Final Word from Monday, November 13, 2017

Understanding the goings-on at Czech Television is more a job for political analysts than media experts, because of the political influence it wields. Pres. Miloš Zeman has been very critical of the public station, saying in March 2015 that it wasn't fulfilling its public function and shouldn't be the mouthpiece of TOP 09 or any other political party. In May of last year, he said that CEO Petr Dvořák wasn't running the station and that it was being run instead by various officials on lower levels. Yesterday he stepped up his direct criticism of Dvořák, saying that he isn't the right man for the job. This was potentially one of the most important political comments of this year's presidential race. If Dvořák is still PPF's man, as many people believe, Zeman could be using him to signal his displeasure at reports that PPF has started backing both Jiří Drahoš and Mirek Topolánek as insurance against a power pact between Zeman and Andrej Babiš. At this point it remains pure speculation, though, because donations from PPF can't be found on any of these candidates' transparent bank accounts. [Czech Republic general director 2018]