By: Peter Jančič
During the Christmas and New Year holidays, the new leadership of RTV Slovenia sent the editor-in-chief of the second programme, Rajko Gerič, and more than a tenth of Panorama’s employees, who are not politically aligned with Robert Golob, Tanja Fajon, and Luka Mesec, the ruling figures, on temporary layoff. They have been discontinued.
At the same time, they are hiring journalist and Mladina supervisor Marcel Štefančič on a freelance basis, known for his political activism supporting Golob, and bringing back shows hosted by journalists without formal education. It is as if, in a clinical centre, after a political purge of the leadership, they put doctors on temporary layoff and engaged, on a freelance basis, former best minister of all time, Danijel Bešič Loredan, for work instead of doctors, along with some individuals who, while lacking formal education, like to practice medicine. Bešič Loredan held two additional jobs in private healthcare institutions during his tenure as a minister.
“If they have abolished journalism on the second and third channels of RTV Slovenia, the state must reduce their funding. There is no media there.”
However, at RTV Slovenia, they have also removed the correspondent from the United Kingdom, who is not keeping silent. The director of RTV Slovenia, Ksenija Horvat, is being questioned about payments to former RTV Slovenia director Janez Lombergar, who is her intimate partner from the time when he once proposed her for the position of editor-in-chief and later separated from Mladina journalist Peter Petrovčič because Lombergar’s ex-wife caught them in bed at a weekend retreat in Kras, which caused quite a stir in the media. It is also not a secret that Lombergar and Horvat are strongly left leaning and have in the past been involved in stories to discredit Janez Janša, for example, by engaging Mladina and Radio Študent journalist Erik Valenčič as a sort of correspondent. The lack of education of the “ambassador” Valenčič was compensated by his signature on petition 571 and the documentary with which he paid off working as a journalist outside the rules. They master propaganda, which is a disgrace to journalism.
Sending Gerič, who is the editor-in-chief of the second programme with education and competence (also responsible for the third), on temporary layoff is a violation of the RTV Slovenia law adopted by the current government coalition and confirmed in a referendum. According to this law, the responsible editor can only be dismissed by the management before the end of their term, and only if the editor does not have majority support in the editorial board, with the consent of the RTV Slovenia council. These provisions have been completely and entirely violated. Rajko Gerič was put on temporary layoff by Rok Smolej, who was authorised by the new TV director Ksenija Horvat for the programming area. Sending people on temporary layoff has not previously been considered as part of the programme content.
Moreover, Horvat herself does not have the authority to dismiss Gerič. Therefore, she cannot delegate this to others. She can only propose the removal of the responsible editor to the management. And the management must obtain the consent of the employees and the RTV Slovenia council for the dismissal.
None of this has happened.
The claims from RTV Slovenia that there is no more work for Gerič, who has education and experience, as the editor-in-chief of the second programme and is being put on temporary layoff because they have supposedly abolished all journalism on the second and third programmes, are a disgrace to RTV Slovenia. It would be understandable if these two programmes were shut down. In that case, the responsible editor would no longer be necessary. But for this, they would have to change the statute and reduce the funding of the institution that is no longer engaged in journalism and media activities. If there is no more journalism there, we should not have to pay for it.
Who will be able to send a protest to the responsible editor now for publishing misleading advertisements for Svoboda or any other company, or protest against the unfair choice of what and how is broadcasted from the National Assembly? Who will be responsible for the content of the programme, whatever it may be? No one, because they have abolished the editor. And thus, they have decided that they are no longer a public broadcaster, even though we pay for them. A lot. One hundred million per year. The most among all media, even though they have not been the most watched or listened to media even before.
The law published on the RTV Slovenia website outlines the possibilities for dismissing responsible editors of programmes as follows:
The responsible editors wield a lot of power, and because of this, the authorities are trying to get rid of Gerič. However, the new leadership of RTV Slovenia is heading into serious trouble. Their actions will be judged by the courts, where political support from the parties Svoboda, SD, and Levica does not provide complete immunity from the rule of law and legal regulations. Especially since the events cannot be hidden, and matters cannot be discreetly handled under the table. Freely.
All of this is bizarre because Gerič already filed a complaint against Prime Minister Golob in October, as Golob publicly admitted to political purges and candidly told host Tanja Starič that he is implementing them in the police and at RTV Slovenia. Furthermore, he reminded Starič that she knows this precisely because they both committed to it.
As a Christmas gift to RTV Slovenia, Golob sent five million euros for national minority programmes after discussions with Zvezdan Martić. However, everyone knows that this money was not for minority programmes during the holidays, which simply do not cost that much. It is seen as payment to additionally employ journalist and Mladina supervisor Marcel Štefančič and for similar perks when they are putting their employees on temporary layoff. It is as if, in a clinical centre, they sent a bunch of employed doctors on temporary layoff to get additional millions from the government for the freelance afternoon employment of celebrity private practitioner from Bitenc Surgery, Daniel Bešič Loredan. The politics of Levica’s Asta Vrečko for private amphibians. From Mladina.
Furthermore, half of the doctors at the Clinical Centre, who were not put on temporary layoff because they constitute the majority, would not have the appropriate education to perform medical work. This week, Simon Kardum pointed out this situation at RTV Slovenia when he resigned from the RTV Slovenia management. He leans left and is not at all close to Janez Janša, but what he warns is accurate.
Kardum’s warnings about half of the people at RTV Slovenia working without proper education, an above-average number of directors and editors with relatively high salaries, are relevant and important. However, he omitted that he himself became part of this trend when he joined RTV Slovenia. Before that, RTV Slovenia had a general director, a director of television, and a director of radio, along with a whole range of lower directors. The ruling party replaced the general director with a four-member management team. One is not enough; four are necessary. The others remained as the director of Radio, the director of Television, and a whole array of lower directors.
This increases the number of well-paid bosses. Kardum’s resignation, who came to the top without serious experience in the media, will not change anything. He will quickly be replaced by an even more obedient person who will not think at all about the increasing number of politically appointed bosses and the decreasing number of journalists.
Especially those who deserve the title of a journalist. With this obituary for journalism that we are witnessing.