Original article (in Montenegrin) was published on 20/12/2021
The perception of the United States in the Balkans is quite diverse, as evidenced by the fact that the people of the region have different attitudes towards the world’s most powerful nation.
The perception of the United States of America in the Balkans is quite diverse, as evidenced by the fact that the people of the region have different attitudes towards the world’s most powerful nation.
The thesis that America is undermining the Orthodox world is one of those that has been going on in the region for years, and media articles are supporting claims like this.
One of the most recent examples of this are articles from Serbian websites claiming that US Ambassador to Montenegro Judy Rising Reinke insulted Orthodoxy and Orthodox people, and created a diplomatic scandal by meeting with Metropolitan of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church (CPC) Mihailo Dedeic.
AMERICAN AMBASSADOR OFFENDED ORTHODOX PEOPLE! She met with the leader of the sect and called on RELIGIOUS LEADERS for tolerance!”, is the headline of the Informer.
“US Ambassador Judy Raising Reinke met on December 13 in Cetinje with the leader of a sect called “the Montenegrin Orthodox Church” Mihailo Dedeic. This meeting of the American ambassador with the sect that falsely presents itself as the “Orthodox Church” represents a diplomatic scandal and an insult to the whole Orthodoxy”, the text states.
We have the opportunity to read similar claims on the website Novosti.
“AMERICA HAS OFFENDED ORTHODOXY: US Ambassador to Montenegro created first-rate diplomatic scandal”, is featured in the headline.
As in the text of the Informer, Novosti claims that Reinke met with “the leader of the sect” Mihailo.
This text was also shared by the Montenegrin portal “CG Vijesti”, and it was shared on their Facebook page.
The reason for such inscriptions was last week’s visit of the American ambassador to the Montenegrin Orthodox Church and its Metropolitan Mihailo.
Although the mentioned media interpreted this event as an insult to the Orthodox world and a diplomatic scandal, there was actually no procedure in the event to substantiate such claims.
The public was informed about the visit of Rising Reinke to the CPC through her official Twitter account.
“I met with Metropolitan Mihailo in Cetinje to get acquainted with the activities of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church. The United States calls on religious leaders to promote tolerance and respect for all religions. Democratic governments must recognize and respect the rights of all religious communities”, Reinke said, as reported by the Montenegrin media.
Meeting with representatives of religious communities is a diplomatic practice typical of many ambassadors to Montenegro, as evidenced by the visit of the British Ambassador Karen Maddox to the CPC.
The purpose of the visit to the Montenegrin Orthodox Church by the US Ambassador to Montenegro Judy Rising Reinke is, as you can read on her Twitter account, to get acquainted with the activities of this religious community, as well as to promote tolerance and respect for all religions.
Having in mind that fact, we assess the claims of the Informer, Novosti and CG Vijesti, claiming that Reinke and the USA insulted Orthodoxy and created a diplomatic scandal, as biased reporting.
“Biased reporting” is given to a media report which favors facts, attitudes, and conclusions that match a particular narrative, often disregarding the rule of contacting the other party when making claims that are detrimental to one’s reputation or portraying certain actors in a negative light. One of the forms of biased reporting is the selective presentation of facts, where facts that support a particular thesis are emphasized, while facts that do not confirm it tend to be omitted. A very emotional way of writing usually accompanies such media reports. They may or may not be inaccurate, but as a rule, they do not show the whole picture but only represent those facts that correspond to the preferred narrative.