedinthemonitoringwereinvitedtotakepartinthefocusgroupandto,withtheirorthepresenceoftheirrepresentatives,contribute to creating a better picture of the research topic. Those whorespondedtotheinvitationwereRTćG1,RTćG2,portalRTćG,Portalanalitika,dailypaperPobjeda,TvPink,TvPrva,Tvatlas.Therepresentativesofthefollowingmediadidnotrespondtotheinvitation:Tvvijesti,nDvijesti,portalvijesti,portalćDM,dailypaperBlicćG,weeklypaperMonitor,papersDnevnenovineandDan.Themediaassignedthefollowingrepresentatives:adnanPrekić(EditorofthenewsProgram“Dnevnik2”RTćG), isidoraSekulićS�oć,(journalist,EditorofnewsProgramonnaTointegrations,RTćG),Majalalić,(Editor,RTćGportal),FilipRakonjac(journalist,portalRTćG),MilicaMinić(EditoroftheinformativenewsProgram“Forum”,andjournalist,atlasTv),MilicaPavićević(EditorofthenewsProgram“vijestiPrve”andjournalist,PrvaTv),Dragananovaković(Editor of the news Program “info Monte” and journalist, Pink Tv), Bojanvučinić (journalist, Pink Tv), Predrag Zečević (Editor, journalist, analitikaportal),ZoranDarmanović(PoliticalEditorfordailypaperPobjeda)andMajaĐurđić(journalist,dailypaperPobjeda).

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a report was made, based on the results of conversations with the listedparticipants,aswellasonthequestionnairetheyfilled.validandrepresentativeconclusions were reached considering that the focus group was attendedbyrepresentativesofat leastoneportal,onedailypaperandonetelevisionstation.For editors, as well as for the journalists, a set of similar questions wasfashioned in order to make the responses comparative. Thequestionsdesignedfortheparticipantsofthefocusgroupweredividedintothreesegments:

1. analysisofthepublicopinionandthemedia;2. analysisofproblemsidentifiedintheprocessofmediamonitoring3. ćonclusions

The Focus Groups Results4• ThErESuLTS OfThEquESTIONNaIrE–jOurNaLISTS

• ThErESuLTS OffOCuSGrOuP–jOurNaLISTS

• ThErESuLTS OfThEquESTIONNaIrE–EdITOrS

• ThErESuLTS OffOCuSGrOuP–EdITOrS

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Novinari

1.Whichshowsaremost popular/most read in your media?

2. Dou you think your media can create the public opinion?

3. Do you think the topics of NATO integrations are interesting to citizens?

yes

no

yes

no

info

entertainment

no ansver

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4. Can you list, according to importance,whichactorsinfluencethe public opinion most?

5. Are you neutral as a reporter, independent from your editor?

6. Do you think the reporters in your media house are specialised in specificrubrics?

yes

no

yes

no

Politicians

Media

Foreignofficials

academic community

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7. Do you think further specialisation of reporters is needed whenitcomesto reporting on security sectors, NaTOspecifically?

8. Do you think the topics of NATO integration can be coveredinawaythatwouldmakethem interesting to the public?

9. According to your opinion,whyisit that certain media have certain information on NATO and others don’t? Dou you think the problem lies in different editorial policies?

yes

no

yes

no

yes

no

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10. Do you think that currentnewsputasidethenewsonthe Alliance?

11. 11.In some media particularnewsgive greater media attention to NATO topics, whileinothersitissignificantlylesser or none. Do you thing editorial policy is the reason?

12. In your opinion, whatneedstobedone in order to make NATO topisc more interesting and relevant to the public, to keep their attention and educate them about the alliance?

yes

no

yes

no

Rezultati fokus grupa- NOVINARI

FAZA I

Analiza javnog mjenja i medija

Razgovor sa novinarima u prvoj fazi bio je fokusiran na medije u kojima rade, materijalno

stanje, broj zaposlenih, probleme sa kojima se susrijeću i uticaju tih medija na javnost.

Većina učesnika smatrala je da je zabavni program gledaniji/čitaniji nego informativni

sadržaji. Ipak, većina učesnika fokus grupe složila se u tome da je informativni program taj

koji umnogome kreira mišljenje javnosti. Svi učesnici smatrali su da njihov medij ne može

da kreira mišljenje javnog mjenja, osim ukoliko nema neki sadržaj koji ostali mediji nemaju

editorial policy

Reportingmethod

Somethingelse

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Theresultsoffocusgroup–jOurNaLISTS

PHASE I – Analysis of public opinion and the media

during phase one, conversationwith the journalists focused on their re-spectivemedia,thematerialstate,numberofemployees,problemsthey

encounterandtheinfluencetheyhaveonthepublic.Mostoftheparticipantsconsideredtheentertainmentprogramtohavealargeraudience/readershipthanthenewsprogram.Still,mostoftheparticipantsofthefocusgroupagreedthatitisthenewsprogramthatcancreatethepublicopinion. all the participants considered that their medium cannot create the public opinion, unless they present a certain content that anothermediumdoesnot(aninterview,atopiccoveredinawaythathasnotbeendonebeforeetc.).itwasmentioned,morethanonce,thatacollaborativemediaactioncanbringthe solution to this challenge. Entertainment program is, according to themediarepresentatives,moreinterestingbecausemorepeopleareincludedinitscreationandmorepeopleareinvisualcontactwiththeaudience,butalsobecausetheycovertopicswhichareevery-day,socialtopics.Private televisionspaymore attention to the entertainmentprogram.Morepeopleareinvolved,andthis,ontheotherhand,istheissuewhenitcomestothenewsprogram.Whenitcomestoprivatetelevisions,thereare5to10reportersinchargeoffollowingeventsandcoveringtopicsrelatedtothenewsprogram.Therefore,thedurationoftheseprogramsisconsiderablyshortened,onereporterisincharge of covering several topics per day (up to 4 reports by one reporterwithinonenewsprogram).Theparticipantsestimatedthatdurationofnewsprogramsdoesnotaffecttheirquality.Themainfactorsareactuallyfinances.Privatemediaareexperiencisgfinancialdifficultuesinthetimeoftheeconomiccrisis,andthenumberofemployeeshasbeendrasticallycut.Thereportersarenotspecialisedincertainareas,sotheycoverthetopicsfromdifferentareas,frompoliticstochronicles,economyandpeople’sstories.according to participants’ opinion , news programwould have a far betterqualityifmorepeoplewerehiredandifreporterswerespecialisedinparticularareas.atthePublicService,ontheotherhand,theinformativeprogramissomethingtowhichalotmoreattentionispaidandsomethingthatenjoysthegreatestreputationwiththepublic,andhasforyears.although„Dnevnik“isthemostwatchedshowonRTćG,thelatestgoalistoattracttheyoungerauidence,and

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forthatpurpose,severelnewentertainmnetshowshavebeencreatedrecently.accordingtotheRTćGrepresentative,thisstationhasthepowertoinfluencepublic opinion.Thepressmainlycoverstopicswhichareofinformationalcharacter,politicaltopicsaboveallelse,butasallmedia,thepressisalsoturningtotheyoungerpopulation, aiming towards creating new informative content that willgeneratenewreadership.Regardnigportals,newstopicsaretheonesmostread,andonesthatgeneratethemostpublicattention,plushavethebiggestnumberofcomments.inmostcases thesearecurrent socio-political topics (church issues, identity issues,KaPetc).Portalslargelyattracttheattentionofthepublicbypublishingtextson social networks and those are usually the most read topics. The issue of staff is less visible in newspapers and portals, and so thereporters,eventhoughthey’renotspecificalyassignedtospecifictopics(naToexclusivelyoronlytheeventstakingplaceintheParliament,theGovernment),areassignedaccordingtoareas(politics,society,economy).

PhaSEII–analysisofproblemsidentifiedintheprocessofmediamonitoring

the viewpoint of the journalists is that all media treat the stories and top-icsrelatedtonaTointegrationsinthesameway.Pressconferences,visits

byofficials,thesupportMontenegroisreceivingfrominternationalpartners– these are the stories most often covered by the media. there is very little media initiativewhen it comes tonaTo integrations, and besides that, thejournalists consider that there are very few possibilities to cover the subject of naTointegrationsinawaythatcitizensofMontenegrowouldfindinteresting.What the reporters think is that the information regarding naTo is notinteresting to thepublic,which is themain reasonwhy someof themediaignorethistypeofinformation.Theyalsoexpressedanopinionthatthekindof information the media have access to and which is rendered by the actors in charge of the process of Montenegro’s accession into naTo are neithereducationalnorinterestingtothepublic.While covering the topic of naTo integrations, the reporters are objective,non-biasandarenotenduringanyformofpressurebytheireditors.the participants also held the opinion that the media do not have the power to access Montenegro into naTo, but that they can only provide citizenswith relevant information, and among those pieces of information a verysmall number are interesting, educational stories that concern any citizeninparticularandthatwouldexplainhowMontenegro’saccessionintonaTo

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would improve the quality of life of an individual. The issue of naTo is,accordingtotheopinionofparticipantsofthefocusgroup,stillatthelevelofpoliticaldebatebetweenparties,diplomatsandtheacademia,andinthepastfewyearsnothinghasbeendonetobringtheissueofnaTointegrationstothelevelofacommoncitizen.When it comes to the Government’s communication strategy on the northatlanticintegrations,thejournalistsconsideritnotgoodenough,whichcametoshowduringconductionoftheactionplan.oneofthemajorissuesbroughtoutbythepressistheinabilitytoreportonthenaTointegrationsoutsidethebordersofMontenegro.Therehavebeenanumberofseminars,workshopsandmeetingswithnaToasthemaintopic,buttheparticipantsfeelthatthesheerreporting of these events cannot contribute to better communication, andthereforetobetterunderstandingofnaTo.Theparticipants’mainargumentwas the fact that these “seminars of similar minds” are unnecessary because theygatherpeoplealreadyinfavoroftheaccession,whothenexchangetheirpositive experiences, instead of organizing these events for those of stillunformedopinionorthosewhostandagainsttheaccession.Thefocusgroupalso emphasized themajor issue of an insufficient number of expertswhowoulddiscussthetopicusingthespeechofa“commonman”,translatingtheexpertterminologytoanunderstandablelevel.The journalists pointed out the need for the Government to, instead ofan inadequately organized debate, put forward more means of providingreporterswiththepossibilitytoorganizecooperativeprojectswithrelevantorganizationsinMontenegroandotherexperts,projectsofnaTobasevisits,visits to centers and placeswhere good stories could be shot and relevantspeakersinterviewedsothatthecitizenscouldseeforthemselveswhatnaToactuallymeansandwhatthisaccessioncanbring.RTćGissofartheonlymediumwithashowdedicatedtonaTointegrations,whichhasbeenrunningfor4years(naToinfo“izazov”).astheeditorofthisshowtookpartinthisfocusgroup,thisopinionisselectedfromtherest.ThestandofthiseditoristhatthesituationregardingnaTohassubstantiallychangedincomparisontotheperiodwhentheshowstartedairing.attheverybeginning, the showwas taken as “hostile”,with deprecation in the public.Today, this topic isdiscussed,and that iswhat ismost important.However,maintaining the attention of the public is an evident problem. There is aninsufficient number of expert speakers, too little quality coverage, videofootage that would be interesting, too few specific examples from othercountriesandtheireverydaylife,examplesthatcouldbethebasisofgroundinga for or against opinionwhen it comes to naTo. according to the editor’sopinion,theversatilityofthecontentandstoriesrelatabletopeopleandtheir

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everydayexistenceisthekeyprerequisiteforovercomingtheemotionalandpsychologicalbarriersthatstilldominateinthispost-conflictBalkancontext.as one of the most important conditions for a closer familiarization withthenaTo topic, the journalists listedapersonalizedapproach in reporting.Speakingfromexperience,theviewersregardthesubjectwithahigherleveloftrust when they trust the reporter tied to the story in their minds. that is when acertainsensethatthereporterisreportingtruthfullyisformed,becausethereporter is dedicated to the subject professionally and in terms of time.

PHASE III – Conclusions and Recommendations

subsequentlytotheconversationwiththejournalists,someoftheproblemscametothefrontandappearedasessentialinreportingaboutnaTo.The

main conclusion was that journalists and press could not report to the public aboutsomethingorsomeoneiftheywerenottherelocally(quoteofoneoftheparticipants,“Howcanigiveareportfromtheassemblywheni`mnotthere,howcanigivereportsaboutnaTowhenican`tevenseeit.”).ThejournalistsconcludedthatreportingaboutnaTocouldbedoneinamoreinterestingway,andinordertoprovidehigh-qualityreportingtothepublic,theysuggestedthefollowing:

1. above all, it is necessary to organize a training, specialization or acourseforthe journalistswhowillbereportingaboutnaTo,whichwill educate them on how to report on this complex subject.

2. it is necessary to have new individualswhowill talk about naTo,eitherinterlocutorsforthetelevisionprogramorthereportingpress.the public should connect that person with that topic.

3. Furthermore, there should be a better Government engagement,so instead of seminars for nGos, representatives of theMinistries,assembly, and Government, representatives of allmedia should besenttoplaceswherenaToisinthespotlight(whetheritisavisittoourforcesinafghanistanorcertainlocationswherereportscouldbemadeabouttheequipmentthatnaToforcesuse,etc.).

4. ThejournaliststhinkthatoperationsoftheMontenegrinarmyinthefieldcouldalsocontributetothepublicsupport,andthoseactivitieswouldbecoveredbythemedia.Theissuerelatedtothis,whichneedstobesolved,ensuranceofahigherlevelofopennessoftheMinistryofdefense to such activities.

5. Finally,thelocalgovernmentsneedtobeinvolvedonahigherlevel.

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Editors

1.Whichshowsarethe most popular or read in your media?

2. Do you consider your media being able to create public opinion?

3. Do you think NATO integration topics are interesting to citizens?

info

entertainment

no answer

yes

no

yes

no

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4. Can you list, according to importance,whichactors have the mostinfluencepublic opinion the most?

5. Are you, as an editor, impartial and independent of anyinfluence?

6. Are the reporters in your media house specialized in particular topics?

yes

no

yes

no

Politicians

ngos

Worldevents

Media

Public communities

government

Political parties

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7. Do you think that journalists need additional specialization on covering the security sector, more precisely NATO?

8. Are there journalist in your newsroomwhicharesufficientlyfamiliarwiththeNATO related issues?

9. Could the security topics (NATO integration in particular) be covered in such a manner to be more interesting to the general public?

yes

no

yes

no

yes

no

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10. Whysomemediapublish certain newsconcerningNATO and others do not? Is it the problem of different editorial policies?

11.In your opinion, does the material component influencereportingon NATO related topics?

12. Do you think that citizens currently understandwhatisNaTOandwhatMontenegrowillgain from the membership?

yes

no

yes

no

yes

no

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13. Monitoringshowsalowlevelofmediainitiative,whatdoyou think are the main reasons?

14. Do you think that current topics suppress the Alliance related topics?

15. Do you consider impartiality and objectivity as plausible categorieswhenreporting on NATO related topics?

yes

no

yes

no

itisverytimeconsumingforjournalist

there are more important topics

Somethingelse

you do not have the resources

(lack of journalists)

ćitizensarenotinterested in the topic

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16. Whatneedstobe changed in order for NATO related topics to become more appealing and understandable?

FAZA I

Analiza javnog mjenja i medija

Slično kao i sa novinarima, prvi dio razgovora sa urednicima bio je fokusiran na to da li

misle da njihov medij može da kreira mišljenje javnosti.

Urednici su bili saglasni da ni jedan medij ne posjeduje taj socijalni kapital da sam kreira

javno mnjenje, ali smatraju da mediji generalno imaju najznačajniju ulogu u oblikovanju

sistema vrijednosti kod građana. Takođe, glavnu ulogu u ovom procesu dodijelili su upravo

glavnim informativnim emsijama u svim njihovim medijima. Primat imaju događaji koji se

tiču unutrašnje politike i dnevno-političkih tema.

Urednici medija takođe su bili stava da bi informisanost građana o specifičnim temama bila

na znatno višem nivou kada bi se novinari specijalizovali za određene oblasti. Međutim,

osim finansijskih izazova, novinari se suočavaju i sa izazovom manjka vještina, znanja i

editorial policy

Mannerofreporting

Somethingelse

The results of focus group - EDITORS

PHASE I – Public opinion and media analysis

similarlytotheconversationwiththejournalist,theconversationwiththeeditors focusedon thequestionwhether they thought theirmediacould

create public opinion. the editors held the same opinion about the fact that no media possessed such socialimpacttocreatepublicopiniononitsown,however,theyaddedthatthemediahadoneof themost importantroles increatingthesystemofvaluesamongthecitizens.also,themainnewsprogramsintheirmediaweresaidtoplayoneofthemainrolesinthisprocess,primarilythoserelatedtodomesticpolitics and daily political issues. Themedia editors also thought that the citizens could be better informedaboutspecifictopicsifjournalistswerespecializedincertainareas.However,exceptcertainfinancialchallenges,journalistsalsofacechallengesregardinglackofknowledge,skillsandtechniquesinordertotackleprofessionaltopics.Seminarstheyattendedwerenoteffectiveenoughinhelpingthemovercomethese problems, because they did not consist of authentic engagement ofjournalists in the tasks.

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PHASE II – Analysis of problems raised by media monitoring

the editors hold the same opinion about the fact that the nato related in-formationaccessibletothemediaisnotconsideredinterestingbythepub-

lic.Furthermore,theeditorsemphasizethattheinformationthatcanberead/seen/heardinthemediacannot impacttheopinionofthepeopleregardingthat issue by any means. accordingtothem,themainreasonforthisaretheinstitutionsinchargeofthenaTointegrationprocess.TheeditorsbelievethattheGovernmenthasnotsetnaToaccessionasthemainpriorityyet,orelsethatwouldbethemaintopicinallthemedia.Thefocusgroupparticipantsbelievethatmedia’sinterestsequaltotheinterestsoftheGovernment.TheeditorsalsobelievethatthecampaignforthenaTosupportwithinthebordersofMontenegrohasnotstartedyet,orithasfollowedthewrongpath.Forumsorganizedinthemunicipalitiesare,according to theiropinion, conceived inawrongway,unsuccessfulandproforma.Duetothat,themediadonotemphasizeitsimportance.The editorsofMontenegrinmedia alsobelieve that the authorities are stillfocused onwhat foreign officials and international community think aboutour accession. this is the reason why the information sent to the media is frequently about a certain country supporting Montenegro on its way tonaTo,bilateralmeetingsonaninternationallevel,speechesatthemeetingsin foreign countries, and similar events, all ofwhich are insignificant to anaveragecitizen.The editors’ assessment supports the idea that the present media inMontenegrodonotconsistofprograms,whichwouldshowalltheadvantagesanddisadvantagesoftheaccession,aswellaseducatecitizensanddevelopthetopicinaninteresting,effectiveway.Theyaddtheargumentwhichemphasizesthe quality, not the quantity of presenting the information to the public,followed by examples: a foreignmember country report, officials’ debates,butalsoopinionexchangebetweencitizens,students,youth,localpopulation,representativesofdifferentprofessions,etc.Theybelievethatawellconceivedprojectcreatedwithanorganizationwithrelevantexperiencebelongingtoanetworkofalargenumberoforganizationsandindividualsintheregion(e.g.naTo and young entrepreneurs, naTo and agriculture, naTo and ecologycompaniesetc.),couldcontributetothediversity.Theyalsobelievethatitisnecessaryforthecampaigntoincludeallmedia-newspapers,radiostations,televisionandinternetportals.onlythenwillitbepossibletoprogresswhenitcomestopublicsupport.Thefocusgroupparticipantsalsomentionedthatthe government itself should establish better two-way communication with the media.

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according to the editors, themain goal, which should be accomplished bythe Government through the cooperationwith themedia, is to disrupt thetraditional attitude towards ‘friends’ and ‘enemies’. This is only possiblethroughcommunicationwiththecitizens,saytheeditors.Theeditorsalsohighlightthechallengethepoliticalelitehastoface,andthatisthelackofpossibilitytoseparateeverydaygoalsfromthelong-termones.inthatsense,thereisalackofapoliticalinitiativeoftheGovernmentforthosewho are pro nato accession to talk to their supporters on a local level. apart fromtheprotocolvisits,therearenoactivitieswhichcouldbeinterestingtothecitizens,whocouldfollowandprocessthem.Finally, the editors agreed that media, although independent of publicinstitutions,areonlyachannelfordeliveringinformation,andrarelycreatingit. all additional engagements require resources and expert opinion, butwithout financial support and partner organizations/ contributors/ othermedia,thereisnosolutionforthecurrentchallengesonthereportingaboutnato accession.

PHASE III – Recommendations and Conclusions

asmentionedearlier,theeditorsbelievethatthecountryhasnotyetstart-edanadequatecampaignfornaToandthatthepublicsupportfornaTo

hasnotbeensetas itspriority.Themomentittakesplace,theeditorsstatethatallthemediatogetherandindividuallyshoulddotheirpartofjob-putnaTointhespotlight.Priortothis,itisnecessaryfortheauthoritiestouniteandcoordinatetheiractivitiesregardingthisissue.Withoutunitedandcoor-dinatedactivitiesofthepoliticalelitecooperating,officials,itisimpossibleforthemediatoinfluencethepublicontheirown.Thetaskofthemediaistodeliverinformationandnothingelse.Therefore,theonlyrecommendationcomingfromtheeditorsistoputtheaccessiontopiconthetopoftheprioritylistandlaunchthecampaigninMontenegro.

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MonitoringTeam conlusions

Mediaplayasignificantroleinformingpublicopinionaboutthevisibilityof nato in public. as stated in the action plan for the implementation

ofcommunicationstrategyofEuro-atlanticintegrations,achievingnecessarypublicsupportisoneofthemostsignificantquestionsnotonlyfortheformalaccessionofMontenegro intonaTo,but also for ‘gaining legitimacy for theimplementationofallMontenegrinactivitiesasacrediblememberofnaTo’.accordingtothelastresearchofthećenterforDemocracyandHumanRights,45%ofthecitizensdonotsupportthenaToaccession,38%arepro,while17%donotevenhaveanopinionaboutthenaTointegrations.accordingtothedatagivenbythenationalcoordinatorofnaTonebojšaKaluđerovićonnovember21st,40%ofthecitizenssupporttheaccession,30%areagainst,andtherestdonothaveanopinionaboutit,whichhesaysis‘aconcernwhichisnotrelatedtothenumbers,buttothelackofinformationgiventocitizens,whichproducesthispercentage’.also,accordingtothećenterforDemocracyandHumanRights,thepublicsupportforthenaTointegrationshasdecreasedsince2010.as themaincommunicationschannel,mediahaveamoralandprofessionalobligation to inform thepublic on time, correctly and coherently about theactivities carried out by the government on their behalf. this lawful and natural right tobe informedshouldnotbeaproductof themedia freewillbecausetheconsequenceofthearbitrarymediaattitudetowardskeyissuesisinadequate,insufficientandoftenawronginterpretationoffactsandsocialprocesses. After the monitoring team monitored the media and discussions in the formoffocusgroupswiththemediarepresentativeswhowerethemon-itoringsubjecttookplace,theteamcametothefollowingconclusions:

– ThemediastilldonothaveclearinstructionsregardingthereportingonsuchcomplexissuesasEuro-atlanticintegrations.Thesolutionforthisarebetterorganized,purpose-oriented, longer lastingtrainingsandspecializedclasseswhichwouldhavetheprofilingofjournalistswhowouldreportonnaToasaconditionandobligation.Therefore,not training for thesakeof training,with journalistswhowouldbe

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givenothertasksafterwards.learningtechniquesandskillsfortopicanalysis,apersonalizedapproach,contactwith thecitizens, findingandnurturinginterlocutors,diversityofreportingforms,networkingand constant professional directing, and developing awareness ofjournalists in order to help them understand that their task is not only tofollowthepoliticalagendabutalsotosettopicssignificantforthesocial-politicalagendaanddevelopmentofthepublicdebate.

– the government has not yet included the nato topic in its priority list.Thesolutionforthisisaselectedteam,experienceintheregion,constant contributions of individuals from the region who alreadywent through the process (ćroatia, Slovenia), working groups,development of a new communicative strategy, guided activities ofthe action plan.

– Thecivilsector,mediaandGovernmentdonotseemcoordinatedinthisarea.Thesolutionforthisarejointprojects,exportandexchangeofexpertopinion,dialogueanddebate,gettingthecitizensinvolvedineachactivity.nosectorcanhaveamonopolyoverthenaTotopic,becauseitissomethingconcerningthewholesociety.

– Workingwithyoungpeopleisthekeyprerequisiteforsustainabilityof the motivation and support as a part of the further reform of the systemandleadingtheentiresocietytoestablishingdemocracy.Door-to-door activities, subsidiaryprinciple. Setting the public debate inthefollowingdirection:whatnaToaccessionmeansforeverydaylife,economy,protection,education,implementationoftheruleoflawandotherprioritieswhichareprerequisites for thecountry’s transitionfromatransitionalandpost-conflictcontexttoademocraticone.

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