By Sara Rančigaj (Nova24tv)
Miro Petek, a former journalist who was brutally beaten, certainly pointed out an interesting fact. He explained that RTV Slovenia has about the same number of employees as the Slovenian Army. By all means it would be important for Slovenes to have an objective public medium (which this is not), but on the other hand we should be seriously concerned if, in the event of war, “entertainment” is more important to us than security. However, despite the low number of soldiers, our truncated army helps citizens in their daily lives. All in all, it helps save lives in the mountains, and it has also proved itself during the epidemic when it came to help provide equipment and set up a ward for covid-19 patients.
Former journalist Miro Petek opened an interesting debate on Twitter with a question: “Can a country that employs almost the same number of people on public RTV as there are soldiers in their army survive?” According to his data, RTV employs 2,272 people, whereas the Slovenian Army employs 2,297 people.
RTV consists of five televisions and eight radio programmes, which include informative, cultural, entertainment, sports, and educational programmes, as well as a symphony orchestra, Big Bang, and children and youth choir. There is also the supply of transmitters and communications, an online archive, and an online interactive portal MMC. It is certainly necessary to admit that in theory it provides us with a wide range of entertaining content, but on the other hand many viewers are critical of its growing sympathy for left wing activists, and accordingly accuse it of being biased.
Many have already taken the initiative to abolish the mandatory RTV contribution that would undoubtedly be a severe blow to the public institution, which, despite its one hundred million contribution, is drowning in red numbers. What will happen to RTV when the new management takes office is not yet clear. In April, the current director Igor Kadunec will be replaced by Andrej Grah Whatmough. The future CEO announced a financial remediation.
The new director wants to reduce labour costs
Dnevnik reported that RTV SLO will reduce the labour costs by retiring those employees who meet the conditions for retirement (but may not yet want to retire). In doing so, Grah Whatmough announced a thoughtful and systematic approach and individual treatment of anyone who might retire. It is not yet clear whether the new director will succeed in the consolidation of RTV. It is clear, however, that private television cannot afford such casualness.
The generation born after 1991 has no sense of what it is like to live in a war situation, but their parents remember it. If today we were to go back 30 years, we would not be arguing about whether to invest in the military or not. Certain representatives of the left do not know what it is like to feel a war without a ready army. Assessments of the readiness of the Slovenian Armed Forces are poor, and soldiers participate in missions abroad in extremely poor equipment, so they risk their lives even more. Not to mention the non-fulfilment of commitments to our NATO allies.
The army is important not only in wartime but also in everyday life
The military is not only important in wartime but also in everyday life. During this weekend, it intervened at least twice, namely, in rescuing an injured shift skier in the fifth gorge on Storžič. Similarly, mountain rescuers had to rescue a mountaineer who died in an accident under Kalška gora with a Slovenian Army helicopter. The soldiers were also present at the quick adaptation of the premises at the University Medical Center Ljubljana, where they set up an emergency department for covid-19 patients in record time. Let us also remember the event in 2018, when water leaked in a multi-apartment building in Laško and the crew of a Slovenian Army helicopter with the Emergency Medical Aid team from Ljubljana had to transport a baby in an incubator. Numerous examples testify that the military saves lives.