2024-09-03 01:01:35
Slovak journalist Michal Kovačič starts his own media. He comes up with the 360° project two months after he was fired from Markíza TV. On Sunday evening, he launched an internet fundraiser to financially support the project. And so far she is doing very well. The first goal was achieved within the first day of launch. On Monday afternoon, it reached 300,000 euros (7.5 million crowns).
“We want to replace what is disappearing from television. Critical politics, investigations, explaining cases,” Kovačič announced his plans a day after his two-month notice period from Markíza TV expired. He received it in June, despite the fact that the local trade union, which he himself led and which was founded by editors dissatisfied with the pressures of the television management on the newsroom, did not agree with it.
Kovačič wants to finance the project through a public collection, which he launched on the crowdfunding platform Donio.sk. After just three hours, he achieved the first two goals, collecting over one hundred thousand euros (more than 2.5 million crowns). To launch the media, he will need a total of at least 500,000 euros (over 12.6 million crowns), said Denník N. On Monday afternoon, the project reached another milestone – 300,000 euros (7.5 million crowns). Kovačič announced that after reaching it, he will be able to process reports from the parliament and the government.
The website, which will feature video content, will launch on November 17. Kovačič and his colleagues will prepare hour-long debates, as well as several-minute reports or videos explaining cases. The project should also focus on investigative work.
Two other television editors Adel Ghannam and Barbora Šišoláková will join Kovačič’s media project. Ghannam announced his end in Marquis a few days ago. On behalf of disgruntled editors, he also participated in negotiations with the television management. Until last week, Šišoláková worked at Slovak Television and Radio (STVR), which she left of her own accord. According to her, the management questioned her work and interfered inappropriately with the reports.
“I’m leaving because after the changes in management, it’s not possible to work there like before. The content in the news is looked at more strictly, more carefully and is edited more than once,” she specified on her social networks. She publicly described how her report on the Slovak National Party Environment Minister Tomáš Tarab was cut on television.
STVR was established in July on the basis of a law that abolished the existing public station Radio and Television of Slovakia. The then CEO Ľuboš Machaj also ended prematurely. The opposition and disgruntled television employees described the law as a means by which Robert Fico’s government coalition wants to control the public media.
The editorial board of the new project will have a total of eight members. In addition to management, Kovačič will cover duels and debates as a moderator, interviews and reports will be prepared by Ghannam. Šišoláková will be in charge of the investigation. Others will focus on the technical part of broadcasting and production.
Kovačič was fired from Slovak television Markíza after sixteen years. According to him, the union was not consulted about the departure, which he considers illegal. He was one of the most famous faces of private television. He quit after speaking live on his show Na tělo in May about the pressures on television from the management and, referring to the events in neighboring Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, warned against the urbanization of the Slovak media. After this appearance, the television pulled the presenter off the air and prematurely ended the Na telo program before the summer holidays. She claimed that Kovačič abused the television broadcast.
In other interviews, the journalist described in more detail the conditions on television that caused the newsroom to riot. In an interview for Respekt, he mentioned the attempt by the television management to prevent an interview with the then special prosecutor Daniel Lipšice at a time when the parliament was discussing the amendment of the criminal law and the abolition of the Special Prosecutor’s Office.
At the time, Markíza argued in disputes with editors that it followed the principles of the Editorial Board of the CME Group, the owner of Markíza, for objective, impartial and objective reporting.
Video: This cannot be taken seriously, the singer leaned into the Slovak minister. People are not that stupid (9/8/2024)
Spotlight Aktuálně.cz – Adam Pavlovčin | Video: The Spotlight Team