Final Word from Monday, August 3, 2015
If a cabinet minister suggests on live TV that his PM is serving the interests of the country's richest man instead of those of his country, it probably deserves to be the lead item on the evening news. Instead, Czech TV ran with stories on Fri. about refugees, washed-up airplane parts and corruption in soccer. Corruption in highway tolls didn't even merit a mention. Yet it was ČT's own news channel that Transport Min. Dan Ťok used on Fri. to object to the way Bohuslav Sobotka had publicly shown a preference on Czech Radio for the method of collecting tolls (extending them to side roads) and the technology (satellites). In essence, Ťok said, his cabinet superior was going a long way in determining who should win the tender (PPF's SkyToll). It's true that a Czech PM is a sort of "minister without portfolio," but someone needs to impress upon Sobotka that working for a billionaire on the side isn't the proper way to augment the PM's agenda. [Czech Republic Television ČRo Radiožurnál ČT24 Petr Kellner]
Glossary of difficult words
for hire - to be available to be given a job;
to run with (a story) - (in this context) to air or promote (a news or feature item);
to merit - to deserve, to be deserving of;
a mention - a reference to someone or something;
washed-up - deposited by the tide on a shore;
to impress upon someone - to fix an idea in someone's mind;
to augment - to increase; to make something bigger by adding to it.