Czech Republic: TV Nova rejects allegations of anti-Romani campaign, offers "dialogue"

Commercial broadcaster TV Nova has responded to a press release issued by the civil society members of the Czech Government Inter-ministerial Commission for Roma Community Affairs, rejecting allegations that the station is intentionally conducting an anti-Romani campaign. “We thoroughly reject those charges as groundless. We also protest the generalizations made about TV Nova in that statement,” Lubor Černohlávek, director of communications and public relations at TV Nova, said in a press release sent to news server Romea.cz.

The civil society members of the Inter-ministerial Commission issued their own thorough protest on Monday against the way in which some Czech media outlets have been reporting on criminal activities either actually or allegedly committed by Romani people. The civil society members of the “Romani Commission” called on the editors-in-chief of Czech periodicals and television stations to uphold the ethical codex for journalists and to only report information in the news when it has been properly verified.

The press release also recalled the recent reporting performed by Ivan Berka of TV Nova about an incident in which three Romani men were alleged to have assaulted a girl, slicing her with a knife and demanding cash and food from her. That incident was later proven to have been completely fabricated.

“The news desk of TV Nova is governed by strict ethical rules, which include, among other things, the responsibility to verify information. When the material in evidence and the Police subsequently determine that the original suspect, irrespective of whether he is Romani or not, is a suspect no longer, naturally our practice is to correct the information. This was done, for example, in the case you mentioned of the girl who was cut. The next day, at the moment when the facts were published proving the girl had invented the story of the assault, we published an apology and corrected the record,” Černohlávek told news server Romea.cz.

Civil society members of the commission also called on the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting “to address the completely intentional campaign conducted by TV NOVA, which is influencing the racist atmosphere in the Czech Republic in a completely fundamental way.” Černohlávek responded to that as follows: “Should specific complaints be filed, we will concern ourselves with them and we are open to dialogue. However, at this moment, your side has provided no concrete evidence of a concrete ‘intentional campaign conducted by TV NOVA, which is influencing the racist atmosphere in the Czech Republic in a completely fundamental way.’ That is to say, in the future we welcome direct communication instead of the publishing of press releases which do not include any concrete commentaries or grounded complaints.”

Patrik Banga, a civil society member of the commission, told news server Romea.cz that “At the current moment we are putting a complaint together to send to the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting. It will include concrete points. At the same time, we are glad TV Nova is offering room for dialogue.”

“After reviewing the complaint, we will analyze the broadcasts concerned. If we determine the complaint is justified, we will initiate an administrative proceedings,” Kateřina Kalistová, chair of the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting, told the on-line daily TÝDEN.CZ.