Slovenian Journalists Accuse Govt Communication Office of Censorship

The Slovenian Journalists' Association, DNS, has complained of "new forms of lowering journalistic freedom" in the country following reports that the Government Communications Office, UKOM, has withheld permission for officials to appear on news shows.

The public television broadcaster, RTV Slovenia, on Wednesday said that after it invited Bojana Beovic, the head of the advisory group at the Health Ministry, onto its news show to talk about the false results of some rapid COVID-19 tests, UKOM did not consent for her to appear.

It also did not find an alternative interlocutor from a competent ministry or the National Institute of Public Health, NIJZ.

Media also reported that other potential TV guests, including the Education Minister and the director of the NIJZ, failed to get consent to appear on Slovenian commercial television Kanal A.

Spela Stare, secretary-general of the DNS, told BIRN that problems in communications with the government were nothing new.

"[But] we were, in a way surprised because, [we are wondering] how far it has gone and where we are as a country in the terms of press freedom," Stare said.

"It is unprecedented for this agency [UKOM] to prohibit ministers, really the highest officials, to speak to journalists," Stare commented.

The DNS said on Thursday that UKOM "cannot be a selector of content for the media and adapt it to its own measure or the measure of the government", so preventing the media from informing the public.

"Centralised government communication, censorship of its own functionaries and restricting journalists' access to information are the features of autocratic and undemocratic systems which do not respect freedom of speech," it warned.

According to the union,...