Prague, Feb 27 (CTK) – A silent coalition has been formed in the Czech media space, which aims at promotion of the owners-politicians and their allies, including President Milos Zeman who enjoys almost uncritical support of some of them, Marek Svehla writes in weekly Respekt out yesterday.
He writes that Zeman’s admirers include the Nova commercial TV, the daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) as well as Parlamentni listy, which is a marginal medium, but well visible on social networks.
Svehla writes that the reason for the aggressive and abusive statements about public Czech Television (CT), whose “objectivity, professionalism and uncorrupt character is checked by a system of media councils controlled by parliament,” may be very alarming.
He writes that Zeman called CT journalists “an unobjective and unprofessional pack concentrated around [the rightist opposition] TOP 09” last week.
Still before him, Finance Minister and ANO head Andrej Babis said right on the screen that CT reporters are “a corrupt vermin,” Svehla writes.
A possible explanation of this situation may be offered by the statement by Hanus Hanslik, former head of TV Nova’s home news desk for the Forum 24 web page. He said the editors of Nova, which has a big rating, commonly adjust reportages, deleting negative information on certain politicians, Svehla writes.
According to Hanslik, Nova mainly favours Babis, Zeman, the opposition anti-immigrant Dawn party and senator Ivo Valenta, owner of the Synot betting agency, elected for the Freeholder Party, Svehla writes.
He writes that the favour of some media outlets may be the reason for why Zeman risks the remnants of his dignity and why he attacks Czech Television in the style of the worst political boors.
Svehla writes that the Czech Republic, where a very free, courageous and professionally proud media outlets developed after the fall of the previous regime in 1989, is getting into a new, precarious situation.
The media market is now dangerously falling into the services of political forces, with which it is interconnected by money, Svehla writes.
He writes that Hanslik said this is also enabled by a new generation of journalists, whose major interest is not to lose work. which makes them easy objects of manipulation.
Meanwhile, a new, very agile system is emerging, which last week’s agreement between the Freeholder Party and the opposition rightist Civic Democrats (ODS) on election cooperation, proves.
The most broadly known figure of the Freeholders is the above mentioned senator Valenta, “a businessman in gambling, political extremist and mainly the person who controls Parlamentni listy.”
The party is entirely unimportant and the sole profit the ODS [that would like to regain its former strength] can draw from it is getting under the roof of an established propaganda media outlet, Svehla writes.
The Czech media scene has been unexpectedly quickly changing. It is largely losing its political independence and on the contrary, it serves political interests, Svehla writes.
He writes that this is happening in a country that does not have strong organisations guarding professional ethic like Germany, Svehla writes.
He writes that the public television and radio are more than ever during the previous 27 years since the Velvet Revolution becoming the major sources of free information and that is why they are the target of attacks.
ms/t/rtj
