Mediji | SLEEPING WITH PENGOVSKY

Government Cleaning Up Its Media Act

While the title may be a horrible attempt at a journalistic ~~pen~~ pun (seriously, pengovsky!), we really should talk about the shiny new draft Media Act the Golob government adopted on the very last day of 2024.

A picture of a microphone in a podcast studio. The new media act finally addresses digital media as well. — *A picture of a podcasting studio which may or may not be symbolic…*

The text itself is a major overhaul of a woefully outdated piece of legislation. The existing law dates back to the days of linear television, printed press and national-language music quotas. As a result, the new draft addresses many problems at once, with varying success. It also made the political right wing head for the mattresses.

New RTVSLO Legislation Hits A Snag

With only a week until it was to fully come into effect, the constitutional court today stayed the execution of several articles of the new law on RTVSLO. This is the first semi-success the remains of the Janša regime scored on this front. And even so, it was as much by sheer dumb luck as it was by carefully laid out legal arguments.

Both readers will remember that voters in Muddy Hollows approved the new law in a November referendum. As a result, the SDS shills currently turning RTVSLO into an unwatchable shitshow, nearly ran out of options. The law was on the books and the clock was ticking for selection of the new board and management. So they tried an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink type of a constitutional complaint. And lo-behold!, something actually stuck. But go easy on the champagne, this is all much more fucktangular than it looks.

Once More Unto The Referendum Breach, Dear Friends

Apologies for abusing The Bard, but the upcoming referendum votes do have a tinge of Shakespearean drama to it. Or maybe it is the Shakespearean length of this post. Who knows. To quote Hamlet, fuck it. Going to the polls for the third time in as many weeks, and for the fifth time in eight months, is not a regular occurrence in Muddy Hollows.

Shepherd boy with flute symbolises RTVSLO. The fate of the public broadcaster in Slovenia will be determined on a referendum on Sunday. — *Shepherd boy with flute, by Zdenko Kalin, symbolising RTVSLO since forever. But for how long? (source)*

And yet, this Sunday might prove to be just as crucial as the April parliamentary election was. For those of you living under a rock for the past few months, Slovenians are about vote in three different referendums on Sunday. There is a vote in the Government Act, on the law on elderly care, and the law on RTVSLO, the public broadcaster. A fucking cornucopia of direct democracy if there ever was one. But there is a catch. Because of course there is.

Apr`es Moi, Le Déluge

News broke this afternoon that Studio City, the iconic RTVSLO programme, long a thorn in the side of soon-to-be-ex PM Janez Janša and his cronies, is to have its host Marcel Štefančič, jr. axed and its format radically altered. This, obviously, was not entirely unexpected.

Marcel Štefančič, host of Studio City, circa 2013. — *Studio City and its host Marcel Štefančič, jr., circa 2013 (photo by yours truly)*

All the evidence pointed to something like this. Not in the least because the outgoing regime and its recently-installed peons at RTVSLO spent the last couple of months dismantling every single bit of programming that dared look at the government with a critical eye. Studio City was right at the top of that list. However, that it should be done on 3 May, the World Press Freedom Day, is – not to be too direct – sadistic.

Wag The Thompson

This sorry little excuse for a country spent much of the past week (and then some) fretting over a seemingly minor issue which – as per usual in this part of the world – was blown way out of proportion. We are, of course, referring to one Marko Perković – Thompson who was scheduled to give a concert in Maribor today but was banned only days ago over security concerns.

Marko Perković – Thompson being all patriotic and shit. (source)

When the concert was announced, everybody freaked out. The charge was led by local press, most notably Maribor-based Večer daily which has national coverage and soon half of the country was in overdrive.

Continue reading Wag The Thompson