Government accused of trying to undermine independent media with move to replace public broadcaster RTVS
Robert Fico has faced criticism at home and abroad for targeting independent media. He has repeatedly portrayed RTVS as biased.Robert Fico has faced criticism at home and abroad for targeting independent media. He has repeatedly portrayed RTVS as biased.are protesting against a government move to overhaul the country’s public broadcaster, warning that the populist prime minister, Robert Fico, and his allies are undermining media freedom.
The government’s plan was an “unjustified change that is contradictory to legislative standards,” said Ľuboš Machaj, the director general of RTVS. “RTVS is not going to be a state media institution; however, it shall get under direct political influence,” he said.shared with the public, RTVS staff highlighted their contribution to Slovak society and said the law “could become a tool of political control over RTVS for any government”.
Pavol Szalai, head of the EU desk at Reporters Without Borders, said: “Fico has decided to declare a war on independent media. Like his Hungarian role model Viktor Orbán, Robert Fico portrays the critical private media as hostile, so that he has an extra pretext for a political takeover of the public media.”last year by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found that 54% of Slovaks said they trusted the RTVS brand, while 25% said they did not trust it.
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