{"id":11002,"date":"2025-04-25T08:26:42","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T07:26:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/?p=11002"},"modified":"2025-04-25T08:26:43","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T07:26:43","slug":"former-ministers-statement-on-pension-allowance-for-artists-manipulative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/2025\/04\/25\/former-ministers-statement-on-pension-allowance-for-artists-manipulative\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Minister\u2019s Statement on Pension Allowance for Artists Manipulative"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

\u00a0\u00a0Original article<\/a> (in Slovenian) was published on 24\/4\/2025; Author: Manca Verta\u010dnik<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Recipients of the Jo\u017ee Babi\u010d Prize and the Je\u017eek Prize only qualify for a special pension allowance for artistic excellence under the condition that they have also received a Pre\u0161eren Fund Prize or a state decoration for the arts, according to the proposed bill.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Moja Dolenjska portal carried a statement on 5 April by Matej Lahovnik, a professor at the School of Economics and Business, University of Ljubljana and former minister of the economy, which he posted on the social media platform X: \u201cThe most absurd thing is that under the new bill, pension privileges would even be awarded for RTV prizes, making us the only country to grant a pension privilege to a pop singer who earns very well and could easily pay pension contributions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A day later the statement was also picked up by the Nova24TV<\/a> portal. Lahovnik subsequently deleted his post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed bill<\/a> on pension allowances for artistic excellence stipulates that retired Slovenian nationals who have demonstrated outstanding artistic achievements contributing to the quality, significance and recognition of the arts in Slovenia or abroad are entitled to the allowance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the bill, recipients of the Pre\u0161eren Prize for lifetime achievements would qualify for the allowance along with those who have received the lesser Pre\u0161eren Fund Prize, provided they have additionally received at least one other national recognition or prize listed in the appendix to the bill, or a major international accolade. The same applies to recipients of state decorations for artistic achievements who have also received another national recognition, a prize listed in the appendix, or a major international prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The appendix to the bill lists 23 prizes whose recipients are eligible for the pension allowance. Among them are two prizes granted, or formerly granted, by public broadcaster RTV Slovenija: the Jo\u017ee Babi\u010d Prize, which RTV Slovenija awarded until 2007 for outstanding achievements in fiction and documentary production, and the Je\u017eek Prize, which the broadcaster has presented since 1989 for exceptional accomplishments in satire, humour and socially critical work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recipients of the Je\u017eek Prize have included singers, though not pop singers, according to publicly available information. Among them are chansonniers, singer-songwriters and lyricists such as Iztok Mlakar, Lado Leskovar, Zoran Predin and Toma\u017e Domicelj.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gregor Pompe, professor at the Department of Musicology at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, told Razkrinkavanje.si that he is not an expert on the legal definition of pop singer, but he \u201cstrongly doubt[s] that such a legal definition exists\u201d. \u201cThat is because no precise formal definition exists either. These terms are very fuzzy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Identifying someone as a pop singer is likely only possible intuitively, \u201cin which case Leskovar, Predin and Domicelj certainly fit that intuition,\u201d according to Pompe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gregor Tomc, a lecturer on cognitive studies of music at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, explained to Razkrinkavanje.si that in Slovenia and across Europe, there are state-employed pop artists\u2014such as members of symphony orchestras or opera and ballet companies\u2014who are on the public payroll, and commercial pop artists who earn their living on the free market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomc said that outrage at commercial pop artists, including Lahovnik\u2019s, \u201cis typically grounded in cultural conservatism\u201d. In his view, Lahovnik is averse to the idea that someone who has received a prize named after a contemporary artist and given by a media outlet established in the 20th<\/sup> century could receive a pension allowance for artistic excellence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomc also pointed out the tendency to accept a sharp division between \u2018true\u2019 music \u2013 elite, serious or classical music, which is seen as eternal \u2013 and \u2018false\u2019 music, such as pop, entertainment or folk music, which is dismissed as a passing fad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredible how strongly people cling to tradition, in this case to 19th<\/sup> century romantic ideology, when defending privileges,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to our findings, Moja Dolenjska editor Vida Stare said that the report was about Lahovnik\u2019s statement, which was clearly identified as such, and suggested we reach out to him for clarification. She also threatened legal action, saying she would use \u201call legal means\u201d if O\u0161tro were to \u201charm\u201d Moja Dolenjska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have informed Matej Lahovnik and Nova24TV of our findings and will publish their responses when we receive them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The claim that \u201cunder the new law, pension privileges would even be awarded for RTV prizes, making us the only country to grant a pension privilege to a pop singer who earns very well and could easily pay pension contributions\u201d is manipulative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pension allowance can be granted to recipients of the Jo\u017ee Babi\u010d Prize or Je\u017eek Prize who also hold a Pre\u0161eren Fund Prize or a state decoration for achievements in the arts. While some Slovenian singers have received the Je\u017eek Prize, there is no independent or substantiated basis to categorise them as pop singers, as Lahovnik suggested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0Original article (in Slovenian) was published on 24\/4\/2025; Author: Manca Verta\u010dnik Recipients of the Jo\u017ee Babi\u010d Prize and the Je\u017eek Prize only qualify for a special pension allowance for artistic excellence under the condition that they have also received a Pre\u0161eren Fund Prize or a state decoration for the arts, according to the proposed bill. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":11003,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[316],"tags":[34],"class_list":["post-11002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fact-checks","tag-slovenia"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11002"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11004,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11002\/revisions\/11004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}