Original article (in Montenegrin) was published on 15/11/2023; Author: Marko Vukajlović
Convicted war criminal Vojislav Seselj is once again engaging in what he does best – hurling insults. Recent reports indicate that Seselj has published a book with a disturbing and obscure title, targeting former Montenegrin SDP president Draginja Vuksanovic-Stankovic.
The Montenegrin public has expressed strong disapproval of Seselj’s actions, but the response from the Serbian tabloids within the country has taken a contrasting position.
Alo Online ME portal reports an article from a portal named Dnevni Puls, which does not have an impressum, with the following headline:
Seselj under attack by Montenegrin extremists because of Draginja
Judging by Alo’s headline, Montenegrin extremists are the state president, Jakov Milatovic, ministers in the Milojko Spajic’s government, and the president of the Parliament, Andrija Mandic. All of them have condemned Seselj’s latest controversial actions.
Milatovic, among other things, stated:
“I think the question arises of how the state of Serbia allows such, diplomatically speaking, an indecent thing to come into the public sphere. I am appalled. I think it is an incredible outrage. I have no other words for it.”
Mandic said he would neither read the book nor comment, but added:
“That is below the level of any commentary.”
Minister of European Affairs, Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, as well as the Minister of Culture and Media, Maida Gorcevic, Andjela Jaksic Stojanovic, and Tamara Vujovic, also reacted:
“As a minister in the 44th government and as a woman, I strongly condemn Vojislav Seselj’s misogynistic work created to harm the reputation of Ms Vuksanovic Stankovic.”
“I strongly condemn hate speech and misogyny, whose target is the respected colleague and university professor, Ms Draginja Vuksanovic-Stankovic. The culture of dialogue must be an imperative in public action, regardless of all our ideological, political, and other differences.”
“Vojislav Seselj has insulted Montenegrin women once before, and for that reason, the Agency for Electronic Media has restricted the rebroadcasting of part of the program on TV Happy,” the ministers stated.
Reactions have flooded in from various ministers, opposition figures, and others, and a petition has been launched urging the Foreign Affairs Minister, Filip Ivanovic, to issue a protest note to Serbia.
Alo Online ME concludes by asserting that “Seselj is under attack by extremists from Montenegro, who claim that the title of the book is sexist and misogynistic.”… “Sexist and misogynistic” is a mild characterization of Seselj’s work, but the claim that extremists are targeting him is far from a precise formulation. Nowhere in the disputed text does it mention who these extremists might be, leaving room for speculation—whether they are individuals on social media, remains unclear.
This is not the first time that Seselj has insulted Vuksanovic-Stankovic. In early 2022, the Agency for Electronic Media imposed a six-month restriction on broadcasting four formats on Happy TV, where Seselj is a frequent guest, which he uses as a platform for hurling insults regularly at not only former SDP Member of Parliament but also Montenegro and Montenegrins.
Based on all the above, this post is rated as biased reporting.
The “Biased reporting” rating is given to a media report for which it can be clearly determined that it favors facts, opinions, and conclusions that align with a specific narrative, often disregarding the rule of contacting the other party when it comes to claims that are harmful to someone’s reputation or portray certain actors in a negative light. Biased reporting may selectively present facts, emphasizing those supporting a particular thesis while tendentiously omitting facts that don’t confirm it.
These media reports typically feature a highly emotional writing style. While they may or may not be inaccurate, they generally fail to present the entire picture and all sides of the story, instead highlighting facts that suit the preferred narrative.