Reply to the article “Two Emeriti and one Mamula”, Pobjeda, 27 May 2015

 “Dear Ms Rabrenović,

            Just a couple of days ago I came to your article translated in English. In these late years, I completely empathise with my young male and female colleague journalists who publish a “hatchet job” (a colloquial expression, means a commissioned critique which aims to belittle and discredit a person or an idea) in order to get space in the media and money. However, I could sue you and I would have easily won in any court.

            In your imaginative article there are several falsehoods and insinuations which disqualify your comment. The main “evidence” upon which you base the core argument of your writing are alleged contacts between Mr Krivokapić and me. I officially state that I have never met, I do not know, nor have I ever had any contact with Mr Krivokapić and I call for you to prove otherwise. It was only logical that our joint letter on Mamula be addressed to Mr Krivokapić as President of the Parliament of Montenegro, which had on its agenda voting on the agreement on leasing the fortress to a private investor.

            One of insinuations was that I am somehow connected to the politics in Montenegro. I have absolutely no idea about the internal issues of Montenegro, and to be frank, I have no desire to interfere in its internal debates. You could have easily obtained my articles and seen that I only take on global issues, which is more than enough nowadays. I have joined the Mamula Initiative because I love Montenegro, which I have visited only as a tourist. Furthermore, I have been engaged for a long time in the campaign for preservation of historic locations as public spaces and I am against privatisation of history and art. You can easily see that from my CV on Wikipedia (which, apparently, you have not done with due diligence)

            In your crafty spin on facts, there is also a highlighted insinuation that the mysterious purpose of the original joint letter, signed by five international personalities, was to save the fortress Mamula as a ruin for “future generations” or, however, that our initiative was concealing the goal to “turn Mamula into a headquarters of foreign politicians, in order to be able to eventually name the next peace – for example in Ukraine - after Mamula or Lastavica, where the negotiations were held”. My dear junior colleague, precisely such bending of the facts and mocking, which define the defamatory journalism and what motivates it, are responsible for twisting the purpose of a benevolent initiative of us “five emeriti” from all over the world to write our letter of 15 May to President of the Parliament, and, which is most regrettable to us, have turned the whole affair into a “soap-opera of the fortress Mamula and island Lastavica”, as you so point out in your article.

One more important point before I conclude – I have sent an email to the company Orascom, where I have mistyped “Macedonia” instead of “Montenegro”. I have immediately sent a correction and an apology. You have ignored my correction. Furthermore, you have given much space and significance to my alleged “ignorance”, you have spun it beyond every measure and proportion, and used it to discredit me personally, and the initiative regarding the fortress Mamula. To use a mistake from my first message despite my correction is utterly unethical, unfair and professionally dubious, both on your part and the company Orascom which, in spite of my correction, has forwarded my first email to the media for the purpose of a campaign to discredit the letter of 15 May and those who have signed it. Likewise, I see that you have used Google in your quest to find some defamatory information with a clear purpose to discredit, and if possible, mock other signatories of the letter of 15 May! Thus you have called one of us a “businessman”, and some dubious data on his past activities, one more time through your spin, have been served to your readers to make their own judgement.

            Therefore, my dear Ms Rabrenović, in the end I would like to give you an advice. Before you write about someone, bear in mind that the golden rule of journalism is to always check things with the person in question. I assume that you did not follow that fundamental rule for some reason that concerns those who have requested or commissioned you to write the article on the subject. However, that is a good recipe to never become a journalist who enjoys respect. But, as I have already said, I sympathise greatly with those who are fighting for space and money… they have to make a living somehow… just, do a job better in the future.”

Roberto Savio