Montenegro experienced a slight decline in its score in the Journalist Safety Index for the Western Balkans 2023, dropping from 3.35 to 3.33 compared to the previous year. This decrease continues a trend since the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (TUMM), as a member of the SafeJournalists network, began using this methodology to measure the safety of media workers. Montenegro’s score was 3.40 in 2021. and 3.59 in 2020.

The score, on a scale from 1 to 7, in the Journalist Safety Index is determined based on conditions in four areas: Legal and Organizational Environment, Prevention, Process, and Actual Safety.

“Legal and Organizational Environment” pertains to the existence and implementation of legal guarantees relevant to journalist safety, whereas “Prevention” involves the presence and application of various preventive measures that directly impact journalist protection and safety.

“Process” examines how state institutions and public officials interact with journalists, as well as the efficiency of the criminal and civil justice systems in investigating threats and violence against journalists. “Actual Safety” reflects incidents and cases of various forms of threats and violence against journalists and media outlets.

The author of the report and Vice President of TUMM, Marijana Camović Veličković, stated that the Index consists of 19 benchmarks and represents a fairly complex system for both the collection of information and its processing and scoring.

She explained that everything is measured precisely, even though the public often only hears the final figure, which pertains to the number of attacks on journalists.

“If we measured only that single number, Montenegro would have made significant progress in 2023. However, everything that happened —or failed to happen but should have—throughout the year is assessed, which is why there was a 0.02% decline. This decline is mild for the past year, but it remains consistent because we have been measuring the same indicators for four years and have yet to make even slight progress. On the contrary,” stated Camović Veličković.