Robert Fico (Smer) refuses to communicate with media critical of him. Ever since becoming the Prime Minister again, he has given interviews to several television networks, but also to Infovojna (Infowar) before Christmas.
Infovojna is an Internet radio station with a website that spreads disinformation. On air, Fico thanked the alternative media for "correcting the distortions we have in the media market".
Later, Robert Kaliňák (Smer) also appeared on air. The very beginning of his interview shows best why Smer politicians feel so comfortable in this media environment.
"What about Globsec?" asked Infovojna founder Norbert Lichtner. He continued, "A few want to abolish it. People don't want to pay warmongers, because the money can be used for better things".
"I think this is our answer," responded Kaliňák.
For a second, Lichtner was taken aback by this answer. "I should oppose you, I could come up with some stupid thing like Mr Dírer (private news TA3 anchor - Ed. note), but I'm not willing to dump on myself in front of the nation," explained Lichtner. "I see no reason to oppose you on a matter on which I agree with you," he added.
The Infovojna website monitors the news and takes over the statements of government politicians or their social media videos. In some cases it appears to be a Smer party website.
Just like any other disinformation media, Infovojna has seen a sharp increase in traffic in recent months.
Since these outlets are not involved in official media monitoring (IAB Monitor), their traffic can only be estimated. Daily Sme used the Semrush paid toll to do this.
Semrush estimates that Hlavné Správy (Main News) and Infovojna are visited by around one million unique visitors a month. That would be at the level of mainstream news websites such as dennikn.sk or sita.sk.
However, this estimate should be taken with a grain of salt. For example, Semrush estimates the number of unique visitors of the sme.sk website to be twice as large as the real number of visitors according to the IAB Monitor. In the case of dennikn.sk, the traffic was double the real number as well; in the case of sita.sk it was more accurate.
Instead, Semrush shows which disinformation media outlets are the strongest and, in particular, what are the trends.
Based on historical data, it is evident that disinformation media have always had large fluctuations in the number of visitors, depending on the political situation and the mood of society.
After a strong growth in 2018 and 2019, 2020 saw a damping. At that time, society called for an anti-corruption government in the elections. In light of this, people were not interested in disinformation media.
A new surge of popularity came during the second and third Covid-19 waves, when these outlets became the main source of hoaxes and disinformation about the pandemic.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the state began to block Hlavné Správy and Hlavný Denník. It took both outlets a year to reach their old visitor numbers, with the 2023 autumn election being a help in this regard. The topics of the election were dictated by Smer, which the disinformation media were able to benefit from.
The question is how disinformation media can cope with the new situation in society. Until now, they profiled themselves as an alternative, but now resemble pro-government propaganda.
Last Wednesday, several NGOs called on Hlas leader Peter Pellegrini to stop the destruction of the rule of law and oppose the approval of the amendment to the Criminal Code. Their letter was signed by 38,000 citizens.
"NGOs are becoming more and more interested in what the government does, so they are de facto trying to influence the management of the state through the government," wrote eReport.
"It's sick and perverted, because the government is here to govern, and NGOs should fulfil a completely different role than many of them fulfil. Now some of them are even calling on the Speaker of Parliament to stop the alleged destruction of the rule of law," added editor Jozef Uhlarik.
The rest is an adapted story from the TASR newswire and looks like a regular news report.
Disinformation media take stories from TASR, which can make them look a bit like traditional news media. Then, the editors insert their opinions into them, usually in support of the government's actions while they undermine the opposition.
Examples include the following headlines on eReport: "Remišová detached from reality and her other meaningless blah-blah-blah towards Pellegrini and Fico" or "The media attack Pellegrini, but he stands his ground and gives journalists a lesson".
In traditional media, opinion pieces with expressive language targeting specific politicians do appear, but these media make a clear distinction between news and opinion pieces.
"Just to foment people, call protests, file criminal complaints! This is what constructive criticism looks like according to the opposition, which before the elections promised to calm the situation, address the chaos and polarization of society. Now, the SaS party wants to file a criminal complaint against the Speaker of Parliament..." writes Hlavný Denník editor Dušan Janek in a piece that looks like a news story.
Daily Sme sent questions to four disinformation media outlets. Only the editor-in-chief of Hlavný Denník, Ivan Mihale, responded.
"Given that we have long considered Sme daily to be a violent, mischievous and hysterical media outlet connected to billionaire George Soros's network, I see no reason to respond to your questions," he wrote back.
However, there are differences between the various disinformation media outlets. At the moment, the most popular website is Hlavné Správy, which publishes more than 30 short TASR newswire stories on a daily basis, pretty much left intact.
Thus, the stories of Hlavné Správy editors often become mixed with them, making the website to not appear as pro-government as its competitors.
Among dozens of TASR newswire stories, this headline appeared on Thursday: "Breakthrough decision. Fico's government resists US pressure".
For the sake of context, the FA Ministers of 47 countries condemned North Korea's deliveries of ballistic missiles to Russia in a joint statement, but Slovak Minister Juraj Blanár did not join them, positively welcomed by the unsigned editor of Hlavné Správy.
"From the words of Prime Minister Fico, it follows that his government will not continue this policy and will no longer be a puppet of the United States, which over the past three years have become accustomed to Slovakia approving everything that Washington serves it without complaint," the text reads.
Within the EU, only Hungary did not sign the statement. In diplomatic circles, Blanár's actions are viewed as an embarrassment.
Affiliation with Fico's government is visible in other Hlavné Správy stories as well, but more subtly than in other disinformation media. While other media covered the purchase of Fico's apartment, Hlavné Správy ran only one story and only after Fico commented on it.
The future of disinformation media will depend not only on how people accept their new role, but also on their financing.
One of their main sources of income is advertising through AdSense, a Google system that allows websites to display any Internet advertisement from any company using it.
However, disinformation media income is lower thanks to the Konšpirátori.sk project. Companies that participate in the project voluntarily block the displaying of their ads on conspiracy websites.
The founder of the project, Ján Urbančík, claims that their script is used by 11,000 companies in Slovakia and the Czech Republic and has already affected 150,000 online campaigns. Even though Google's algorithm replaces their ad with another, the price is already lower.
"This is due to the auction nature of the algorithms that Google uses. The smaller the demand from advertisers for a given website, the less it can earn from advertising," explains Urbančík. Still, he assumes that the largest websites such as Hlavné Správy can earn thousands of euros a month from Google advertising, which can cover their operation.
Various fees, including for the TASR newswire stories, server fees, and editor payments, amount to several thousand euros monthly.
In addition, the growing number of visitors in recent months is going to show in their income. On the other hand, this kind of income is very unstable due to traffic fluctuations.
In the past, news that Hlavné Správy and Hlavný Denník were financially supported by the Sme Rodina party surfaced. In 2021, Hlavné Správy received €57,600 and Hlavný denník €27,200 for advertising from the party.
On the other hand, as an NGO, Infovojna receives income from tax allocation. In 2022, it was over €37,000. It also sells merchandise through its own online shop.
The possibility that disinformation media are supported by wealthy patrons cannot be ruled out. In the past, mobster Marian Kočner claimed that he financially supported Hlavné Správy and that he was one of the shareholders. The editor-in-chief of Hlavné Správy, Róbert Sopko, said that he sent them a one-time contribution and made a buyout offer, which they rejected.
Representatives of Fico's government are of the opinion that they should financially support alternative media and repay them for their support.
Lukáš Machala, who works at the Culture Ministry, said in an interview with YouTuber Erika Vincoureková that alternative media could receive support from state-owned enterprises that would buy advertising space from them. He also talked about supporting development projects in these media financed by public funds.
According to the Central Register of Contracts, no disinformation media has received specific support yet.
This article was written in the framework of The Eastern Frontier Initiative (TEFI) project. TEFI is a collaboration of independent publishers from Central and Eastern Europe, to foster common thinking and cooperation on European security issues in the region. The project aims to promote knowledge sharing in the European press and contribute to a more resilient European democracy.
Members of the consortium are 444 (Hungary), Gazeta Wyborcza (Poland), SME (Slovakia), PressOne (Romania), and Bellingcat (The Netherlands).
The TEFI project is co-financed by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
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