Fight for control of Czech TV

Journalists have taken control of the main studios

Czech TV journalists are battling their new director-general for control of the station, with the two sides putting out rival news broadcasts from different studios on Christmas Eve.

The "official" evening news programme featured an interview with Director-General Jiri Hodac, who was appointed last week.

This appointment is a test of how far politicians are capable of going

Czech TV journalists

But it was not broadcast from Czech TV's (CT's) main news studio, indicating that the journalists, not the management, control CT's Kavci Hory headquarters in Prague.

The journalists accuse Mr Hodac of being a political appointee who will compromise the public broadcaster's independence.

'Instrument of power'

"All of us face a danger that before the elections Czech TV will become an obedient instrument of people who are in power," they said in a statement to the news agency CTK.

Czech Radio, which quoted Mr Hodac as promising to maintain the station's independence, said he wanted to meet the journalists, who have refused to accept his appointment.

He said he was prepared to co-operate with the journalists and allow them to retain their jobs as long as they observed the "public service character and independence" of CT.

Indecent haste

The journalists argue that Mr Hodac's connections to the main opposition Civic Democratic Party make him inappropriate for the post.

Mr Hodac insists he will guarantee Czech TV's independence

They described the appointment of Mr Hodac as "a test of how far politicians are capable of going in their pressure methods".

In an appeal broadcast during a TV news programme, the journalists argued that the speed with which the new director had been chosen by the TV's politically-controlled council spoke for itself.

"It is not possible within one week to dismiss the managing director, launch a competition for the post, assess all applications and projects submitted by the candidates and choose a new managing director," said their statement.

The controversy has prompted the Czech Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting to launch an investigation to see if the station should be fined for unbalanced broadcasting.

And the culture minister has called for an extraordinary session of parliament to discuss the problem.

Mr Hodac is the station's fourth Director-General in two and a half years.

Privatisation

While the journalists argue that their political independence is at stake, influential Civic Democrat leader Vaclav Klaus promises a threat of a different kind - the TV station's privatisation.

It is the time to start preparing the privatisation of this institution

Opposition leader Vaclav Klaus

"The hybrid called a public corporation does not function as it is neither a state nor a privately-owned institution," he said after Mr Hodac's appointment.

"That why it is the time to start preparing the privatisation of this institution."

Mr Klaus, a former Prime Minister and now leader of the opposition, is a disciple of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

The head of the Czech Film and Television Union, Martin Skyba, told CTK that privatising CT would be the most serious attempt to weaken public broadcasting since the Velvet Revolution in 1989.

Appointment

Mr Hodac has pressed ahead with changes to the station, appointing a news director, Jana Bobosikova.

According to CT, she also has a Civic Democrat connnection.

The journalists promptly rejected her too.

Sunday was not the first time Czech viewers have seen duelling broadcasts from the same station.

A struggle for control of the country's most popular station, the commercial broadcaster TV Nova, led to rivals broadcasting on the same frequency in 1999.