A continuous battle: relationships between journalists and politicians in Slovenia

This article deals with the relationship between journalists and politicians in post-socialist Slovenia, where journalists report increasing political pressures from editors, management and politicians. If socialism supported, even required, an intimate connection between party leaders and journalists, what are some “new” expectations that state or party officials have from journalists? Moreover, what is the self-professed role of journalists in the process of a democratic transition, and what “new” journalistic values are being adopted and challenged the most? On the basis of media political economy and 51 in-depth interviews (30 journalists and 21 politicians) we argue that there is a complex and multilayered relationship being formed between Slovene journalists and politicians. The Slovene case study can tell us more about the troublesome relationship between politicaleconomic elites and journalists in the transition to democracy in a new country that has only recently become a nation-state