The Association of Professional Journalists of Montenegro (DPNCG) and the Association for Responsible and Sustainable Development (UZOR) congratulate journalists on the Day of Journalists of Montenegro in the hope that we will welcome the next Day of Journalists of Montenegro in a significantly better environment for working with security and economic aspects.
Following the evaluations of the European Commission regarding the general readiness and progress in the field of freedom of expression and the media, we appreciate that it is extremely important that, in the coming period, special attention be paid to the effective prevention and protection of journalists in Montenegro, that is, to addressing threats and attacks on journalists, as well as fulfilling the recommendations of the Commission for Monitoring Investigations of Journalists. It is necessary to achieve a synergetic effect of non-governmental organizations, the media and competent institutions with the aim of contributing to the process of European integration of Montenegro in part of Chapter 23 through the fight against impunity and improving the protection of journalists. On the other hand, we appeal to journalists to devote themselves to the improvement of professional standards and compliance with the Code of Ethics, which will prevent them from succumbing to misinformation and campaigns for other people’s interests and that in their work the focus should be exclusively on the public interest and the general good of the citizens of Montenegro. At the same time, we call on the owners of public and commercial media to improve the economic status of journalists in order to motivate them to improve the quality of their work. Also, reaching a compromise on the Branch collective agreement will ensure the security of respect for the rights and earnings of journalists, especially those working in private media.
Bearing in mind the above, DPNCG and UZOR together with the Hanns Seidel Foundation from Germany with the support of the European Union through the two-year project “Effective prevention and protection of journalists in Montenegro” will implement activities that will support the full protection of journalists and other media workers. The project will result in the improvement of the prevention of rights violations and abuse of journalists and further efforts to align the media policy and legal framework with the EU acquis. It will be the basis for increasing the capacity of journalists and other media workers for effective protection and the fight against impunity. Finally, we will make efforts to help implement the recommendations of the Commission for Monitoring Investigations of Journalists, primarily by the Prosecutor’s Office, as well as promote its work and decisions through the support of the creation of a special website. Journalists will be provided with legal and psychological support. The special value of this project is that the best practices and solutions in this field will be identified in Germany, in order to apply the same in Montenegro.
In our work, special attention will be devoted to the improvement of the process of self-regulation and the fulfillment of goals from the Media Strategy,and we will actively work on reaching a consensus through the formation of a Coordination Body that will have a dual role – encouraging structural dialogue regarding the rights and safety of journalists and monitoring professional standards and initiating the improvement of the Code of Ethics for journalists of Montenegro.
