By: J.S.
Dr Valentin Areh, acting director of TV Slovenia, appeared on the show Odmevi from Kyiv. Following Karmen W. Švegl, who first came out of Ukraine after the start of the Russian aggression, the first man of national television has now gone there.
It is significant that the website of RTV Slovenia does not mention Areh anywhere in the composition of the management. The now 50-year-old journalist, who was baptised in fire as a member of one of the last generations of Slovenian soldiers in the Yugoslav People’s Army (he was in the Knin area in 1990 and 1991), is otherwise accustomed to reporting from crisis areas. He spoke from the field during the war in Croatia, then in Bosnia and Herzegovina, from the Middle East, Kosovo, Chechnya, Macedonia, Afghanistan… In 2010, he returned to TV Slovenia from Pop TV. With his high-profile documentary about the Yugoslav People’s Army, he launched a violent pogrom by the deep state.
Many details are revealed in the public grandstand
Areh and his team broke into Kyiv yesterday afternoon and sent the first report from there for Odmevi show. It is interesting, however, that none of the otherwise (politically) loud and “brave” journalists decided on such an action, which is said to be around 500 in total. Slavko Kmetič, a member of the RTV Slovenia programming council, drew attention to this fact yesterday at a public grandstand organised by the local committee of the Association for the Values of Slovenian Independence in Raki pri Kršem. At the mentioned very well-attended public grandstand, which was connected by the chairman of the local VSO committee Marija Dorbež, two new acting editors participated, namely MMC RTVS Igor Pirkovič and programme director of Nova24tv Boris Tomašič. Kmetič also drew attention to the fact that political activists in the journalistic active or the DNS committee and the journalists’ union are even intimidated by new journalists who have only recently been hired by TV Slovenia. These same political activists who carry out these intimidations, however, speak publicly about how the Janša’s government is putting pressure on them and carrying out authoritarian terror against independent journalists.
At the mentioned public tribune, some other insider information was presented about the problems of national television and why Areh is now saving its honour. On the day Russia launched its aggression against Ukraine, RTVS did not report on it at all at first, as TVS reporters negotiated with the leadership for two hours in the morning. There has been speculation that Russia will win in three days anyway and that there is no point in reporting this extensively. On the same morning, Kmetič called Jadranka Rebernik, who is editing the news programme, and asked what was happening that there were no reports about Ukraine. Apparently, the pro-Russian lobby at Kolodvorska street is very strong.
Karmen Švegl embarrassed political activists
Kmetič was also critical of the fact that national television made very little use of the outstanding achievement of Karmen W. Švegl. Namely, the latter conducted an exclusive interview with the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Irina Vereshchuk, but TVS only published excerpts (!) from the interview in the show Odmevi. Such an interview could be very well marketed by our national television to other television networks, Kmetič pointed out. But it did not publish it in its entirety here either. Well, maybe it was wrong that the Deputy Prime Minister thanked the Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša for his support?
Anyway, now Dr Areh is saving honour of national television.