CCCCC AA RRRRR OOOO LL II NN N AA CC AA A RR R OO O LL II NNN N AA A CC AA A RRRRR OO O LL II NN N N AA A CC AAAAAA RR R OO O LL II NN NN AAAAAA CCCCC AA A RR R OOOO LLLLLL II NN N AA A STUDENTS' E-MAIL NEWS FROM THE CZECH REPUBLIC Charles University in Prague Faculty of Social Sciences Smetanovo nabr. 6 110 01 Prague 1 Czech Republic e-mail: CAROLINA@mbox.fsv.cuni.cz ISSN 121-5040 tel: (+4202) 22112252, fax: (+4202) 22112219 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 400, Friday, January 5, 2001 Dear Redears, Although we notified you that the first issue of Carolina this year would come out January 12, we decided to write an extraordinary issue dedicated to the important and unforseeable situation in Czech Television. Czech Television Employee Mutiny Spurs Political Crisis After public-service broadcaster Czech Television's (CT) employees mutinied against the naming of Jiri Hodac as station general director December 20, the issue took over public life and led to large demonstrations for Hodac's resignation, while some political parties suffered internal conflicts and the political climate has been altered. Hodac's opponents demand his recall, the recall of the Czech Television Council that appointed him and a revision of the Czech Television Act. The protest officially turned into a strike January 1 (although the station's employees are all still working), and perhaps some 100,000 people (estimates vary) came to Prague's Wenceslas Square January 3 to demonstrate in support of the mutineers. The demonstration, organized by the civic initiative Czech Television - A Public Matter, was interpreted by many as a statement of disgust with the current political scene, in which the minority Social Democrat government rules only because of the Opposition Contract, which guarantees the support of their ideological rival, the Civic Democratic Party (ODS). Hodac has called the strike illegal and is trying to prevent the rebellious employees from broadcasting their own versions of news and public-affairs programming. Because of the conflict, Hodac has repeatedly stopped broadcasting completely (including nearly 24 hours over December 27-28), and each side continues preparing its own version of these news programs. The rebels have the support of the Four-Party Coalition and of some members of the Social Democrats. Parliament Chairman Vaclav Klaus and his ODS remain unified behind Hodac, while some Social Democrats also remain in his corner. President Vaclav Havel, as a fervent critic of the Opposition Contract, has come out strongly in favor of the rebels. The Czech-Moravian Confederation of Labor Unions (CMKOS) has expressed unanimous support of the strike. Parliament reacted to the crisis by calling an extraordinary session of both chambers. The Senate, in which the Four-Party Coalition has a near-majority of 39 of 81 seats, demanded Hodac's immediate resignation January 3. The Senate also demanded the resumption of full, uncensored and uninterrupted broadcasting. Parliament will meet January 5. The government has approved proposed changes to the Czech Television Act, which will be presented to Parliament immediately. The changes would revise the selection of members of the CT Council and would decrease political involvement in the public-service broadcaster. Council Elects Former News Chief Hodac Nearly Overnight Hodac, 53, was named general director by the CT Council December 20 (see Carolina 399), in response to which the Crisis Committee was formed and during the evening news their declaration was aired on the screen. The declaration read in part: "The haste with which the CT Council changed the general director without a shadow of a doubt confirms that it is not competent to decide on the management of CT." The council within one week recalled Dusan Chmelicek (without documentation of his failings), conducted a public search process and chose Hodac from 33 candidates. The council has nine members and elects and recalls the general director. The council today has eight members, as one resigned after the election of Chmelicek. A frequent target of criticism has been that council members are nominated and elected within the Chamber of Deputies and the council's composition is the subject of political haggling - seven members of the council were selected by the Social Democrats and ODS. The Czech Television Act says council should be elected "such that it represents significant regional, political, social and cultural perspectives." Culture Minister Pavel Dostal has admitted that ODS and Social Democrat representatives met to discuss candidates for the council. Hodac worked as a journalist during the normalization era of the 1970's for the daily Free Word (Svobodne slovo) and the military daily People's Defense (Obrana lidu). He emigrated in 1980 and worked for the BBC and Radio Free Europe. Hodac was named CT news director in April by Chmelicek, but left the post in August after serious conflicts with Chmelicek and news reporters. Hodac was known for his firing of moderator Roman Prorok after Klaus called Hodac to complain about Prorok. Hodac replaced Prorok with Antonin Zelenka, who was then a member of Klaus' ODS. Hodac December 24 named his news chief Jana Bobosikova, a former adviser to Klaus. Zelenka also returned to CT after Hodac was named general director. Two Versions of the News, Hodac Stops Broadcasting While everyone agrees Hodac was elected according to the letter of the law, the mutinous news reporters, who have holed up in the CT newsroom since Hodac's naming December 20, claim that freedom of speech is threatened and that ODS is attempting a takeover of CT. Opponents of the mutineers claim the reporters are under the influence of the Four-Party Coalition and are protecting their own financial interests in maintaining the old order at CT. The mutiny is led by the Crisis Committee (formed by news reporters), the CT Independent Labor Union (supported by about 2,250 of CT's 3,000 employees) and the civic initiative Czech Television - A Public Matter. Two versions of news programs are being prepared - the mutineers in the newsroom broadcast their version, which is seen by about one-fifth of those who receive CT - those who get CT through cable or satellite. The rest of the country sees the version of new News Director Jana Bobosikova and her team, who air their news with the help of the private station TV NOVA. Both versions are openly prejudiced to their side of the conflict: neither side will speak to the other and leaders on each side receive ample time diring the broadcasts.Irena Valova of the Czech Journalists' Syndicate said CT is no longer "impartial, independent and is not performing a service for the public." Hodac has repeatedly stopped the station's broadcasting completely. On the evening of December 27 both CT stations went off the air and a message appeared on the screen informing viewers that Hodac had turned to the Council for Radio and Televsiion Broadcasting to deicede which version was legal. That council decided in favor of Hodac's version, and broadcasting resumed 23 hours later, on the evening of December 28. The loss of advertising income caused by going off the air has been estimated at 12 million crowns. Hodac has asked the courts for a preliminary injunction allowing the newsroom to be evacuated using force, but his request has not yet been granted. Four members of the CT Council are in favor of his recall, but six votes are needed. Each side claims the other is breaking the law, while Culture Minister Pavel Dostal said he will file a criminal complaint against Hodac after Hodac interrupted broadcasting of the public-affairs program 21 when Dostal was a guest on the show. Political Crisis Spurs Talk of Early Elections The situation in CT has caused perhaps irreparable damage to the relationship between the Four-Party Coalition and ODS, which otherwise share similar programs. Hodac and his team have obvious ODS connections, while Four-Party Coalition deputies and senators have spent nights in the newsroom with the mutineers as an act of support. The ruling Social Democrats have been on the fence - although party leadership formally asked for Hodac's recall, Prime Minister Milos Zeman says he also wants the resignation or firing of the rebellious reporters. President Vaclav Havel has clearly taken the side of the mutineers. He said Hodac's election was in line with the letter of the law, but not its spirit. Havel and Klaus have fought bitterly over the situation - Havel compared Hodac's naming to the Czechoslovak Commmunist coup in 1948, which occurred without breaking the letter of the law, while Klaus said he sees signs of 1948 in those who approve the breaking of the law by the mutineers. The chairmen of four leading parties (Klaus of ODS, Zeman of the Social Democrats, Karel Kuhnl of the Freedom Union and Jan Kasal of the Christian Democrats - the last two parties represent half of the Four-Party Coalition) met January 2, but did not agree on anything. Senate and regional elections in November showed strong gains by the Four-Party Coalition and huge losses for the Social Democrats. Some had speculated that the coalition and ODS would naturally move closer as the 2002 general elections approached, but the CT situation has ended such speculation. Others say the Social Democrats' disastrous election showing and the somewhat disappointing ODS results led to the recall of Chmelicek in an effort to tilt CT coverage of the two parties more positively. These conspiracy theories say the naming of Hodac just before the Christmas and New Year's holidays was done to lessen criricism. Public Opinion against Hodac, Mutineers Get Support from Abroad Public opinion appears to be overwhelmingly against Hodac. The petition organized by the anti-Hodac initiative Czech Television - A Public Matter has been signed by more than 140,000 Czechs. The rebelling reporters have also received support from the organization Reporters without Frontiers and from the International Federation of Journalists, which asked the European Commission to intervene. The initiative and the CT union called the January 3 demonstration on Prague's Wenceslas Square - some estimated the crowd at 50,000, others believe there were more than 100,000 people present. Among those speaking out against Hodac were actress Jirina Bohdalova, writer Ludvik Vaculik, athlete Stepanka Hilgertova and writer Zdenek Sverak. On the contrary, Prague's Ta Fantastika Theater organized a petition for upholding the law, which has been signed by about 10,000 people, including actress Iva Janzurova and actor Jiri Kodet. In the Brno CT studios a petition was drawn up December 21 in Hodac's support, and some 50 CT employees there have signed it. Hodac has also received support from former dissident John Bok. In a phone survey conducted by the Median agency, nine of 10 respondents said Hodac should resign. After deadline (January 4): * Chamber of Deputies Chairman Vaclav Klaus (Civic Democratic Party, ODS) declared a state of legislative emergency so the chamber can discuss the government's proposed changes to the Czech Television Act. * Hodac was taken January 4 taken to the hospital in Prague-Motol and diagnosed with total exhaustion. His condition is stable and his life is not in danger. * European Commission ambassador to Prague Ramiro Cibrian met with First Deputy Foreign Minister Pavel Telicka to discuss the situation in CT. * Foreign Minister Jan Kavan sent a letter to a number of European institutions stating that neither democracy nor freedom of speech are threatened in the Czech Republic because of the situation in CT. For more about the situation: * the official page of CT - www.czech-tv.cz * to watch both versions of the news - www.ct1.cz * the official page of the initiative CT - A Public Matter - www.nase-ct.cz * the official page of the team of Jana Bobosikova - www.ct-inforum.cz * the official page of the CT Council - www.czech-tv.cz/ct/radact * the official page of the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting - www.rrtv.cz This issue of Carolina was written by Miroslav Langer and Lida Truneckova, and translated into English and edited by Michael Bluhm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with attribution to CAROLINA. Subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. 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