Czech ministers criticize public tv for allegedly racist reporting on amnesty

Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas (Civic Democrats – ODS) says that most of his cabinet ministers have criticized the allegedly racist way in which Czech Television has reported on the prisoners released by the recent amnesty. The PM says Czech Culture Minister Alena Hanáková is considering filing a complaint with the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting (Rada pro rozhlasové a televizní vysílání – RRTV), but Daniela Němcová, Czech Television’s Director of Communications, rejects the charges of racism.

"The vast majority of cabinet members share a negative view of the way in which Czech Television broadcast its reporting on the amnesty, in the sense that it was rather racist reporting, as if the convicts being released were from one ethnic group only," Nečas said at a press conference after yesterday’s cabinet session. The controversial amnesty by Czech President Václav Klaus was the main point of discussion.

"When broadcasting its programs, Czech Television does not discriminate against anyone – on the contrary, we have long dedicated our broadcasts to the issue of human rights and minorities. The same editorial rules apply to our reporting about the amnesty as apply to every other broadcast of such programs," Němcová said, noting that the television station dedicated many hours and many different programs to the amnesty. "In our broadcasts we did not distinguish and we are not distinguishing the nationality or other origins of those amnestied," she said.

The PM says the vast majority of ministers expressed the opinion that Culture Minister Hanáková should consider filing a complaint with the RRTV. He said their perception was that "the affair was made into an ethnic matter targeted against only one ethnic group".