Information on the Resolution of a Complaint through Mediation

The Media Council for Self-Regulation received a complaint from Miloš Prelević from Podgorica regarding the article "Vuković sent an email to colleagues at FPN: Seeks support for the demands of the Kamo sjutra ", which was published on 10 February on the portal Volim Podgoricu.

In his complaint, Prelević states that the disputed article claimed that the DPS Vice President Ivan Vuković had sent a proposal to his colleagues at FPN to support the demands of students associated with the "Kamo sjutra" movement.

The article further stated that the DPS Vice President had renamed an informal group of students as a movement. The article also quoted Vuković’s email, in which he wrote that he fully supports the proposal for "our Council (FPN) to back the students' demands." Vuković added that, considering what is taught at FPN, i.e., what is imparted to students, it could be said that they have an additional obligation in this regard. Moreover, the article included a screenshot of Vuković’s email.

Prelević explained in his complaint that he approached the Media Council for Self-Regulation because the article contained inaccurate information. According to him, it is not true that Ivan Vuković sent a proposal to colleagues to support the students associated with "Kamo sjutra." That proposal was sent by Zlatko Vujović, as published by many other media outlets, Prelević says. Through this inaccurate information, certain media, including Volim Podgoricu, allegedly attempted to forcibly associate the student protest with the DPS. Some media outlets that published this information apologized for the mistake, while this portal left the text with the incorrect information unchanged. The complaint concludes by stating that the principle I of the Journalists’ Code was violated, as this is a case of classic misinformation.

The Media Council for Self-Regulation contacted the editorial team of Volim Podgoricu for a statement regarding this complaint. In the response, Vesna Radojević, Editor-in-Chief of Volim Podgoricu, stated that the portal is grateful to the complainant for the "well-intentioned remarks and the effort to help us improve. Regarding the mentioned article, we published a correction, i.e., a statement from Mr. Zlatko Vujović, who confirmed that it was indeed he, and not Mr. Vuković, who sent the proposal."

The correction article contains a link to the original text as well as an embedded tweet from Mr. Vujović with this statement. Link to the correction: https://volimpodgoricu.me/novosti/zlatko-vujovic-nije-vukovic-ja-sam-prvi-trazio-podrsku-za-kamo-sjutra-lijepe-etiketu-dps-protestima

Since the approach of Volim Podgoricu created room for mediation, the response of the Editor-in-Chief was forwarded to Miloš Prelević, asking whether he was satisfied with the media's reaction. His response is quoted in full:

"I thank the portal Volim Podgoricu for the prompt response. I would like to point out a few things. It is good that the portal published a new article regarding the organization of student support at FPN. However, nothing in the initial article was corrected, nor did the editorial staff apologize for the obvious misinformation. That is, the article containing misinformation remained, even though a new article was published. In my opinion, Volim Podgoricu should have corrected the initial article and included a link to the new article. Otherwise, if someone accidentally opens the original text, they will once again read the misinformation about organizing support for FPN students."

 

Following this feedback from the complainant, we forwarded his response to Volim Podgoricu. The Editor-in-Chief replied that they had "fully accepted his well-intentioned suggestion, and we have edited the initial article and added a note with an apology to Mr. Vuković." Link to the corrected article: https://volimpodgoricu.me/novosti/vukovic-kolegama-sa-fpn-poslao-mejl-trazi-podrsku-zahtjevima-grupe-kamo-sjutra

After forwarding all the corrections made by Volim Podgoricu to Miloš Prelević regarding his complaint and receiving no further objections from him, the Media Council for Self-Regulation concluded the mediation without making a formal decision on the submitted complaint. The Complaints Committee unanimously adopted the information on the mediation of this complaint at the session held on 28 February, 2025.

Ranko Vujović
Executive Secretary
Media Council for Self-Regulation