STA, 7 May 2021 - Delo says in Friday's front-page editorial that the systematic tweeting by Prime Minister Janez Janša is part of a carefully devised political and communication plan to keep his constituency mobilised at a rate that will secure a relative win for his Democrats (SDS) in general election at any time.
For Janša, Twitter has become a key multi-functional tool with which he communicates with his constituency and with the public at the same time, while also attacking political opponents and discrediting critical journalists.
On this platform, the prime minister is also waging "war with the media, which now targets public media by financially draining the Slovenian Press Agency, before it is RTV Slovenija's turn".
According to Delo, the objective of Janša's war with the media is to destroy the traditional public space, which has already been undermined, and to solidify a parallel para-party media ecosystem supported by Hungarian capital.
The final objective is to establish Twitter as the key public media, where it is much easier to manipulate with public opinion than in the established media world, where information is checked systematically and passes through several filters.
The newspaper notes that the use of techniques of astroturfing in connection with the media linked with the SDS has helped establish the increasingly negativist political agenda in the country.
"For the SDS's interests to be fully solidified, public media need to be crushed, for which he does not need 46 votes in the National Assembly, only early elections must be prevented," concludes the commentary “A Systematic Plan is Behind the Yelping of Marshal Tweeto”.
