Montenegro Journalists Earn Sub-Average Pay

Most of the 809 journalists working for over hundred media outlets in Montenegro earn less than the national average pay, a survey published by the country's Media Insitute on Tuesday shows.

The survey finds that the average wage of journalists in Montenegro is 470 euros a month, which is just below the average monthly wage of 487 euros.

Every fourth employee in the media works overtime, almost on a daily basis, while half of them are never paid for such work.

The head of the Montenegro's Media Trade Union, Marijana Camovic, said employees in the media are often deprived of the right to paid annual leave, to a regular monthly income and to a maximum 40-hour working week.

Camovic said that media owners also often obstruct journalists' access to union representation.

"The research shows that the treatment of employees in private media outlets is even worse than in the public broadcasters," she said.

About 2,000 people in all, including non-journalists, currently work in the country's 54 radio and TV stations, 50 newspapers and magazines and other outlets. The largest number, around 720, work in the public broadcaster, RTCG.

Although the two-thirds of people working in the media are women, there is not yet a single female editor-in-chief in the Montenegrin print media.  

"Journalism is a predominantly female occupation in Montenegro. However, it is evident that they are not proportional [in terms of representation] in management positions in the media," Camovic noted.