Category: Sic! // Coming new Media Act // Does anyone even care about authentic Slovenian journalism? // And why are we, the journalistically self-grown critical media, so deeply concerned?

Sic! // Coming new Media Act // Does anyone even care about authentic Slovenian journalism? // And why are we, the journalistically self-grown critical media, so deeply concerned?

SLOVENIAN JOURNALISM IN THE WHIRLWIND OF ULTRA AND EXTRA EXAGGERATIONS, MADNESS, BITTERNESS AND PAIN, COLLABORATION, »SMOKE AND MIRRORS«, SERVILITY AND GREED, AND THE »CHIHUAHUA SYNDROME«, YET ALSO HOME TO IRREPLACEABLE AND UNDEFEATABLE STORIES, A DEFIANT DESIRE FOR EXPRESSION, AND THE OMINOUS FORESHADOWING OF CENSORSHIP AND SILENCING, WHICH IS IMPLICITLY, BUT NO LESS SINISTERLY, PROMISED IN THE PROPOSAL FOR THE NEW MEDIA LAW — LONG BEFORE THE ARTICLES ON HATE SPEECH!

»A diverse media landscape will not be created by throwing millions at three business entities — three Slovenian media multimillionaires and their dozens of media outlets and three newspapers. Even if each of them employed a thousand journalists, as various credible and competent discussants rightly emphasize, we’re still only talking about three voices in the media landscape — and frankly, they’re not even that different from each other! Nor will diversity be brought about — or at least it will be incredibly difficult to ensure — by five hybrid, semi-journalistic, semi-agenda-driven, quasi-‘polit-commissar’ digital platforms that attack their colleagues and claim the sole salvific right to determine what is true and what is not, based on the ultra-agenda they represent and promote. They arrogate to themselves the exclusive right to ’empower’ and ‘educate’ the Slovenian public with a single, absolute truth — something that is not only incompatible with the credibility of the journalistic profession and ethics, but, in my view — with all due respect to the hardworking colleagues who may be driven by good intentions — also somewhat patronizing, condescending, and borderline insulting to the people and the Slovenian public in 2025. This public is, without question, literate and well-informed, often even more educated than those trying to brainwash and towel-dry their minds in the supposed spirit of Fanči from Filipčič and Derganec’s Butnskala (legendary Slovene film parody on totalitarism from mid 1980s, translator’s comment)! Moreover, the only thing that ever truly empowers and, if one insists on the term, ‘educates’ the public is genuine, credible information — presented through well-crafted, complex, in-depth, clearly structured, and linguistically refined storytelling! And as many such diverse stories as possible! Of course, as already said, the diversity of the Slovenian media landscape has been fragile for a long time. On the one hand, there has been a severe erosion of journalistic sovereignty; on the other, we’ve long seen the planting and flourishing of invasive media ‘species.’ And yes — the uprooting and extermination of rare, wild-growing flowers as well!« Več…