The purpose of this virtual fast-reaction mission was to understand from stakeholders in Montenegro the current state of media freedom in the country, in relation to individual cases such as the ongoing criminal proceedings against investigative journalist Jovo Martinovic and the legacy of the unsolved crimes such as the shooting of Vijesti journalist Olivera Lakic in 2018 as well as a broader analysis of the environment for journalists and media workers as a whole.
Throughout the meetings, a number of trends and themes emerged, which guided the subsequent meetings and the contents of this report.
Several actions can be identified that will be key to rebuilding trust and implementing sustainable reform.
They include, among other pressing concerns, the following recommendations identified in the report:
- Ending impunity for crimes against journalists and media workers by ensuring police and prosecutors investigate all attacks and threats and bring perpetrators and the masterminds behind them to justice;
- Establishing shared standards and principles for the regulation of the media market that encourages a fair playing field;
- Continuing the reform of the public broadcaster;
- Reforming journalistic source protection and, generally, ensuring that all new or amended media laws are drafted in line with international standards and best practice on media freedom and pluralism.
The content of this article can be used according to the terms of Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) . To do so use the the wording "this article was originally published on the Resource Centre on Media Freedom in Europe" including a direct active link to the original article page.
