US embassy cable - 04LJUBLJANA499

UNCLAS  LJUBLJANA 000499 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/PPD, EUR/NCE 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, OIIP, SI 
SUBJECT:  PUBLIC AFFAIRS INFLUENCE ANALYSIS: SLOVENIA 
 
REF:  STATE 33359 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified -- Please protect accordingly. 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary.  Slovenia has a very open information 
environment in which there is little, if any, overt 
censorship.  The media are critical and react strongly 
against any perceived attempts to influence the tenor of 
their reporting.  Nevertheless, they often fall short of 
journalistic standards of professionalism by blatantly 
mixing fact and opinion in their stories.  The media also 
exhibit a strong left-of-center bias.  This "social 
democratic" orientation is common to Slovenian academia 
and the NGO sector as well, and is reflected within the 
broader public, which welcomes American individuals and 
culture but remains critical of our foreign and (many of 
our) domestic policies. 
 
2.  (SBU) Summary cont'd.  Generating influence with our 
policymaking audience requires tailoring our message to 
Slovenes' sense of national interest.  The policymaking 
establishment is very legalistic and will typically strive 
to achieve consensus on major policy issues, even if it 
means hindering or delaying policy resolution.  To 
influence the broader public, we use the full range of PD 
tools and programs.  We believe strongly in creatively 
using all the resources at our disposal to promote mutual 
understanding in hopes of gradually chipping away at the 
knee-jerk reaction our policies elicit in the media and 
within certain parts of Slovene society.  End summary. 
 
3. (SBU)  Slovenia is a parliamentary democracy and 
constitutional republic, which provides for freedom of 
speech and of the press.  The information environment in 
many areas is very open.  Internet access rates are high, 
and government offices and private institutions have 
excellent and sophisticated websites.  Thus, Post can do a 
great deal of outreach and IRC work via the e-mail and the 
Internet. 
 
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Media Environment 
------------------ 
 
4. (SBU)  The media environment in Slovenia, however, is 
more difficult.  It is complex and often opaque, very 
critical of the U.S., with major print media displaying a 
pronounced and admitted left-of-center bias.  Slovenia's 
recent history, combining communism and Tito's concept of 
"self-management," has resulted in journalists who 
distrust governments in general, are quick to label 
information propaganda, jealously guard their 
independence, and see adopting an extremely critical 
stance as a natural part of their watchdog role and a way 
to make a name for themselves.  Too, when the press 
suspects it is being "spun," it often reacts strongly and 
in the opposite direction. 
 
5. (SBU)  The above, combined with a uniform leftist bias 
(especially in the major national print media -- there are 
no right-leaning dailies), strong anti-American policy 
rhetoric, a deep identification with Europe (vs. America), 
deliberate efforts to be provocative, and journalists' 
almost "allergic reaction" to the Bush administration, 
makes for a very hostile media environment for Embassy 
public affairs.  There is also a surfeit of editorials in 
the press and a tendency to mix straight reporting with 
editorial comment.   In addition, editorial writers seem 
to gather the news from secondary sources and compose 
their articles almost exclusively from what appear to be 
their own ideas and commentary, without than fleshing them 
out or substantiating them with outside quotes or ideas 
gleaned from interviews and other sources (like, for 
example, Tom Friedman of the New York Times). 
Investigative journalism as practiced in the U.S. also is 
not as developed in Slovenia, partially because editors 
are reluctant or unable to allow reporters to spend weeks 
developing, researching, and following a single story. 
The fact that access to information laws are new here and, 
in general, less information from government, individuals 
and companies is the public domain also affects reporting. 
 
6.  (SBU) The U.S. is also a large and easy target, and 
any journalist wanting to criticize U.S. policy only has 
to mention the Kyoto Agreement, the ICC and/or Guantanamo 
to score a point.  Media ownership is difficult to 
determine, as are exact political and economic pressures, 
which allegedly affect media reporting and result in some 
self -censorship. 
 
7.  (SBU) Public station TV Slovenia competes for 
viewership in the national television market with 
 
commercial station POP TV, and like most public TV 
stations in the region, has lost market share to POP and 
other cable stations.  While occasionally criticized for 
pro-government bias from some quarters, TV Slovenia news 
is trusted and watched.  National radio news (hourly) is 
also popular.  Because of its public mandate to educate, 
TV and Radio Slovenia have more news and public affairs 
programs on foreign policy issues, so we frequently turn 
to them when we have exclusive interviews and NATO or FPC 
tours, as they afford these stories more time and 
attention than commercial stations. 
 
8.  (SBU) Despite criticism from some quarters, media in 
Slovenia enjoy a high degree of public trust.  Monthly 
polling consistently puts media among the most trusted 
institutions.  While it is criticized and considered still 
to be in transition in some quarters, clearly, it is 
accepted by the general public.  Opposition figures, 
however, complain about media access and the fact that 
there are no center right dailies. 
 
9.  Major media turn out for Embassy press conferences, 
but judge all events with a very critical eye and 
attendance is by no means automatic or guaranteed.  The 
Mission can occasionally place op-eds, but with only three 
serious national dailies, all of which are left-of-center 
and cautious about taking our material.  We have to 
prioritize our placement efforts carefully and can take 
none for granted.  Also, the media here is looking for 
news and doesn't always consider messages on U.S. policy, 
which are relatively known and stable, to be news. 
Naturally, pieces by well-known figures, offered as 
Slovenia exclusives, are somewhat easier to place.    When 
we do place op-eds, papers often feel the need to quickly 
counter USG editorials with opposing pieces by local 
commentators and writers. Saturday supplements of major 
dailies are full of opinion and long "think" pieces by 
academics and local experts. 
 
------------------- 
The Slovene public 
------------------- 
 
10.  Many of our contacts and Slovene society, in general, 
might be described in U.S. terms as social democratic at 
heart, and many probably agree with the press's criticism 
of U.S. policy.  But often (or maybe just in person) they 
are not as strident.  Despite the press, Slovenes 
generally like and accept Americans and still admire and 
enjoy many aspects of American culture and society.  It is 
clear, however, when we go to the universities for 
discussions or debates that media criticism is being read 
and does have an effect on attitudes and our programming 
environment.  Non-state actors do play a role in media and 
policymaking.  University professors regularly write 
pieces for print media and are frequent guests on 
television talk shows, as are NGO representatives.  Many 
are from the center-left of the political spectrum, 
however, so do not contradict the general left-of-center 
media bias. 
 
 
------------------------------- 
Identifying our Target Audience 
------------------------------- 
 
11. (SBU) The primary audience for our MPP goal of 
encouraging Slovenia to promote political, economic and 
military reform in central and southeastern Europe 
consists of government policymakers, parliamentarians, 
members of the judiciary, military leaders, the media, 
academia, NGOs, and the general public. Some of the 
critical NGOs in this area include the International Trust 
Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance (ITF), the 
Regional Center for the Psychosocial Well-Being of War- 
Affected Children in Southeastern Europe, and the 
Institution for Preventing Corruption. The newly founded 
NGO "Forum 21" may also prove to be a critical lobby. 
 
12.  (SBU) The main audience in the MPP goal area of 
improving Slovenia's ability to detect, interdict, 
prosecute and convict persons involved in transnational 
criminal and terrorist activities includes, in addition to 
the above groups, members of the police, customs, and 
border guards. 
 
13. (SBU) The primary audience in the MPP goal area of 
encouraging transparency, open markets, further 
privatization, and respect for the rule of law consists of 
policymakers in the Ministry of Finance and Economics, 
business leaders, financial institutions, and trade 
associations such as the Council of American States in 
 
Europe (CASE), AmCham Europe, and the Slovenia-U.S. Trade 
Promotion Board. 
 
-------------------------- 
The Policymaking Audience 
-------------------------- 
 
14. (SBU) Communication with our policymaking audience 
takes the form of demarches and official visits by senior 
Mission officers as well as interpersonal communication in 
less formal settings. Our IRC also makes contact with this 
audience and regularly reaches out by providing SDI 
profiles, e-newsletters, and other information products 
and by responding to inquiries for information on the u.s. 
Our ability to influence our contacts is contingent first 
on establishing cordial and professional relationships. 
Slovene policymakers understand that their national 
interest lies in promoting regional stability, counter- 
terrorism and anti-crime measures, and our stress on the 
congruence of their interests with ours generally leads to 
the greatest receptivity to our policies. Policymakers in 
particular have a keen and calculated sense of national 
interest that usually overrides the sometimes emotional 
sway one finds in the media or in academia. Another 
important attribute of the Slovenian policymaking 
community is the tendency to seek consensus on major 
policy issues. The close link between political and 
economic elites and the "networked" nature of Slovenian 
society result in a desire to burn as few bridges as 
possible and achieve maximal consensus. On major issues 
like NATO accession, this fervent desire for consensus has 
at times caused considerable delays in moving policies 
forward. It has also on various occasions severely 
complicated the policymaking process and put obstacles in 
the way of achieving a necessary resolution. 
 
15. (SBU) Communication with the current GOS leadership 
requires attention to a few details. First, PM Rop's 
interest in public policy is piqued whenever it is couched 
in terms of Slovenia's economic growth and development. 
Rop's primary interest is clearly economic policy and he 
often frames foreign and security policy issues from an 
economist's perspective. Second, the GOS leadership 
reportedly pays close attention to opinion polls and has 
even commissioned special polls for its own internal 
consumption. 
 
-------------------- 
Our broader audience 
-------------------- 
 
16. (SBU) In terms of our wider audience--the media, 
academia, NGOs, and the judiciary--post uses the full 
panoply of PD tools and programs in order to reach out to 
these groups. The Fulbright, Humphrey, IV programs, and 
NATO tours have enabled us to gain considerable access to 
senior administrators and influential voices in academia 
as well as to top officials in NGOs and the judiciary. 
These programs have generally had positive effects, 
although Slovenes have a historically-conditioned 
skepticism of government programs that makes them assume 
some programs must entail propaganda. Returned Fulbright 
and IV grantees often tell us about the high quality of 
their U.S. program and are invariably impressed with the 
diversity of views they encounter. Some grantees have even 
mentioned that their visit forced them to re-evaluate 
preconceived notions about the U.S. and led them to 
completely change their position on a given issue. Even 
without such wholesale change, however, returned grantees 
usually come back with a better understanding of the U.S. 
and a greater appreciation for how American society is 
organized and how public policies are made. Nevertheless, 
skepticism of current U.S. policy often remains firmly 
entrenched. 
 
17. (SBU) Our Information Resource Center (IRC) provides 
information on the u.s. to the general public through our 
Mission web site, targeted dissemination of informati9n, 
and also upon request. The IRC continuously engages in the 
promotion and marketing of our website to a wider audience 
and conducts briefings to encourage wider dissemination of 
our information products. The IRC director also manages 
the Embassy's book donation program and designs 
promotional materials and develops marketing strategies 
highlighting IRC products, programs, and services. 
Speakers from the u.s. also provide our wider audience 
with a valuable third-party perspective and help promote 
greater appreciation of u.s. society, culture, and 
institutions within Slovenia. Again, however, there is 
often a tendency to assume that speakers who come to 
Slovenia on an Embassy-sponsored program must have had 
their message pre-cleared. Because it is so difficult to 
 
find third parties in Slovenia who would represent a pro- 
U.S. position, speaker programs nevertheless remain the 
tool of choice for voicing third-party perspectives. 
Targeted DVCs also provide a valuable link between 
policymakers in the U.S. and in Slovenia and have in some 
cases led to remarkably long-lasting collaborative 
relationships, as in the case of several Slovene judges 
who participated in a DVC with Supreme Court Justice 
Anthony Kennedy. DVCs for the media must be carefully 
selected and judiciously used, however, since the media 
needs to feel they are getting useful information and a 
story out of the time and effort they put into attending 
the event. 
 
18. (SBU) Post engages the media and the general public by 
extensively using the Ambassador for interviews and 
appearances. We also take advantage of almost all USG 
visits for media opportunities to get our message out. We 
try to creatively use events to engage our audiences and 
to build trust and mutual understanding, whether it be 
with a ship visit, US Women's Fed Cup tennis, reception, 
or private student exchange. Finally, cultural grants and 
cultural programming provide us with access to a very 
useful set of contacts in the cultural community and help 
sustain a positive image of the U.S. even in the face of 
critical media coverage. 
 
------------------ 
COMMENT/CONCLUSION 
------------------ 
 
19.  (SBU)  The left-of-center orientation of the Slovene 
media and of much of Slovenian society will continue to 
produce criticism of our foreign policy.  Post will 
continue to engage our policymaking audience and the 
broader public by remaining highly visible and programming 
events that portray the U.S. in a positive light and 
counter negative views and misunderstandings of our 
policies.  We will continue to look for creative ways to 
draw attention to our values and to broaden Slovenes' 
understanding of our policies and the motivations behind 
them.  Recent program events like our collaboration with 
the U.S. Women's Fed Cup Tennis Team to raise money for 
children mine victims received wide press coverage and 
portrayed the U.S. very positively.  By combining an 
auction of tennis equipment with a COM speech about how 
the U.S. tax system encourages charitable giving and 
volunteerism, we also got our message across about the 
importance of allowing market institutions to function in 
an unfettered and transparent manner.  Our programs must 
creatively reach out to our (many) audiences to showcase 
our diversity, openness, individualism and hard work.  We 
will build on recent efforts that include sponsorship of a 
film highlighting the diversity of U.S. society in the 
Ljubljana film festival, promotion of U.S. counter-TIP 
efforts through the screening of a feature film, and a COM 
visit to a local school for Deaf and hearing-impaired 
students.  Our continued presence and high visibility in 
such programs will mitigate the negative coverage we 
receive on some policy issues and provide better context 
for and understanding of our motivations.  End comment. 
 
YOUNG 
 
 
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