Watch Out - Censorship!!!

The situation in the Czech television is tense again. Jan Kraus, the moderator of the programme Overtime, accused Milan Bouška, the editor-in-chief of the political editorial office and Zbyněk Honys, the director of the television news of censorship. They forbade him to invite the representatives of the Council for CT to explain why Zdeněk Drahoš, the objectionable studio manager in Brno, had not been replaced. „I am leaving, because I'm a moderator not a footman,“ Kraus said to the journalists after this verdict. The labour union of the Czech TV started to remonstrate also due to the censorship. „Yes, the unbelievable interventions of the TV management and the pressure of the politicians on the public service medium may actually cause the outbreak of a strike,“ admitted the union foreman Antonín Dekoj.

Drahoš Forever

The tense situation was ignited by Jiří Balvín, the general manager of the Czech Television: last week he announced to the Council members that he did not find anybody of better quality than Mr. Drahoš in the offer of the selection commission nominated by him. Therefore he will keep him in his position. Drahoš is though considered to be a politically supported conformist by a part of the television employees. The internal control has proved his suspicious financial wheeler dealing including news spots strongly reminding of hidden promotion of a well-known firm in Brno. The Council for CT has already rejected Drahoš's nomination, nevertheless Balvín's decision was accepted without any protests from the council members. „It was a choice of two bad variants. If I had suggested to remove Balvín, it would have caused even more serious destabilization of the television,“ Zdena Hůlová, the council member, explained her decision why she had not asked for the resignation of the general manager.

Nevertheless the moderator Jan Kraus decided to react to the events regarding the studio in Brno and wanted to talk to the council members about them in his programme Overtime. When the television bosses forbade him to do it, he announced his leave to the viewers. „I am saying good-bye to you because of very serious reasons.“ He talked to the media later and explained that he refused to accept the censorship of the guest selection. According to Jan Kraus the situation is clear: the manager Balvín wanted to prevent anybody from criticizing his alliance with Drahoš on the public service television. The dirty work was done by Bouška, the editor-in-chief of the political editorial office. „The programme scenarist called Mr. Mrzena at four o'clock and two minutes and asked him whether he wanted to come. Mr. Bouška called the script editor and asked why we still wanted to have anyone from the council in the programme when he had already clearly said it was not desirable,“ Jan Kraus said. „The problem is not in the invitation of the council members to the Overtime, but in the fact that the topic is not in compliance with the script plan of this programme format,“ explains the editor-in-chief Bouška. And what is the script plan? „The dialogues of interesting personalities with interesting personalities,“ Bouška says. „The programme Overtime is not intended as a free programme fief of Mr. Kraus,“ Zbyněk Honys, the news manager adds to it.

The absurd circle was finally completed by the council members themselves. They refused to come to the programme. Why? Official version sounds - none of them had free time. But another explanation is irresistible: the council members do not want to comment political topics as they are elected to the council by the politicians. Therefore nobody entered the Overtime studio on Friday. „I would have come without any problem, but I had a business meeting in Vienna planned a long time ago, " says Helena Fibingerová, the council member. "I am not afraid of politicians. And moreover I have good rhetoric skills.“ Even the council chairman Jan Mrzena did not find a free quarter of an hour. „My programme was full to the last minute. True. There is nothing else in it.“

Miler's Code

Clear evidence proving who is the real ruler over the public service television was given by the deputies of the Czech law-making body on its April meeting. The CT code was being discussed. The standard that should be followed by all the employees of the Czech TV. This code is approved by the deputies according to the Amendment to the Law on the Czech Television. The Czech Republic is therefore the only European country, where the politicians determine the desirable behaviour of the employees of public service medium established to supervise - supervise the politicians.

The deputies are fully aware of their power over the public service television. Therefore they are trying to influence the wording of the code as much as possible. The contributions during the above the discussion showed it very well. For example the deputies did not like that the code generally speaks about „fulfilling of the requirements of impartiality and objectivity“ or that one of the criteria for the television employees is „the imperative of the human dignity“. „I objected to the fact that the code does not imply any recourses to the television personnel. The things about dignity are nice, but do not say a lot, " said Petr Pleva, the deputy for ODS who proposed the parliament's supervision over the code last year and now he asked for the proposal of punishments for its trespassers. "I do not want to specify it, but I will comment it in this way: we set the rules of the game. There is nothing to solve,“ he explains his activity in uncompromising tone. The deputy for KDU-ČSL Vlasta Parkanová sees the problem differently." „If we determined the reasons why the editors were to be dismissed, it would be a way to the hell. Many colleagues had a different opinion though. Therefore it all finished as it finished.“ The deputies decided that the council had to make a revision of the code in the end.

„We have agreed that the comments of the chamber will be incorporated,“ agrees Ladislav Miler, one of the authors of the code, nominated to the council by the communist party. The guarantor of the public service code is a man who worked as a political functionary of ÚV KSČ in the time of normalisation. At the beginning of the 70s he sat in the crosscheck committees of the ministry of culture which interrogated people whether they agree with the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the armies of the Warsaw Pact. The deputies know about the career of this former apparatchik Miler very well, although they do not consider his removal. „To recall him?“ asks surprisingly the vice chairwoman of the chamber Petra Buzková (ČSSD). " In this hectic time before the general election it is not possible."