Odziv v slovenskem jeziku

Spoštovana podpredsednica Evropske komisije!

Presenečeni in razočarani smo nad vašo izjavo, objavljeno na spletnem portalu EurActiv, v kateri ste izrekli, da »je (v Sloveniji) ogroženo trajnostno financiranje medijev«.

Vljudno vas naprošamo, da svojo izjavo podkrepite s konkretnimi primeri, ki kažejo na domnevno »ogroženo trajnostno financiranje« medijev v Sloveniji. Kot smo javnosti že večkrat razložili, je zgodba z STA rešljiva v enem dnevu, vendar je vse odvisno od direktorja agencije, ki Vladi še vedno ni poslal ustreznih dokumentov, na podlagi katerih bi lahko Vlada presodila, koliko denarja bo agenciji namenila za financiranje javne službe. Še posebej pa zmoti, da ste primer STA-ja uporabili kot dokaz, da je v Sloveniji ogroženo trajnostno financiranje medijev. Lahko vam zagotovimo, da to ne drži.

State Department v svojem letnem poročilu, ki analizira človekove pravice v posameznih državah, ocenjuje, da so neodvisni mediji neovirano delovali in svobodno izražali najrazličnejša stališča. Ob tem sta morala biti izpolnjena dva osnovna pogoja – odsotnost oblastniških pritiskov na uredniško politiko in stalna finančna podpora države, saj so prihodki medijev izredno nizki, še zlasti v času pandemije covid-19.

Dodamo naj, da v času pandemije noben novinar ni izgubil zaposlitve. Zasluga za to gre odločnemu in pravočasnemu odzivu Vlade, ki je tako zasebne kot javne medije podprla z dodatno državno pomočjo. Zasebne medijske družbe so prejele več deset milijonov evrov. Vlada je sofinancirala 80-odstotkov neto plače delavcem na čakanju, prav tako je plačevala njihove prispevke.

Samozaposleni novinarji že od marca lani prejemajo univerzalni temeljni dohodek, država tudi njim plačuje prispevke. Tovrstne državne pomoči bodo deležni vsaj do 30. junija 2021. RTV Slovenija je v času pandemije prejela dodatno finančno spodbudo v višini 2,7 milijona evrov.

Strokovna komisija Ministrstva za kulturo je leta 2020 zasebnim medijem in zasebnim medijem posebnega pomena namenila 2.670.000 evrov. Enak znesek se bo zasebnim medijem podelil tudi leta 2021. Ministrstvo je tako skupaj podprlo projekte 67 medijev.

Vlada je vse napore vložila v to, da medijske družbe čim bolj obvaruje pred posledicami pandemije. Izjava, da je v Sloveniji »trajnostno financiranje medijev ogroženo«, je žaljiva, saj namerno ignorira ves trud, ki ga je ne le vlada, ampak celotna državna uprava namenila reševanju medijev.

Zanima nas predvsem, kje ste dobili takšne informacije. Menimo, da je neprimerno, če visoki uradnik Evropske Unije širi neresnične trditve, ne da bi se pred tem seznanil z dejstvi. Poslali smo vam več podrobnih opisov in problemov slovenske medijske krajine ter podroben seznam vseh ukrepov, ki smo jih sprejeli za pomoč medijem. Ali morda menite, da so informacije, ki vam jih pošiljamo, zavajajoče ali napačne? Naše zapise je v današnji informacijski dobi zelo preprosto preveriti in potrditi. Prav tako trditve priznanih posameznikov, novinarjev in NVO-jev (Slovenski Svetovni kongres, Katedrala svobode, Zbor za republiko in nedavno poročilo State Departmenta), ki orisujejo slovensko medijsko krajino povsem drugače kot vi.

Spoštovana podpredsednica, vedno smo pripravljeni na dialog, vendar le, če dialog poteka na podlagi preverjenih dejstev in ne na hiperbolični retoriki, ki nima nobene zveze z objektivno resničnostjo.

Dr. Vasko Simoniti,
minister za kulturo

Odziv v angleškem jeziku

Dear esteemed Vice-President of the EU commission!

We were surprised and disappointed when we read your blanket statement, published in EurActiv news portal that »the sustainable financing of the media (in Slovenia) is endangered«.

We would kindly ask you to name a few examples of »endangered sustainable financing« of the media. As we have reassured the public, the legal dilemma connected to financing of STA can be resolved in one day, if the director of the agency forwards the relevant documents on the basis of which the Government will be able to assess how many funds STA needs to run its public service. However, it is especially disheartening that you deduced the legal conundrum regarding STA is proof that sustainable media financing in the whole country is endangered. « We can assure you this claim is untrue.

The State Department in its annual report on countries states that Independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of views without restriction. But this requires two prerequisites: no editorial pressures and a steady financial backing from the Government since the industry’s profit margins are paper-thin – especially during the pandemic.

No journalist was fired during the Covid-19 crisis. This would have been impossible without a robust package of state aid to help the private as well as the public media.

Private media companies were privy to tens of millions of euros from the Covid-19 relief aid. The Government financed 80 percent of the salaries of temporary laid-off workers, as well as their social and health security fees.

Self-employed journalists have been receiving a universal basic income and complete write-off of their social and health care expenses since March last year and will continue to benefit from this form of aid until at least June 30th.The public broadcaster RTV Slovenija received additional Covid-19 aid of 2.7 million euros.

The expert commission of the Ministry of culture allocated 2,670,000 euros dedicated to private media in 2020 and will do the same 2021. In total, the ministry supported projects of 67 media publishers.

The Government went out of its way so the media companies would battle through the corona-crisis as unscathed as possible. To say that »sustainable financing of the media is endangered« is an insult to these efforts.

We are intrigued to know where you got such information from. We feel it is inappropriate for a high-level EU official to spread such conjecture without getting acquainted with facts. We sent you several detailed descriptions of the realities and problems of Slovenian media landscape as well as a comprehensive list of all the measures we have undertaken to help the media. Are you perhaps under the impression that information you get from our side is misleading or erroneous? Our claims are easily verifiable, as well as claims of all the reputed individuals, journalists and NGOs, which report a polar opposite of what you are claiming – such as that of Slovenian world congress, Katedrala svobode, Zbor za republiko as well as a recent report by the State Department.

Esteemed Vice-President, we are always ready for dialogue, yet it would be highly appreciated if we could interact with facts only, rather than hyperbolic rhetoric which has no connection to objective reality.

Dr. Vasko Simoniti,
The Minister of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia