The government of Slovakia on Wednesday approved a proposal to abolish the independent public broadcaster RTVS (Slovak Radio and Television). International news agencies report this. The government of nationalist and pro-Russian Prime Minister Robert Fico starts the new broadcaster STVR instead.
The public broadcaster would be “too politically activist”, says Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova. According to the ultranationalist politician, the reporting by RTVS journalists is not objective enough and only offers space to “the mainstream”. The broadcaster refutes this criticism. Simkovicova was previously a TV journalist at a channel that spread Russian propaganda and disinformation about corona.
With the cancellation of RTVS, the broadcasting director will also be dismissed. A council controlled by Fico’s government will choose his successor, who will lead the new broadcaster. According to the culture minister, the new channel STVR must be “unambiguously national and state-building”. The broadcaster will probably start in June. The Slovak parliament must first approve the plans. This is not expected to cause any problems, as Fico’s government has a majority there.
Thousands of Slovaks have taken to the state in the capital Bratislava in protest against the plans. Journalists, opposition parties and the European Union are also concerned. The umbrella organization of European broadcasters, EBU, has already warned against “state-controlled media”. Public broadcasters elsewhere in Europe are also under pressure from far-right parties. When the ultra-conservative PiS party was in power in Poland, the broadcaster turned TVP into a mouthpiece for the government. In neighboring Hungary, Viktor Orbán also has the media under his control.
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