By: Peter Truden
Employees of RTV Slovenia, otherwise accustomed to the SD stick, warned at a press conference today about the impoverishment of the programme, increasing pressure, and politicisation. We have repeatedly emphasised that leftism and journalism are not compatible and that RTV must become more professional, and individual journalists and editors understand this as attacks on their work. It is also interesting that RTV has been run for almost the entire history by prominent members of the Social Democrats, but at that time there were no protests and public calls for political pressure.
At today’s press conference, the employees of RTV Slovenia drew attention to the escalation of pressure, staffing and the involvement of politics in the independence of journalists of public radio and television. They pointed out that the first television programme is becoming increasingly impoverished, in addition, the schedule is not true, and decisions on the transmission of shows and rallies, according to employees, surprise not only the public but also them. They also pointed out that the new news programme on the second programme has been postponed again, although it is expected to be released immediately after the end of the Beijing Olympics. “We expect that only RTV will decide on possible changes to the public RTV programme and not on the initiative or in favour of political parties and influential people,” said TV presenter Saša Kranjc on behalf of the working party.
At the press conference broadcast by STA, a few words were also said by the host of Odmev Igor E. Bergant, the host of Tarča Erika Žnidaršič and the host of the Studio City Marcel Štefančič. “Political attacks started the day before the broadcast, even before we published anything. On the day of the show, there were warnings inside the house about the guests, about the concept, about the leadership. Then the politics of guest conditioning intervened again. Then the Prime Minister himself, who described us as pro-Russian extremists, the day before we were British fascists and a disgrace,” said Žnidaršič, the host of the show, who has problems with objectivity. It is true that the media is the fourth branch of government, and their task is to reveal irregularities in the functioning of the other three branches of government – but Žnidaršič took this task too literally, as in Tarča show (as well as elsewhere) they criticise every move of the current government, even if it is good. “The support of the government is not journalism, it is propaganda,” she said, apparently wanting to say that every action of the current government is a priori bad – while in previous governments such an attitude was of course not observed.
The BBC declared as amateurs
Štefančič, the host of the radical left-wing Studio City show, compared the events at the national TV with Viktor Orban and Vladimir Putin, or with their attitude towards media freedom. “The autocracy that attacked the national TV must also be strongly condemned,” he said, adding: “It was only a step from here to the BBC’s drunkenness and disrespect for the audience, and from there to rudeness to colleagues and wasting time broadcasting pre-election rallies. And yes, once you get on the wrong track, you never know where you are going to stop.” We can see from his words that he was upset because the public RTV broadcast the rally in support of Ukraine – saying that it was a pre-election rally. His statement is completely inappropriate for several obvious reasons, but at the same time the question arises as to why the weekly counting of Friday’s cyclists did not seem “a waste of time” on RTV.