On 29 January 2025, the Media Council for Self-Regulation received a complaint from Miloš Prelević from Podgorica regarding the article “EU Observer: Montenegro under Đukanović’s rule could not join the EU, now membership is realistically expected” published on 08 January 2025 on the portal Volim Podgoricu.
In his complaint, Mr. Prelević stated that: “This text was previously published on the Beta agency website, and at the bottom of the text it is indicated that it was reprinted from Beta. It was not stated that it was published there under a different title.”
Prelević further noted that he was contacting the Council “because this text contains several material errors. Specifically, in the original EU Observer article, the statement from the headline of this text is not expressed anywhere. The headline construction is a clear falsification. Additionally, the text published on the Beta portal, which was allegedly reprinted by Volim Podgoricu, also does not have the headline ‘EU Observer: Montenegro under Đukanović’s rule could not join the EU, now membership is realistically expected,’ but was published under the headline ‘EU Analyses: Western Balkans still in the waiting room for membership, but closer to the door.”
The complainant also stated: “Several Montenegrin media outlets have reprinted the Beta text but with this problematic headline, which is not Beta’s. The Beta website text mentions statements by some EU officials that as long as Milo Đukanović is in power, Montenegro cannot become an EU member, but it is nowhere stated that this is a quote from EU Observer. It gives the impression that the text ‘EU Observer: Montenegro under Đukanović’s rule could not join the EU, now membership is realistically expected’ is a combination of contributions from multiple different hands. I request that you note the publication of this inaccurate information.”
The Media Council for Self-Regulation contacted the editorial office of Volim Podgoricu for a response regarding this complaint. We reproduce in full the response of Vesna Radojević, Editor-in-Chief of Volim Podgoricu:
“I can therefore confirm that the headline of our article, which we reprinted from Beta, as well as many other Montenegrin media, may not correspond to Beta’s original headline, but it is not incorrect, as it is explicitly contained in a sentence within the text. Except for ‘EU Observer,’ which I assume is the subject of the complaint, I inform you that the problematic attribution of this statement to EU Observer has been removed from the headline. If I have misunderstood and something else is the subject of the complaint, I am available for further clarification, and of course, whenever it turns out that the Code of Ethics or journalistic standards have been breached in any way, an apology and correction will be issued.”
After the EU Observer name was removed from the article headline, we forwarded the Editor-in-Chief’s response to the complainant. We reproduce Miloš Prelević’s response in full:
“I am glad that Volim Podgoricu recognized the mistake and partially corrected the false information. The text now has a different headline, which is again different from the one published on the Beta portal. I think Volim Podgoricu is again spreading misinformation, because if it wanted to reprint Beta’s text, it should have also kept the original headline. Here Beta is credited as the author, but the portal gave its own headline. I think this is again manipulation of the text. It would be good for the portal to see how Vijesti corrected the same text themselves. The portal should also have at least apologized for the previous misinformation.”
During the mediation process, we again contacted Volim Podgoricu and forwarded the complainant’s response to their statement. In their reply, the Editor-in-Chief provided a link to the corrected article, which now has a completely new headline. Volim Podgoricu also apologized for the mistake and the “inaccurate quote that could have misled readers.”
Since the complainant accepted the apology and correction from Volim Podgoricu, this mediation was successfully concluded, and the Complaints Commission unanimously accepted this information, and it was not necessary to make a formal decision.
Ranko Vujović
Executive Secretary
Media Council for Self-Regulation
