Labor Union Association Sloga: More Severe Incidents Could Happen unless Protection of Press Freedom Is Ensured

Press (BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC/)

On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, marked on May 3, the Association of Labor Unions of Serbia Sloga has warned that more serious incidents, which could lead to the point of no return, could happen, unless decisive steps are taken to ensure protection of press freedom in Serbia and counter the spread of hate speech and violence.

“We want to warn of the alarming situation in the media scene in Serbia. The poisonous atmosphere in the media environment has led to unprecedented hate speech which has been threatening the society and inciting violence. The attacks on TV crews of state public broadcaster RTS and TV Prva, which were reporting from excursion sites where people had gathered on May 1, represent the consequences of this atmosphere,” Sloga has said in a release.

According to the release, such situation on the media scene is largely to be blamed on the regime, which is obliged to support all journalists, media workers and broader public in fighting for press freedom and stopping the spread of hate speech which leads to violence.

“Aside from this one, there is a large number of other problems, including self-censorship, lack of solidarity and incomprehension of the danger posed by media manipulation, which all have been for decades now seriously jeopardizing professional integrity of journalists and the democratic values which our society relies on. More news items have been used as propaganda tools and fewer to inform the public,” Sloga has said in the statement.