Final Word from Monday, August 15, 2016

For the past five days, Czech TV has been mining gold for its headlines from an interview with Pres. Miloš Zeman. The station has used his comments in stories about the bankruptcy of OKD, the state budget deficit, the visit by Angela Merkel and the "annexation" of Crimea (to use Zeman's own word). An interview with Zeman is always good for a few scandalous comments, and Czech TV's media competitors (Blesk TV, F1, Impuls, Parlamentní listy) also make as much as they can out of talks with him. But they either air the interviews live or run them soon after the taping. Czech TV has broadcast only a few excerpts of the recent interview and still hasn't announced if, or when, it will be aired in its entirety. Perhaps this is payback for Zeman's comments about nationalizing Czech TV, about cutting ties with the OVM debate show or about how Petr Dvořák isn't really in charge at ČT. Whatever the reason for rationing Zeman, it's unprofessional. [Czech Republic Television Russia]