By: Domen Mezeg / Nova24tv.si
“When Janša’s government did it, there was a big deal. Now we see that there is practically no talk about it,” NSi MP Jožef Horvat responded to the double reporting standards in the central media regarding Janša’s and Golob’s governments for the 24ur portal.
By the way, we can recall the unpleasant words of another presidential candidate – Nina Krajnik, when she spoke about “left-wing privatisers” who appropriated various social areas, including media reporting, the owner of Pro Plus (POP TV, 24 hours, A channel) is Czech. One of the last contributions of this website touches on the amount of salaries of ministers and secretaries. Let us remind you: when the salary increase of state officials took place at the beginning of Janša’s government, it was reported in considerable depth for several days. The current government, however, receives only a short, shy article. And already in the title they hastened to justify that “the opposition does not oppose the government’s decision”. If they objected, they would hypocritically lynch Janša’s government. Janša will be guilty as long as he lives.
In the case of the previous government, they chose the phrase “Working in dangerous conditions just like with doctors” for the second part of the title, which in the context of the title can come off as a bit cynical, especially because it is a comparison with doctors and the mention of “danger”. If in the article published in 2020, they tried to arouse anger and envy, also by stating the amount of salaries, this time they tried to calm people down in the style of “it is not so bad if the opposition does not object”. An obvious difference in reporting can also be detected in the opening paragraph. In the case of the previous government, among other things, they wrote: “Irresponsible and inappropriate at a time when entrepreneurs are on their knees, they say in the economy.”
In the case of Golob, talking about the law and Janša, in the case of Janša, arousing envy by stating the salary
In the case of the behaviour of the new government, they did not interfere with any critical opinion from the economy when reporting, saying that we are facing a severe economic crisis due to the consequences of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine… We could write something like this: “Golob’s lavish handling of public money is viewed in the economy with disapproval: while food and energy prices skyrocket, state officials do not skimp on their salaries.” We are sure that the long-time editor of Tepin can do it if he wants to.
The justification of Golob’s government’s behaviour can also be detected in the part of the paper where the salary classes are listed: “When it comes to the issue of salaries of ministers and secretaries, Robert Golob’s government did not change the policy of Janez Janša. The Salary System Act dictates that ministers can be ranked between the 62nd and 64th pay grades, and secretaries three grades lower, between the 59th and 61st grades. The difference is 393 or 350 euros higher monthly gross salary.” And during Janša’s government: “They range between the 62nd and 64th salary class, and Janša set the highest possible class for all of them, namely 5,200 euros gross per month. A similar logic applies to state secretaries.”
Golob deserves a gold medal for an excellent job – staffing
Their salaries are ranked between the 59th and 61st salary class, and the government decided on Tuesday that all of them will be in the highest class, which brings in 4,600 euros gross per month. For comparison, the ministers during the government of Marjan Šarec, with the exception of the finance minister Andrej Bertonclj, were placed in the lowest foreseen – the 62nd pay grade.” With Golob, they refer to the law and childishly point the finger at Janša, but with Janša, they explicitly emphasised that “Janša decided for the highest possible class” and gave the “thrifty” Šarec as a role model. At the same time, they also state the amount of the salary in order to “inflame” the rage of all those envious readers who live “on the bare minimum” … Another suggestion to Tepin: What if next time we wrote that Šarec was more successful in saving even than the favourite Golob?
Former boxer and Svoboda MP Dejan Zavec also justified government salaries for the portal: “It is right that the work is paid. I think that there would be much less misunderstanding and goodwill if someone could explain why he gets such a salary.” Golob deserves a gold medal for the superb staffing. However, this flour probably will not make bread… and gasoline… In order to avoid accusations of non-transparency, they stated that the SD did not want to comment on the current determination of wages, even though it is a similar uncertain situation as it was during the epidemic. For a better feeling, the opinions of NSi MP Jožef Horvat (already in the introduction) and SDS MP Žan Mahnič were given: “I believe that many people also joined the government because they were told that salaries would remain the same as they were Janša’s government.”