Democrats: Gov't Wants to Turn RTVS into Propaganda Tool

Bratislava, March 12 (TASR) - The ruling coalition wants to usurp the public media and turn it into a propaganda tool, representative of the Democrats party Kristian Cekovsky said on Tuesday in response to the legislative plan for changes at Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS) that was submitted by the Culture Ministry. The former House culture and media committee head warned that the approval of the bill would immediately end not only current RTVS director Lubos Machaj, but also the entire RTVS Council. "The government wants to control not only the management, but also the controlling body of the public media," he stressed, pointing out that the council, formed exclusively by political appointees, will elect the general director, and will also have the possibility to dismiss him or her without giving any reason. Cekovsky also criticised the planned formation of a programme council, also with a significant majority of political nominees. "This body will function like a censorship office. Its task will be to assess and control broadcasting," he added, pointing out that the government had limited the debate on the plan via a fast-tracked comment procedure. The Culture Ministry submitted a bill on Radio and Television Slovakia for inter-departmental review on Monday (March 11). The current institution shouldn't be formally divided, but several changes in the way it operates are proposed. In line with new rules, the general director should be elected by a seven-member council composed of three nominees of the culture minister and four elected in parliament. There should also be a programme council, the majority of whose members would be elected by parliament. am/mcs