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Why Czech journalists are not interested in politicians' corruption?

20. 7. 2010 / Michal Vimmer

Iva Bezděková wrote on her blog):

"The time for journalists to ask their questions is coming to an end. The last moment to request the people from the government ministries to explain those issues, against which the experts or the layman still have a problem with. But no question over those issues comes up. Reporters from the mainstream newspapers, from TV and even from the Czech News Agency (ČTK) didn't think up of any critical question. What they are interested in is what the outgoing female Health Minister thinks about her substitute and what she considers her biggest debt -- what she hasn't achieved -- in her resort"

A Czech version of this article is in CLICK HERE

She continued:

"My interview obviously doesn't interest my fellow journalists. They start to talk among themselves, I can barely hear the minister and her deputies` answers. In the end, the spokesperson loses his patience and he ends my questioning by saying: "This is like hearing former member of parliament Hovorka [who was one of the few parliamentarians who repeatedly pointed to corruption affairs within the health system] speaking through the lips of our lady reporter. Let's please leave this issue now and I'd like to ask for further question from other reporters..." Luckily for him, no unpleasant question comes up. Nobody is interested in anything that could ruin the minister and her deputies` yippee summer mood... No silly questions about controversial deals by her resort, about the desperate situation of health system workers, about the unsolved system of financing the education of doctors, about the unnecessary hiring of external companies for certain services and other issues like that.

I actually can't remember any critical question from my colleagues even in previous press conferences. No wonder the minister has praised the work of the media..."

So I would like to know for what is some university course of JOURNALISM, if Czech "journalists" -- after all those years studying -- don't learn how to ASK QUESTIONS? The Czech reality is such, that institutions have their spokespeople and our "journalists" just copy from their recorders what the spokesperson ruminates and spills out to them.

The goal of Czech journalists, who are certainly not well paid, in this era after the Velvet Revolution, is to become a SPOKERSPERSON to a big corporation or some State institution = to share only that, which their employer wishes. The opportunity to fumble over corruption affairs that happened this year came to an end. New ministers enter, old ones become no longer available to give explanations about possible corruption issues during their time in charge of their resorts.

Will Czech "journalists" (and their readers, listeners, watchers) ever realize that this system of sharing information is CORRUPTION just a seasonal marketing slogan?

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Obsah vydání | Pondělí 2.8. 2010