STA, 7 June 2021 - President Borut Pahor has announced he will award presidential decorations to the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), the Koper bureau of public broadcaster RTV Slovenija and the Slovenian bureau of Italian public broadcaster RAI.
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"I believe these are three anniversaries, three important media institutions, which have made major contributions to us having freedom of speech, expression and media," he told a news show on TV Slovenija on Sunday evening.
The STA is celebrating the 30th anniversary this year, and the Koper bureau of RTV Slovenia marked its 50th anniversary this year.
Pahor will decorate the STA in the second half of the month, he explained on Monday, speaking to the press on the margin of a reception for Slovenian Catholic bishops.
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He said the agency had played its irreplaceable role for 30 years already, doing its job professionally and with passion, contributing to freedom of the press and speech.
The STA is an agency without which many media outlets would not be able to report objectively on events in Slovenia and abroad, he said.
The STA has very successfully adhered to the standards of agency journalisms such as professionalism and unbiased reporting over the past 30 years, "which is the reason why it deserves a decoration for the mission it carries out", he added.
Pahor will decorate the STA upon the proposals of two former STA directors, Dejan Verčič and Tadej Labernik, and the Association of Slovenian Journalists. They urged him last month to decorate the STA on its 30th anniversary for its role and importance in Slovenia, both for the country's statehood and its democratic media.
