By: Gašper Blažič
In the new edition, “Reporter” published an interview with long-time columnist Marko Crnkovič, who was once a recognisable figure in the newspaper Delo but was removed from there, which he also lamented in the interview. However, it seems that he has not changed his extreme views on the “rabid dogs of the right” from five years ago, as he stated, among other things, that there would be no harm if media outlets like Nova24TV and Demokracija were simply shut down. Even though that would not be fair and would constitute a violation of the constitution. He added that it would be beneficial for the citizens of Slovenia’s well-being.
Marko Crnkovič has engaged in various activities throughout his life. He was employed at Cankar Hall, he edited “Naši razgledi” magazine, which he later renamed (Razgledi – essentially an intellectual tabloid), and consistently expressed a rather toxic attitude towards independently thinking intellectuals. When in 1997, Slovenian intellectuals responded to the transitional events (including some now deceased figures like Dr France Bučar), the editor of Razgledi remarked that they should be brushed away like dandruff from the shoulders. In 2000, Crnkovič reacted quite toxically to an essay by Drago Jančar titled “Xenos and Xenophobes”, in which he assessed the public’s attitude towards the freshly elected Prime Minister, the late Dr Andrej Bajuk. “Crni”, as some call him, published his response in Delo’s Saturday supplement under the title “Xenos Dossier: We imported Bajuk, let’s export Jančar”.
After leaving Delo, he was a columnist for Požareport for a while. A few years ago, he was the central figure of the FokusPokus portal, which was later acquired by Večer in 2017. In 2015, he declared personal bankruptcy.
However, for a certain period, Crnkovič seemed to operate relatively calmly and with a significant degree of distance from leftist political extremists. But not for long. In 2018, his column appeared in Večer, which further expanded on the famous article by Dr Spomenka Hribar about stopping the right-wing. This time, Crnkovič openly called for the stopping of the “rabid dogs of the right”. More on that HERE – in Slovene. When the scandal involving Jernej Štromajer and “dirty animals” emerged, he demanded that Nova 24TV apologise to Štromajer.
The statement about shutting down Nova 24TV and Demokracija is not something new. These are the wishful thoughts of many extremists who are bothered by this part of the media spectrum. About a decade ago, activist Igor Koršič explained on the show “Odmevi” that Demokracija and Reporter (which was a right-leaning magazine at the time) should not exist. Later, when Nova 24TV was founded (including its website), and Reporter soon became a “non-disturbing factor”, there were concrete attempts to break the media outlets. Let’s recall: former Prime Minister Marjan Šarec urged advertisers to withdraw advertisements from both media outlets. The current Prime Minister, Dr Robert Golob, has only escalated this, stating that they are a “factory of hatred and malice”.
Well, all these extremists need to be reminded that Demokracija and Nova 24TV will not just allow themselves to be intimidated. We will continue to be messengers of opinions, whether the current government and its followers like it or not. We will uncompromisingly expose all attempts at violent suppression. As our editor-in-chief, Dr Metod Berlec, wrote in his response to Marko Crnkovič’s claims: “Only a person with a totalitarian reflex can say or write something like that. Shame on him! It is incredible how someone who supposedly considers themselves an intellectual can stoop so low! #SHAME Pluralism is the foundation of every democratic society. It is sad that such a narrow-minded individual is given a platform in a magazine that I once respected!”