Czech Republic and Slovakia: new reports find good and bad
Prague, Bratislava, London and Budapest: Today, the Open Society Institute releases the last two reports in the series TV across Europe: Follow-up Reports 2008. These reports provide a searching analysis of Czech and Slovak broadcasting since 2005.
6 October 2008
- Prague Žižkov TV Tower. Photo: Patrick Williams, used under CC license.
In both countries, the commercial broadcasting sector is controlled by a few private groups. In the Czech Republic, TV Nova, Prima TV and the two public service channels still command almost the entire audience. In Slovakia, TV Markíza has increased its dominance by making its programmes more family-oriented.
The Slovak private broadcasters have been helped by the poor performance of Slovak Television (STV, Slovenská televízia), which was weakened by repeated political attacks on its editorial independence since 2006.
By contrast, the public service broadcaster Czech Television (ČT, Česká televize) has made notable progress in fulfilling its public service mission. Although some observers still accuse it of being politicised (for the Chamber of Deputies still controls the ČT Council), no clear evidence of manipulation has come to light. ČT manages to air a healthy amount of news, current affairs, documentaries and other public service-type programmes.
In both countries, digital broadcasting is expected to shake the dominance of the largest broadcasters. In the Czech Republic, wrangling between the most influential interest groups delayed the launch of digital broadcasting for years; the first private digital channels finally went on air in 2008, a decade after the Government adopted the first decree on digital electronic media. In Slovakia, digital broadcasting is advancing at an even slower pace. A 2007 law has delayed the real introduction of DTT by several years, possibly until 2011.
The behaviour of Slovakia’s ruling politicians gives even greater ground for concern. Since the parliamentary elections of 2006, they have openly interfered in the work of the media. The Government made international headlines in April 2008, when a controversial press law included dubious wording for provisions on matters such as the right to reply. These provisions are expected to degrade media freedom.
The Czech report calls on the Government and Parliament to adopt legislative changes to increase the independence, sanctioning power and effectiveness of the country’s broadcast regulator. The report on Slovakia calls on politicians to respect the role of the media in the democratic process, and to end their practice of appointing political nominees to the Councils that oversee the public service broadcasters.
