Croatian journalists stage protest against culture ministry

Croatian journalists and editors will mark World Press Freedom Day (3 May) with a protest walk from the headquarters of the Croatian Journalists’ Association (HND) to the national culture ministry.

The protest, organised by HND, both aims to draw attention to the Croatian Ministry of Culture, which the journalists blame for the worsening state of the country’s media landscape, and serves as the introduction to an international journalism conference on media freedom and fact-checking.

Last month, left-wing media outlets in Croatia claimed that Culture Minister Zlatko Hasanbegović had purposefully cut state funding for left-wing and non-profit media, while a meeting by ambassadors to Croatia sparked concern about media freedom in the country. In addition, within the first two months of the country’s centre-right government coming into power in January 2016, around 70 journalists, editors, directors, managers and other staff were removed from their positions at national broadcaster HRT, causing accusations of political purges.

Source: Balkan Insight