In February, Mladina magazine has gotten more than 85 thousand euros of the taxpayers’ money, of which 12 thousand euros came from the national television RTV Slovenia. All of this data can be seen in the online application Erar. Again, the national television is once again spending taxpayers’ money on the extreme, radical left-wing media, which sees nothing but hatred for the right and Janez Janša. We asked RTV Slovenia what the 12 thousand euros that Mladina got were intended for. RTV Slovenia sent us their response. At the end of the article, you can also see the graph of Erar, where you can find Mladina’s earnings.
Slovenian national television RTV Slovenia proved itself again by spending taxpayer’s money. In the month of February alone, they have transfered 12 thousand euros to the radical left-wing media Mladina. According to the data available in Erar, Mladina has earned 85 thousand euros of taxpayers’ money in the month of February. Journalist Bojan Požar was among the first to reveal the data. How come the national television was not as generous with the other media outlets? It could have transfered a similar sum to Demokracija, Spletni časopis, Portalplus, and other alternative media outlets that have reported critically on Šarec’s government. »I have a serious question for Marjan Šarec‘s government. Why did Mladina (owned by a financial fund based in Luxembourg) get more than 85 thousand euros in state budget’s money this month, of which just over 12 thousand euros from the public institution RTV Slovenia?« Bojan Požar revealed.
Mladina has prepared an interview with Marjan Šarec, right after the government’s resignation, titled »We put the lobsters on the table, and now others will eat them.« In the following issue, they published the articles Janša’s factory of lies by Svetlana Slapšak, Shame by Jože Vogrinc, A philosophical doctor for talking nonsense by Vasja Jager, Creating a social reality by Samo Uhan and Historical pattern by Božo Repe.
Grega Repovž has written new rules for understanding the parliamentary democracy
Editor-in-chief of Mladina Grega Repovž wrote an article titled Protectors of the democracy in the same issue. In it, he wrote that the MPs are not elected in order to appoint governments. Based on the reactions of different parties, it was quickly realised, that Repovž had proven himself with his lacking knowledge of basic parliamentary democracy. The authors listed above, who define themselves as extremely anti-janšistic academics, wrote nothing different.
Translations of the titles:
| NINA has never… DR. MILAN BRGLEZ … or the responsibility of the politics for the alternatives |
Democracy’s eclipse MARCEL ŠTEFANČIČ JR. How the Democrats are trying to get rid of Bernie Sanders |
| Creating a social reality DR. SAMO UHAN, SOCIOLOGIST Nothing special or dramatic happened, definitely nothing that would require an emergency crisis response |
She was right PIA NIKOLIČ Acting director of the Technical Museum of Slovenia is returning to her position after a successful lawsuit against the Ministry |
| Historical pattern DR. BOŽO REPE, HISTORIAN What is actually useful for Slovenia’s good? Going back to the thirties, Korošec’s times? Democracy or clerical fascism? National or partisan and personal interests? |
Maybe Ivan is not the problem after all FILIP DOBRANIČ, PHILOSOPHER AND CULTURAL SOCIOLOGIST, DANES JE NOV DAN To work with SDS means to take everything else that this party represents on oneself |
| Janša’s factory of lies DR. SVETLANA SLAPŠAK, ANTHROPOLOGIST It is entirely unrealistic to imagine Janša giving up his propaganda weapons now, closing up his media outlet and entering the politics with a different version of the right |
Wrapped up in human rights vocabulary DR. VESNA LESKOŠEK, SOCIOLOGIST The issue of structural reforms and institutional adjustments is ideological, what else |
| Opportunistic denying of climate change DR. JONAS SONNENSCHEIN, ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMIST On the five-level climate change denying scale, Janša is somewhere between the second (denying that we are the main culprits) and third level (denying, that heating means trouble) |
Non-ideological politics DR. METKA MENCIN, PSYCHOLOGIST In politics, or »politics,« the only thing that can be considered non-ideological is only that, which is taken for granted – which is, of course, a victory of the ideology, according to Althusser |
| Shame DR. JOŽE VOGRINC Crisis coalition |
When looking at the articles published in Mladina, you can quickly notice a distinct anti-Janšaistic stance. (Photo: Printscreen/Mladina)
Mladina is fighting windmills
In the past, Mladina has repeatedly appeared in public, because of its former controversial owners. The parliamentary Investigation Commission led by SDS’s MP Jelka Godec has found that some of the money from the overpaid vascular stents, brought from the Mark Medical company, ended up at Mladina. And now they have been taken over by the suspicious Luxembourg fund York. With the spreading of its anti-Janšaisms, Mladina is becoming the Don Quixote of Slovenian journalism. Their threats of what the new government, led by Janez Janša will supposedly bring, are not taken seriously by anyone, except a few progressive radicals and academics.
The current political situation was best summed up by SMC president Zdravko Počivalšek: »This will not be a coalition of one party, not a coalition of one president, but a coalition of four parties, in which consensus and respect of all four partners will be needed to work.« Whether Počivalšek’s words will come true or not, depends on all four coalition parties. These now have a great opportunity to prove themselves through their work, and, above all, to prove to the transitional left-wing circles that their words on anti-janšaism are all a big lie.
We also sent our questions to RTV Slovenia, Ljubljana City Library (MKL) and the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia:
- In the Erar application, we have noticed that in February 2020, you paid 12.060,64 euros to Mladina magazine. What was the purpose of the payment? (The same question, but with a different amount, was sent to Ljubljana City Library and the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia)
Ljubljana City Library’s answer:
Greetings,
In February, we paid an annual subscription fee of 3,730.11 EUR to Mladina, for the following magazines:
Monitor (14 copies):
Fran Levstik Library of V. Lašče, Škofljica Library, Grba Library, Rudnik Library, Prežihov Voranc Library, Poljane Library, Otona Župančiča Library, Zadvor Library, Fužine Library, Polje Library, Jožeta Mazovca Library, Črnuče Library, Bežigrad Library, and Šiška Library.
Global (23 copies):
Fran Levstik Library of V. Lašče, Brezovica Library, Dobrova Library, Ig Library, Škofljica Library, Grba Library, Rudnik Library, Prežihov Voranc Library, Slovanska Library, Poljane Library, Otona Župančiča Library, Zalog Library, Jarše Library, Polje Library, Jožeta Mazovca Library, Glinškova ploščad Library, dr. France Škerl Library, Savsko naselje Library, Črnuče Library, Bežigrad Library, Šentvid Library, Šiška Library, and Trubar Literature House.
and Zakladnica zdravja (2 copies):
Škofljica Library, Dobrova Library.
We also paid a first-quarter subscription fee for the magazine Mladina (26 copies):
Fran Levstik Library of V. Lašče, Škofljica Library, Dobrova Library, Grba Library, Rudnik Library, Prežihov Voranc Library, Slovanska Library, Nove Poljane Library, Poljane Library, Otona Župančiča Library, Zadvor Library, Jarše Library, Zalog Library, Fužine Library, Polje Library, Jožeta Mazovca Library, dr. France Škerl Library, Savsko naselje Library, Glinškova ploščad Library, Črnuče Library, Bežigrad Library, Vodice Library, Gameljne Library, Šentvid Library, Šiška Library, and Trubar Literature House.
The National Assembly’s Answer:
Dear sir or madam!
In the year 2019, the National Assembly has paid a total of 7,513.66 € for the subscription fees for three magazines (Mladina, Global, Monitor), published by Mladina Publishing House, d. d. The amount of 2,404.94€ you mentioned in your question is accurate and was credited as a regular payment for a three-month subscription to Mladina and Global, and a one-year subscription to Monitor.
RTV Slovenia’s answer:
In February, RTV Slovenia made several payments to the Mladina magazine in the total amount of 12,060.64 euros. This consists of the annual subscription fees for the weekly Mladina magazine, the monthly Global magazine, and the monthly Monitor monthly, with MonitorDVD, for the entire public institution of RTV Slovenia.
Luka Perš