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Zagreb - The motion submitted by 18 Opposition MPs on establishing a commission of inquiry into how media outlets are funded stoked a hours-long debate in the parliament on Tuesday evening.
Bridge parliamentarian Nino Raspudić said that it was of public interest to establish how state companies and institutions spent money on advertising in media outlets.
The motion was provoked by the recent scandal dubbed "Mreža" exposing a former advisor of the economy minister, Jurica Lovrinčević and a local reporter of the "Mreža" commercial broadcaster arranging a deal on using the public money for advertisement, and under the deal, the adviser, who was later sacked, should also receive a portion of the allocation as a kickback.
During the heated debate the Opposition said that apart from the siphoning of money via media advertisements, the funds disbursed for advertisements were also used to polish the image of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and the ruling party.
Marin Miletić of the Bridge party also insisted that during the COVID pandemic, the premier instructed media editors and outlets how they should report on the developments.
He also complained that his Instagram posts and comments hit the headlines more frequently than round table discussions he organises on topics such as healthcare, Green policies and other topics. Miletić believes that this was a consequences of media funding by state budget.
SDP parliamentarian Miela Ahmtović accused the HRT public broadcaster of strong connections with the ruling HDZ party.
She promised that when the Opposition comes to power they will publish all data on how media outlets were funded in the last two terms of the current government and will adopt a new law on media.
HDZ MP: Opposition accuses all journalists of being corrupt
Josip Borić of the HDZ party responded that the conclusion of this debate is that the Opposition claims that all the media outlets are corrupt and that all reporters are corrupt.
"Tomorrow you will look them in the eyes (during news conferences), and will you tell them who is corrupt and who is not corrupt," Borić responded to Opposition MPs.
Media outlets report on activities of Opposition parties on a regulal basis, and those parties would have no content without those media reports, he said.
"Such media for which they claim that they are corrupt, provide them with news which Opposition parties then turn into their policies," said Borić.