“The management of CT and the news management were not informed in advance about Václav Moravec’s decision, which we respect. The situation surrounding the Sunday talk show will be resolved in the coming days,” said Pleskot. It is strange that in the statement there is no acknowledgment for more than two decades of work.
According to Moravec, he is leaving due to the fact that under the current conditions he cannot guarantee the independence of editorial work and critical reflection according to the code of public television. In a statement, CT rejected Moravc’s reasoning for leaving.
“However, we fundamentally reject Václav Moravec’s claim that the independence of editorial work is not guaranteed at CT. A completely standard editorial approach applies to Václav Moravec in the position of moderator of CT’s main political discussion, as well as to all other presenters of other CT programs,” Pleskot explained the television’s position.
Moravec announced his departure after hosting a talk show on Sunday. The moderator hinted at a possible departure from public television at the beginning of the year in connection with the discussions at the time about the balance of Otázek. Because of them, at the end of January, the television management suspended the program’s longtime chief dramaturg Hana Andělová.
It was related to the fact that SPD chairman Tomio Okamura was not invited to the program for nine years. This was pointed out not only by the television management, but also by some members of the Council of the Czech Television. On Sunday, years later, Okamura came to the discussion as a guest. As the current chairman of the Chamber of Deputies, he was one of the Sunday actors with his predecessors at the head of the lower parliamentary chamber. He did not avoid a rift with Moravec, according to whom Okamura did not follow the rules of the discussion.
Moravec announced his departure at a time when the government coalition of ANO, SPD and Motorists began preparing changes in the funding of Czech Television and Czech Radio. He wants to cancel their income from fees paid by households and companies. Critics consider it a threat to the independence of both media if it were financed directly from the state budget.
