Czechia

[CZ] Warning for Czech TV

IRIS 2018-4:1/16

Jan Fučík

Česká televize

The Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting (hereinafter referred to as the Council), as the central administrative authority, issued a  warning to the broadcaster Česká televize for breach of the provisions of Section 31 (3) of Act No. 231/2001 Coll. (Broadcasting Act), an infringement which the operator shall have committed by broadcasting the programme item Václav Moravec's Questions - Part 2 on the CT24 programme at 1.05 p.m. on 22 October 2017. Specialists Tomáš Sedláček and Jan Svejnar, both of whom have long been promoting the adoption of the euro, were invited as guests to participate in a discussion on the issue of the adoption of the euro in the Czech Republic; two guests who share the same opinion on the issue for which they received considerable space within the programme. In contrast, no one was invited to represent a different view on this important topic.

Thereby, the broadcaster was, according to the Council, presenting a major issue in a one-sided manner. In the Council’s view, this was a violation of Section 31 (3) of Act No. 231/2001 Coll. (Broadcasting Act), which requires the broadcaster to ensure that news and political-journalistic programmes are guided by the principles of objectivity and balance.

The Council sets a 7-day rectification deadline from the date of receipt of this notice. If a broadcaster breaches any obligations set out in the Broadcasting Act, then the Council shall warn such a (re)broadcaster of the breach and shall grant such a (re)broadcaster a grace period to take corrective action. If corrective action is taken within the prescribed period, the Council shall not impose any penalty.