Syndicate: FWD: Czech TV

[Eric Kluitenberg <epk@xs4all.nl>]

From: "milos" <milos.vojtechovsky@fcca.cz>
To: "David Miller" <dmcm@interlog.com>
Subject: Czech TV
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2001 12:26:53 +0100


After almost 8 years of menthal and spiritual lethargy quite few of Czech
people showed some kind of public disapproval with the ongoing coruption,
manipulation and political prostitution in the messmedia and public domain.
Yesterday almost 100 000 people participated in the demonstration at
Wencelaw Square to support  the "Independent TV". But I guess TV was only
trigger for showing a generall hangover from the total lack of faith in the
democratic rules of the current goverment and the damned coalition.Perhaps
this could be a sign of awakening of the civic society in Czech Republic and
propriet chance for independent media here, which were suffering from the
neglectance of broader public since 1992.
We believe it is time for actions and activities in the field of tactical
media and media activism and we hope in the collboration with people abroad.

Milos Vojtechovsky
FCCA Prague

http://www.tol.cz/look/TOLnew/article
18 - 31 December 2000

 Czech Television Crisis Deepens

PRAGUE, Czech Republic--The media is comparing recent
events at public Czech Television (CT) to the Velvet Revolution of 1989.
Since 20 December 2000, thousands of people have been protesting against what
they see as the politicization of independent public television, with
demonstrators in the center of Prague and other large cities chanting
"freedom" and for
the resignation of the newly appointed CT General Director Jiri Hodac.

The crisis began after the CT board voted on 12 December to
remove the director of Czech Television for the third time in two
years. The CT chairman Miroslav Mares criticized Dusan Chmelicek, who held his
post for only 11 months, for "unfulfilled commitments, bad conceptual work,
and a lack of communication with the board." Only one member of the
board, Milos Rejchrt, voted against the removal of former CT director Dusan
Chmelicek on 12 December, saying that "another removal of the general
director will again cause the destabilization of CT and breakdown the working
relationships inside the institution." The CT board is comprised of nine
members appointed by parliament--four by the ruling Social Democrats (CSSD),
three by the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), and two by the opposition
Four-Party Coalition.

The board then called an open competition for the position,
but ended up choosing former BBC editor Hodac, from among dozens of
candidates, within a matter of hours. The hurried selection prompted outcry
from CT news editors, who viewed Hodac's appointment as being
politically pre-ordained by CSSD and ODS, who cooperate through a power-sharing
agreement known as the "Opposition Agreement." ODS officials had once thought
of Hodac as a possible party spokesman, though the new CT director has
denied ever considering the position. The situation worsened after
Hodac appointed Jana Bobosikova--a former advisor to Parliamentary Chairman and
ODS leader Vaclav Klaus--as head of the news department.

Most of the CT editorial staff refused to recognize Hodac
as the new director and continued covering anti-Hodac protests. Faced with
opposition from the new leadership, they have occupied the newsroom since 24
December. Since then, the popular news program "Events" has been broadcast
in two separate versions, one compiled by the protesting editors and the
other, a less polished version, by the new director's followers. Which version
viewers have seen across the country has depended on how they receive CT's si
gnal--through standard terrestrial pickup, cable, or satellite. "I could
not watch the 'classic' news tonight since I do not have cable TV. I saw a
different program than my neighbor did," complained a 30-year old
receptionist in
Prague.

For the first time in history, a CT director suspended the
transmission of Czech Television on both channels, when Hodac, fed up with
the rebels' news, pulled the plug on 28 December for almost 24 hours. "Not
even the Russian tanks managed to stop state TV in 1968," wrote the daily
Lidove Noviny, criticizing Hodac for his aggressive action. The new
director flipped the switch back on after the Czech Board of Radio and
Television
pronounced his move illegal, but also ruled the protest broadcasts as illegal.
The same day President Vaclav Havel made clear that he sided with the
protestors. "The appointment of Hodac maybe matches up with the letter of
the law, but it is against its meaning and sense," he said comparing the
legality of recent decisions about CT with similarly "legal" actions taken by
the communists during their 1948 coup.

Czech political leaders met on 2 January to discuss the
situation but failed to
reach a resolution. A mass demonstration in the center of
Prague is planned for the evening of 3 January. More than 100,000 people,
including many prominent personalities such as ombudsman Otakar Motejl,
popular actors, and leaders of public organizations, have signed the
television editors' petition demanding Hodac's resignation and the removal
of the CT
board.

--by Petra Breyerova

Later this week from TOL: A reportage from the 3 January
demonstration, plus analysis of the long-term impact on public television, plus
interviews with some of the rebel journalists.


Copyright C 2000 Transitions Online. All rights
reserved.



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