Acting upon a reader's complaint for violation of principle 1 of the Code of Ethics of Journalists of Montenegro in the text entitled “Bus driver seriously injured a child and fled the scene of the accident”, (Vozač autobusa teško povrijedio dijete pa pobjegao sa mjesta nesreće), published on the Biznis CG portal on March 16, 2026, the Complaints Commission of the Media Council for Self-Regulation issues the following decision
The Complaints Commission determines that the Biznis CG portal, by publishing the text entitled "The bus driver seriously injured a child and fled the scene of the accident", in which the title did not indicate that the event did not take place in Montenegro, violated principle 1 of the Code of Journalists of Montenegro, i.e. guideline 1.2 (Accuracy), paragraphs 2 and 3, point (b).
By omitting the information that the event took place outside of Montenegro, the title of the disputed text creates the wrong expectation among the average readers that it is an event from Montenegro. The Commission believes that the media in the title or supertitle should provide a closer geographical location of the event that is the subject of the text. Usually, these texts go to the Regions or World section. Without these criteria, the titles of the texts can be misleading, and bearing in mind the overtone of sensationalism in them, it can be concluded that one of the goals is to attract readers to open the text on the portal or so-called clickbait journalism.
REASONING
The Media Council for Self-Regulation received a complaint from a reader who signs himself as Miloš Jovanović, because of the way in which the Biznis CG portal publishes some news from the black chronicle pages. The complainant states that this portal "often publishes news about events that happened in other countries of the region, but this is not clearly indicated in the headlines".
The complaint points out: "The headlines are written in such a way that the readers can think that it is about an event from Montenegro, while it is only after opening the text, one can see that it is about another country." The complaint adds that this applies "especially to headlines that are often dramatic and attract attention, so it is easy to get the impression that it is about an event that happened in our country".
The contentious text "The bus driver seriously injured the child and fled the scene of the accident" is one of the four texts that the complainant cited as an example of such practice. It follows from the content of the text that the event did not take place in Montenegro, but in another country in the region, which cannot be concluded from the title.
The Media Council for Self-Regulation has repeatedly requested a statement from the Biznis CG portal editorial office regarding the allegations in the complaint. As the newsroom did not make a statement within the stipulated time, the Commission, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the Complaints Commission, decided without the statement from the media.
The commission considered the allegations from the complaint and the available content. The Commission reminds that guideline 1.2 (Accuracy) point (b) of the Code prescribes:
"Journalists must avoid headlines or advertising slogans that could lead to a wrong conclusion about the essence of an event or phenomenon. The facts must not be distorted by being placed outside the context in which they occurred."
By omitting the information that the event took place outside of Montenegro, the title of the disputed text creates the wrong expectation among the average reader that it is an event from Montenegro. The Commission believes that the media in the title or supertitle should provide a closer geographical location of the event that is the subject of the text. Usually, texts like this go in the Regions or World news section. Without these criteria, the titles of the texts can be misleading, and bearing in mind the overtone of sensationalism in them, it can be concluded that one of the goals is to attract readers to open the text on the portal or so-called clickbait journalism. Bearing in mind the above, the Complaints Commission determines that the Biznis CG portal, by publishing this text, violated principle 1 of the Code of Journalists of Montenegro, that is, guideline 1.2 (Accuracy), paragraphs 2 and 3, of point (b).
Pursuant to the Article 21 of the Statute of the Media Council for Self-Regulation, this decision must be published on the Biznis CG portal.
Commission for Monitoring and Complaints
Aneta Spaić
Sonja Drobac
Danilo Burzan
Branko Vojičić
Ranko Vujović
