By: A. H. (Nova24tv)
Referring to the saying, “A lie is the immortal soul of communism,” Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša responded after the magazine Mladina published an article on Sunday raising the question of who photographed Nika Kovač, director of the March 8 Institute, while she was seated in the business class section of an airplane. Janša firmly rejects any suggestions that he was responsible for the photograph and accuses Mladina of helping to spread falsehoods.
“Look, the March 8 Institute is lying, as usual. This time with the help of Mladina, which serves as printed proof of the saying: ‘A lie is the immortal soul of communism,’” Prime Minister Janez Janša wrote on the social media platform X in criticism of the matter.
The Mladina article, entitled “Did Janez Janša Secretly Photograph Nika Kovač?”, raises questions about how a photograph of Nika Kovač on a Lufthansa flight from New York to Frankfurt, seated in business class, ended up appearing in online media outlets that the magazine describes as being close to the governing party. The article highlights the response of the director of the March 8 Institute, who suggested a possible explanation for how the photograph, taken during the period of the United Nations General Assembly session, found its way into the media. “Perhaps little kitty Janez is the anonymous author of the photograph,” Kovač wrote in a Facebook response.
In her post, Kovač maintained her belief that the political right is attempting to discredit her. Because she publicly campaigns on issues such as poverty and social justice, criticism emerged regarding the cost of business-class travel. She explained that she had indeed been on the same flight as Prime Minister Janez Janša, his wife, and his delegation, but stressed that her ticket had not been paid for with taxpayers’ money. “I am proud that my work is internationally respected to the extent that organisers of certain events and lectures purchase business-class airline tickets for me,” she wrote. Kovač also stated that she respected the prime minister’s privacy and that it never occurred to her to secretly photograph him and his wife and turn it into a media story. “I hope we can all agree that secretly photographing a 33-year-old woman is symptomatic, pathetic, and miserable. Especially if something like that were done by senior representatives of the state.”
The article argues that, given its focus on Kovač’s insinuations and the circumstances surrounding the publication of the photograph, which first appeared on the website Pozareport.si, it would have been appropriate to clearly distinguish between facts and assumptions and to explicitly note that Kovač’s suggestion was speculation for which no evidence had been presented. Media insinuations without supporting evidence can easily create the impression that a particular person is responsible, which is not considered journalistically appropriate.