Final Word from Thursday, March 29, 2018

Czech TV is falling into a trap of its own making. The Czech TV Council delivers ČT's annual report to Parliament today, and then the countdown begins. Will Parliament reject the station's annual or financial report twice, as Pres. Miloš Zeman is now urging it to do, so that management changes can be made up on TV hill? Chair Jan Bednář of the Council makes the decision easier for MPs when he tells Czech Radio that the Council bases its assessment of ČT on public-opinion surveys that say, for example, that 65% of respondents consider ČT's reporting to be objective. By law, the Council is required to oversee the public station on behalf of the public, not mechanically repeat what the public says in opinion surveys. Without independent oversight, who is to say it isn't the other 35% who are correct? Objectively, ČT's opponents in Parliament could easily find grounds for taking action against CEO Petr Dvořák. Politically, it would be a mistake. ČT's loyalists would no doubt stage protests. It's better for Zeman, Babiš, Okamura, Soukup, etc., to keep Dvořák where he is, so they continue to have an easy - very easy - target. [Czech Republic Television control audit]