By: Celjski glasnik
What it means when socio‑political workers take over the main media outlets, and when the prime minister announces the depoliticization of the central media, can be observed in Slovenia over the past four years.
Slovenia keeps falling lower on the media‑freedom rankings each year, which is hardly surprising, given that the main media outlets have been captured by the state and now serve as a propaganda machine for the ruling politics. Yet Robert Golob called this depoliticization.
Who in Slovenia does not remember how Marcel Štefančič, with a raised fist in the style of Nazis and fascists, shouted that “there are f***ing more of us”? Who does not remember him saying that if they, as socio‑political workers at RTV Slovenia, wanted Golob, then they would have him? Who does not remember Robert Golob saying live on the programme Odmevi that all dissenting voices must be removed from the national broadcaster? Today, this places us among countries with poorly developed media freedom.
Of course, RTV Slovenia was not the only media outlet where Robert Golob removed all dissenting voices, he did so in every outlet he could control, including Siol. Today, these same media defend Golob’s policies and fail to see that our media‑freedom ranking has declined, blaming others simply because their rankings have improved. Even journalist Luka Svetina, who experienced this depoliticization firsthand, wrote: “If I think about it, the takeover of the national Siol before the elections surely contributed to this.”
