Original article (in Montenegrin) was published on 30/12/2021
In Serbian tabloids, there is a constant narrative that indicates the alleged dispute between Serbs in Montenegro and parts of the executive and the judiciary authorities.
In Serbian tabloids, there is a constant narrative that indicates the alleged dispute between Serbs in Montenegro and parts of the executive and the judiciary authorities.
Such an example is reflected in the recent publication of the website Novosti, which claims that a group of people from Niksic are being tried for the Serbian New Year.
“THEY ARE TRIED FOR SERBIAN NEW YEAR: The Basic Court in Niksic is conducting proceedings against 12 young men who participated in the litigation”, states the title of the article published by Novosti.
We can read further in the text that twelve citizens from Niksic are being tried in the Basic Court in Niksic for violating epidemiological measures during the ban on leaving after 10 pm, which initially refutes the claim made in the title.
The exact text was published by the Montenegrin portal IN4S.net, and it was shared on their official Facebook page.
Going back a little less than a year, we recall the epidemiological measures that were in force in Montenegro during the period when the Orthodox New Year was celebrated.
“Among the new measures is a ban on celebrating the New Year according to the Julian calendar (January 13) indoors and outdoors, and in catering facilities, which will still be open from 7 am to 8 pm, a music and stage program is banned”, said Minister of Health Jelena Borovinic Bojovic, as reported by Radio Free Europe.
In addition to the ban on celebrating the Orthodox New Year outdoors, the measures at the time included a ban on going out after 10 pm, and many Montenegrin citizens violated both measures, which is why several of them were prosecuted, including 13 citizens from Niksic.
RTCG shared a police statement, according to which “members of the Niksic Security Center registered a gathering of a large number of citizens who celebrated New Year’s Eve according to the Julian calendar from 10.30 pm to 12:30 am. This event was documented by police officers, and it was reported to the State Prosecutor in the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office in Niksic, who ordered to identify participants in the gathering and collect information from them, after which they will legally qualify the event”.
The website CDM also reported that the people of Niksic were detained for violating epidemiological measures on the night between January 13 and 14.
We concluded from all these facts that a group of citizens from Niksic was prosecuted for violating the epidemiological measures that were in force during the period when the Orthodox New Year’s Eve was celebrated.
After all, it is possible to read the same in the article published by Novosti and IN4S. However, their headlines do not reflect the real state of affairs but manipulatively claim that a group of citizens is being tried in the Basic Court in Niksic because of the Serbian New Year.
Precisely because of this, the mentioned texts receive a clickbait rating.
The rating “clickbait” is given to a media report whose title has no basis in the text that follows. Such texts and articles aim to attract consumers’ attention with sensationalist titles, promising content that does not actually exist and are mostly created out of financial interest, i.e., due to increased readership.
In addition, texts published by Novosti and IN4S are given ratings for manipulation of facts.
The rating “manipulation of facts” is given to a media report that uses known and accurate facts but interprets them in a misleading way. These reports generally use accurate information to draw inaccurate conclusions or claims, thus misleading media content consumers in relation to the actual meaning of the facts presented.