Melita Vrsaljko and her cameraman were physically attacked twice on July 15. Melita is a journalist living in a small town in Croatia and had recently covered several environmental issues, including an alleged illegal dumping in her own town, which seemed to have infuriated the owners of those facilities prompting the alleged assault.
But this case goes beyond what appears to be an isolated incident. Melita works for Faktograf, one of the leading fact-checking organizations in Croatia, which has faced online threats and smear campaigns by political actors for years. However, the organization has seen a significant increase in such attacks since launching the Climate Portal a few months ago. This project monitors all disinformation campaigns and bad practices related to the climate emergency.
Unfortunately, this is not a phenomenon exclusive to Croatia. “Climate and Environmental Journalism Under Fire,” an extensive report published by the International Press Institute in 2023, compiles similar experiences from nearly 40 environmental and climate journalists in 21 countries across the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
The report explores the specific challenges faced by freelancers and local journalists and examines the impact of the failure of the rule of law and public-sector corruption.
Our guest today is Petar Vidov, editor-in-chief of Faktograf, and we’ll be discussing the attacks on Faktograf for their work debunking false news related to the climate crisis.
Guest: Petar Vidov, Editor-in-Chief, Faktograf, Croatia.
Producer and host: Javier Luque, head of digital communications at IPI
Related links mentioned in the episode:
Other episodes in this series:
Season 2
Episode 1: How Austria’s far right sows distrust in media
Episode 2: France at tilting point as journalists face far-right disinfo attacks
Season 1
Episode 2: How journalists investigate the far right
Episode 3: Fact-checkers targeted by populists in Europe
Episode 4: When disinformation campaigns fuel hate and harassment
Episode 5: Alexander Roth – Smeared and threatened by the far-right next door
Episode 6: Franziska Tschinderle – Attacked by Orbán’s state media
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This podcast series is part of the project Decoding the disinformation playbook of populism in Europe, which is supported by the European Media and Information Fund, managed by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Disclaimer:
The sole responsibility for any content supported by the European Media and Information Fund lies with the author(s) and it may not necessarily reflect the positions of the EMIF and the Fund Partners, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the European University Institute.
