FIG LEAF

AIM, ZAGREB, May 19, 1995

A small number of Croat journalists, and therefore, of course, an even smaller number of "ordinary mortals" understands quite clearly what is going on within the Croat Journalists' Society (HND). Neither from the report published by the media and submitted at the assembly of journalists on April 22, which also adopted the new Statute, nor from the letter of resignation of the Vice-Chairwoman of the Society, Olga Ramljak ("Slobodna Dalmacija") and a member of the Executive Board, Aleksa Crnjakovic ("Vjesnik") is it easy to discern what epoch-making or catastrophic event occurred that Saturday in the building of the Journalists' Club.

Olga Ramljak and Aleksa Crnjakovic made it publicly known that they had "realized that we were completely powerless. The Statute was adopted, but with resolutions which are contrary to our conception. Solutions which enable the retired members to retain predominance in the HND were imposed upon us by a majority of votes, and the new Election Assembly will not change anything much either... Thanks to the adopted statutory solutions and passivity of the working members, the election Assembly will verify our former experience, and mostly the retired journalists will be decision-makers concerning property, rights and obligations of the journalists of Croatia. We, indeed, bear no grudge against the honourable retired journalists, but we believe that our interests are completely different, therefore our resignation is irrevocable".

Naturally, everybody has a right to resign out of protest, even if it is caused by democratic outvoting which is on this occasion called "imposing a solution". But, why are retired journalists controversial and why did the group around Olga Ramljak and Aleksa Crnjakovic think that their rights should be diminished, that the retired members of the Society should have only five representatives in the Assembly and that they should not be elected to executive agencies of the Society? A part of the answer to these questions can be sought in the phrase "honourable retired" journalists, because the notion that there are those who are not honourable automatically suggests itself. And the answer to the question how many of ones and how many of the others there are is in the domain of politics, and not profession. This means that although the Society which wishes to define itself as a professional, non-governmental and non-party association, the way it turns its retired members into second-rate membership, and there were attempts to do the same with others as well, has a political implication. Noone contests, though, that based on the new Statute, it was necessary to make a profound revision of the membership, because a lot of all kinds of people gathered in it, from those who have long stopped being active journalists, to students with a part-time job in journalism, cammeramen, TV and radio announcers in show programs.

That this is a political and not a professional issue became clear last year in June in Dubrovnik, at the "Days of Croat Journalism, when Stjepo Martinovic (a commentator of "Vjesnik" at the time, and now the spokesman of the Croat National Party) called free lances "members of the SKOJ" (Communist Youth Association in former Yugoslavia), and retired journalists "Members of the SUBNOR" (National Liberation War Veterans' Association). That this is a political issue is also verified by the assessments of the state leaders that there are as much as 60 per cent of enemies among the members of the society of journalists. They are, probably those "members of the SKOJ" and "Members of the SUBNOR" who it was necessary to get rid of, and put the Society under control of the everyone knows which party, as a prominent task force of the state propaganda apparatus.

In parallel with such attempts to cleanse the Society, another activity went on aimed at occupation of the Journalists' Club, because experts for transformaton and fishing in troubled waters soon became aware of its value (nowadays it brings about 400 thousand German marks). A few people have heard of the anecdote about an official of the ruling party who visited the Journalists' Club and with nonchalance, as if it were his own, strolled around it picking the premises which would suit him best.

These are just some reasons why some are so concerned about the retired journalists and free lances, especially those who work for foreign media. In a state where the President of the Republic, the head of the General Staff of the Croat Army, the Chairman of the Assembly, numerous deputies and ministers, and even the Cardinal himself are retired, a professional non-governmental organization suddenly becomes so important that its retired members are its major problem. And all that with arguments that the situation within the HND can be changed only by active participation of working journalists. Since such active participation is missing, which means that working journalists did not recognize the HND as their own organization, the retired members were accused. The problem is simply turned upside down, because it is obvious that the major problem is not in the retired members, but in working journalists or, more precisely, in the Society itself and the situation in Croatia where little can be done to change the present unenviable position of the journalists. And that is where the key issue - the major problem of Croat journalistic organization lies. The Statute should really be profoundly changed, but not in the sense that it deals essentially with ephemeral issues, but in the sense that it strives to make a drastic cut and instead of the two existing organizations - the Trade Union and the Society - create one. After all, the majority of European countries do not have an equivalent to the society, but just trade unions, and the International Federation of Journalists is in fact a federation of journalists' trade unions. Such a unique organization would squander neither power nor money, and its priority task would be protection of journalists and the journalistic profession.

But, such proposals are persistently rejected, so that nowadays in Croatia we have a journalists' society which more or less is good for nothing but showing that it exists and which is torn by political variances, and a Trade Union which is anaemic and impotent. And with the help of the capital it possesses in the Journalists' Club, such a unique organization would be capable of being an equal partner to the state and other employers, even to organize a strike. In the attempt to establish such a powerful organization there is a lot of misunderstanding, but still, the major obstacle is made by those who are aware what the journalists would get with it. That is why the story about retired journalists is nothing but a fig leaf which is expected to conceal the attempt of the HDZ to take over control over the journalists' organization, and if it cannot do that, at least to make it as futile as possible.

GOJKO MARINKOVIC