Slovakia: Public media overhaul underway

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Slovak public television could soon see major changes after a controversial bill on public media was passed in parliament.

The text will, for example, allow the government to choose some of the members of the board of directors of RTVS, the Slovak radio and television.

The timetable for these changes is already in place, as one ruling party MP explains.

“At the September 10 meeting, board members will be elected and then the call for bids will be announced. Candidates will have 30 days to apply. Board members will hold a public hearing for the new director in mid to late October.“, explains Roman Michelko, MP from the Slovak National Party.

This law will allow the government to have more influence over RTVS, which according to it lacks objectivity. For months, thousands of Slovaks have demonstrated against this text, without success.

According to this MEP, a member of the Slovak opposition, the government is also putting pressure on the bosses of private channels.

“We can also see that private media owners are being blackmailed by the government to create a different approach, for example, political debates on television,” says Zora Jaurová, MP from the opposition party Progressive Slovakia.“.

Ivan Brada is a member of the Board of Directors of the European Federation of Journalists. He hopes that his country will succeed in preserving media freedom, unlike neighbouring Hungary.

“We remain hopeful. Fortunately, we are not yet at the level of our Hungarian colleagues, where the public media is completely controlled by the government, but we are moving in that direction. That is why we wear badges, to show that we are resisting censorship.” explains the journalist.

The law was adopted by 78 votes out of 150 members of the three-party government coalition in Bratislava. According to the opposition, the government’s goal is clear: to eliminate freedom of public media and the press in general.