Reactions of Croatian journalists: Apology to Komšić for the hooliganism of the HRT editor

(Patria) - The show "Nedjeljom u 2" on HRT hosted by editor and presenter Aleksandar Stanković, which featured the member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željko Komšić as a guest on Sunday, has been described by some of the most prominent Croatian journalists as an abuse of the public television service, and the presenter Stanković's behavior has been called hooliganism.

"As a citizen of the Republic of Croatia, but also as a journalist, I feel called upon and obliged to apologize, I believe on behalf of many of our readers who followed yesterday's edition of HTV's show 'Nedjeljom u dva', to the member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Željko Komšić, for the incorrectness and rudeness of my colleague Aleksandar Stanković, editor and presenter of 'Nu2'," published Croatian journalist Drago Pilsel in a commentary on Autograf.hr.

"For the first half hour, he didn't let him breathe. He tried to 'prove' the inconsistency of Komšić's policy and his position in the BiH Presidency. This was followed by a terrible, unprofessional report (by an unrecognizable) colleague Maja Sever, who brought an HDZ journalist to the camera without verification to slander Komšić, accusing him of spreading hate speech and that his presence is the greatest damage to Croats in BiH... I will admit that I love Bosnia and Herzegovina terribly and that I may be objective in that love, but I know what good journalism is, and this is not what we saw yesterday. This is hooliganism," wrote Pilsel.

 

 

Index columnist Gordan Duhaček believes that Komšić had a fairly good appearance on HRT, and that he showed that he is not a fascist, although part of the media is trying to present him that way.

"UZP-affiliated media have been presenting him as a Croat-eater and a fascist for months, but he turned out to be much more normal than Čović. Another defeat for the failed West Herzegovina policy, after Čović's attendance at the genocide party in Banja Luka," Duhaček wrote on Twitter.

Media expert and former BHRT general director Mehmed Agović sees positive developments in Komšić's appearance on HRT.

"Stanković found understanding among the responsible people at HRT to host Željko Komšić on the show 'Nedjeljom u 2' despite the odium towards that politician from parts of the Croatian public," Agović wrote on Twitter.

"This could be a harbinger of a different attitude of the authorities of the Republic of Croatia towards Komšić and the proponents of his boycott in Mostar and Zagreb," Agović added.