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Carolina (English) No 400
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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.
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