Final Word from Wednesday, August 12, 2015
For the past year, Blesk tabloid has acted as Andrej Babiš's personal PR department, with glowing spreads about his vacations in France and Las Vegas, his wife's run-in with an armed carjacker and the pole dance she ordered for her dear hubby. Lenka Zlámalová wrote in last week's Týdeník Echo that this is Daniel Křetínský's way of showing respect to a fellow media owner, but there's much more to it than that. Babiš desperately needed help before the municipal elections in Prague last year, because the ANO campaign being led by Adriana Krnáčová was heading for unmitigated disaster. In stepped Martin Roman, who we believe to be a secret co-owner of both Blesk and BigBoard outdoor advertising company. BigBoard promptly launched a huge attack against Mayor Tomáš Hudeček of TOP 09, which ultimately led to Krnáčová's improbable election as lord mayor. Krnáčová finally made good yesterday on ANO's end of the bargain, shredding the strict new building rules that had threatened BigBoard's business model so much. [Czech Republic Czech News Center Ringier public relations]
Glossary of difficult words
glowing - expressing great praise;
a spread - an article or advertisement covering several columns or pages of a newspaper or magazine;
run-in - an encounter, disagreement or fight, esp. with someone in an official position;
hubby - an endearing word for husband;
unmitigated - absolute, unqualified;
to make good on - to repay a debt or fulfill a promise;
one's end/side of a bargain - one's obligation under a deal;
to shred - to tear or cut into small pieces.