Most of the largest Slovenian media were quite reluctant to report on achievements of Donald Trump during his presidency and their reporting mostly portrayed him in a negative sense – similarly to most of the more left-leaning American media. According to experts, this is a reflection of their left-wing political tendencies in Slovenian domestic politics. The left-wing coalition was expected to take advantage of the cooperation with the US in the past, which would be reflected in cooperation with the Democrats, but experts say very little has been done so far to strengthen relations with the US.
The holiday of American democracy, the election of the president of the country took place yesterday. Although the final results are not yet known and they may not be for a few more weeks, now is a good time to analyse the Slovenian media and their role in the events in the USA during the election campaign. We have already pointed out biased broadcasts and commentators with deficient knowledge and well-known political preferences, but this time we asked experts in American politics for their opinion on the assessment of the Slovenian media. Interestingly, their views did not differ from our observations.
The first Slovenian Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the United States between 1997 and 2000, Dimitrij Rupel, estimates that the media have become quite reticent about the United States and reporting about the US after 2008. He notes that the Slovenia media have maintained this reluctance to report on the situation in the United States regardless of whether a Republican or a Democrat was in power.
“The Slovenian media have a reserved attitude towards the USA, as in their opinion it is capitalist and stepmotherly,” says Bogomil Ferfila, an expert in American politics and professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences. Former US Ambassador between 2013 and 2017, Božo Cerar, is of the opinion that this is not exactly the best approach, as we should strengthen relations with the US, which is still considered a pillar of democracy. The Slovenian media were more in favour of Biden’s victory. “As far as I can tell, very little has been written about Trump’s achievements in the mainstream media, although I myself am critical of some of Trump’s actions. Especially from the point of view of the attitude towards Europe, but which in recent months has started to shift to a positive direction, ”emphasizes Cerar.
According to Ferfila, the Slovenian media are biased towards reporting on events in the USA, regardless of their knowledge. “I have noticed that commentators and correspondents from abroad are knowledgeable, but it is noticeable that they mainly use media sources from the left political wing,” Ferfila explains, which in his opinion stems from personal preferences and leads to subjectivity in reporting.
The media should write objectively about foreign elections and leave the elections to their constituents
Our mainstream media are considered to go beyond the level of biased commentary. “A good media outlet would feel obliged to give its readers a restrained, argumentative, honest and independent picture of the situation in another country,” said former US ambassador to the United States between 1991 and 1997, Ernest Petrič. After all, the Americans decide who will preside from the White House in the future, regardless of whether the Slovenian media will write about the fairy-tale times after Biden’s victory.
“In the end, I just want, no matter who wins, the United States to follow its values based on the constitution and democracy,” Cerar said. According to Cerar, the Slovenian media’s support for the Democrats is a reflection of the domestic political orientation of the mainstream media, which should not be reflected in reporting on foreign political events, as the Slovenian media has no influence on Americans’ elections.
“I definitely believe that every journalist should act on opinions of both parties and report objectively” said Petrič, an adviser to the President. It is inappropriate for a media outlet from a foreign country to take a political stand and interfere with elections in another country. “It’s just as if the foreign media were writing about which party would be better in Slovenia, which is by no means appropriate,” Petrič added.
Ferfila believes that the left-wing orientation of journalists stems mainly from their subjective thinking. According to Petrič and Cerar, this is primarily a reflection of the framework they assess through the domestic political background. All experts agree that the actual framework of domestic politics and its support are certainly reflected in the media also in foreign elections.
Despite the support of the media and centre-left coalitions, Slovenia did not use its potential during the Obama presidency
The aforementioned media orientation and the support for the left-wing political option – the Democrats – did not prove profitable in reaching partnerships and strengthening relations during the times of centre-left governments. “Meanwhile, the cheering of the media for one or another political option in the United States during the centre-left governments in Slovenia, for example during the time of a Democrat, Barack Obama, did not improve diplomatic relations. At that time, Slovenia somehow did not want or did not know how to use its potential,” Cerar, who was serving as ambassador in Washington D.C. at the time, critically observes.
Slovenian media show a negative attitude towards the first lady as well
Ferfil also talks about the state of the American media, which Slovenians like to imitate. “Look, the pay-for-advertising ratio on television: Joe Biden had paid twice as many ads on television as Donald Trump, and at the moment, the result is basically tied between them,” he explains. According to him, as in the Slovenian environment, in the USA voters no longer trust only the standard media, most of which are more left-wing, but try to compose the truth themselves by monitoring the media at the left and right political wing.
The attitude of the media towards the first lady is also interesting: while some do not write the best about her, others want to make profits. “Thus, the first lady distanced herself from Slovenia,” he explained. However, there are also visible shifts in a positive direction, at least on POP TV. “Last Sunday we were able to witness for the first time, a beautiful film that presents Melanie in a feminine way,” Ferfila adds