Category: Mediji

As you can imagine, Slovene media drooled over the supposed attempt at PM Borut Pahor’s life. Pengovsky already explained why in his opinion the incident did not even come close to an assassination attempt. But since the four police officers who grabbed the deranged train passenger carrying bombs were awarded medals for bravery today, the media frenzy seems justifiable. After all, it is not every day that four uniformed officers prevent a serious bloodbath.

As a result, state television invited all four decorated cops to the studio, where they were feeling ill at ease, mostly answering in short sentences thus giving the host, Tomaž Bratož, an appropriately hard time. To give him credit, about a third of Bratož’s questions actually were relevant. But when he turned his attention to the policeman, who actually prevented the passenger to detonate the hand grenade, Bratoš swithced from an interview to a re-enactment, and produced a dummy hand-grenade, asking the police officer to repeat the moves.

An pengovsky went: What. The. Fuck!?!?!

A hand grenade in live studio? What’s next? A replica of an AK-47 when interviewing Slovene soldiers? An empty Uzi when doing a feature on mafia? A fucking tomahawk missile on the anniversary of the war in Iraq? Bringing weapons – even fake ones – on live television and having them handled by an untrained individual sends a seriously wrong message. If a twat from state television can juggle a hand grenade in a studio, what’s to stop a kid to do the same tomorrow afternoon during school recess? Just that this kid won’t know the difference between a dud and a live grenade, because they look the same.

Tomaž Bratoš, host of “Odmevi”, holding a replica of a hand grenade (stills: RTVSLO)

What Bratož did was unprofessional, irresponsible and dangerous. If his editor were any good, he’d have him reprimanded on the spot. But given this particular editor, the hand grenade in the studio could as well have been his idea. Because it was almost certainly his idea to have another go at Ultra affair. Not because there’d be any new developments, but because the media watchdog fined RTVSLO for failing to publish a correction (a presentation of opposing viewpoints), which Ultra demanded in accordance with the Law on Media.

To cut a long story short: when the story broke out, RTVSLO (specifically: journalist Matej Hlebš) claimed that Ultra had taken out 21 million euros of unsecured loans. Ultra denied that, provided details on its loans and their collaterals and allowed its bank, Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), to divulge details as it sees fit. In essence it revoked its “banker-customer privilege”. However, NLB chose not to divulge any details. Which shouldn’t come as a surprise, actually, since any bank worthy of its name will not divulge details of its clients, unless ordered to do so by a court of law. But Hlebš and his editor Rajko Gerič (the very same who allowed a hand grenade in the studio) used this insignificant piece of information – the fact that the state had fined its own television (which means that the fine will be footed by taxpayers anyhow) – to launch another viscious tirade against minister Gregor Golobič and company Ultra, where Hlebš even took Gerič’s statement and put it into the piece. Basically, Rajko Gerič OK’d and aired a piece which featured himself as one of the protagonists (the other being journalist Hlebš personally).

Editor of news programming Rajko Gerič (left) giving a statement to journalist Matej Hlebš (right) (stills: RTVSLO)

This latest piece of journalistic bravado put together by Hlebš and more than apparently supervised by Gerič added nothing new to the question of whether minister Golobič acted wrongly or how wrongly did he act. This was an ad hominem attack for no other reason than the fact that the company Gregor Golobič owns a small share in, demanded a correction, was denied and reported this to the Media Inspectorate, which dully fined the state television (not the editor or the journalist personally). Gerič even went as far as to say that RTVSLO will not be gagged and that they “will not rest until NLB divulges information which will show that Ultra was not privileged in getting the loans, but was granted them just as any other citizen would be.”

Careful observers will of course note that he completely fails to mention the original allegation of 21 million euros of unsecured loans. Even more, said that there are 6 million euros of loans which “are not fully explained”, but that did not stop Hlebš from implying that the only reason RTVSLO was fined is because government culture portfoilo (which includes Media Inspectorate) is held by Majda Širca, member of party Zares, which just happens to be led by Gregor Golobič. An allegation which might even hold up with some conspiracy theorists, if it weren’t for the fact that Head Inspector Aleksander Vidmar was appointed to the post in mid 2005 – well within the term of the previous government. Thus – if the decision on fining RTVSLO would really be political, one would expect the inspectorate not to fine the institution. But it seems that the decision to fine the state television was taken not on political but on legal ground – which is what both Gerič and Hlebš deliberately ignore. And just to top it off, the piece concludes by Hlebš saying that RTVSLO will (naturally) appeal the fine, meaning that the whole thing is far from over. But it was too good an opportunity not to say anything new to miss. Which is the essence of bad journalism.

But hey – this is what we’ve come to. Idiots who bring hand grenades to the studio and their brethren who think they’ve got everybody by the balls, even though they’re quoting compromised documents.

Delo, the largest Slovenian daily newspaper marked its fiftieth anniversary yesterday. The paper took quite a beating in the last few years as it became an object of a bitter political struggle for media control. Several rapid changes at the company’s helm had an unmistakable impact on its content as well and – although entirely undeserved – the image below, taken in my apartment building is not flattering.

The setting: Slovene state television, Monday night’s prime time slot.
The players: On one side, Boško Šrot of Laško Brewery and Igor Bavčar of Istrabenz and economists Bogomir Kovač and Jože Mencinger on the other.
Hiding in ambush: Zoran Janković, mayor of Ljubljana and former CEO of Mercator retail chain
The question: Are Šrot and Bavčar selling Mercator because they’re in deep financial doo-doo as a result of a credit crunch and should the state buy Mercator back.
Statement of the day: Boško Šrot: “I’m not blackmailing the state. It would be blackmail if I said that I’m selling Mercator to a foreign owner if the regulators continue to terrorise Laško. But I’m selling after a careful consideration, because regulators continue to terrorise Laško”

The fact that Boško Šrot and Igor Bavčar appeared on TV screens together speaks volumes. Either that the crisis is hurting them bad and they can no loger protect their position with money but have to resort to PR instead, or that they think that with Janez Janša gone, they’ll be operating in a friendlier media climate.

Well, the latter was definitely not the case. The show was interesting but not brilliant. The moderator held her own, but there was precious little being said that we did not already know about. And then she cued in mayor and former CEO of Mercator Zoran Janković, whose appearance visibly upset both Šrot and Bavčar. Zoki (who was implicitly labeled as a good guy in this story) did not say anyhing new either, but it was clear that neither Šrot nor Bavčar expcted him to be on the show. Even more: while I cannot say this for certain, I can totally imagine that both Šrot and Bavčar appeared under condition that Janković is nowhere near the studio. Well, he wasn’t. He was patched through via a videolink.

This is true television. Grill your guests on live TV and when they think they’re in the clear, drop a bomb.

Of course, the Mercator affair is highly political and yesterday’s show would not have been possible before the elections and quite possibly not after the new government is sworn in. Thererore it is only obvious that it was done during interregnum, when Janša’s goverment is no longer a factor and Borut Pahor‘s goverment still hadn’t become one. This is one of the better examples why RTVSLO should be purged of political influences: this way RTVSLO could actually produce wathcable and relevant content.

I want some more…

P.S.: Sorry about yesterday’s MMM (or the lack thereof). Things just kept – well – popping up!

As you already know, Boško Šrot of Laško Brewery announced his intention to sell the 48 percent stake in Mercator he controls. But just to freshen your memory, allow me to re-post the two relevant paragraphs from Tuesday’s post:

Boško Šrot: What’s more important. Beer, retail or newspapers?

(..) Boško Šrot of Laško re-entered the limelight, apparently seeking to cash in on the change in governement as well as on the economic crisis. As you might know, he and his dependant companies own as much as 48 percent of Mercator, the largest reatil chain in Slovenia. Šrot got hold of Mercator for a below-market price in exchange for ceeding control over Delo newspaper to Janez Janša and his SDS. He later double-crossed Janša who, in respoce, started his famed “war against tycoons”, the only real result being that Šrot, his Laško Brewery and Mercator are being investigated for alleged cartel agreements.

Now, Šrot is “threatening” to sell his 48% percent stake in Mercator if the government agencies do not back off and hinted that he would be willing to sell it back to the state. Hopefully the new PM will not fall for the same trick his predecessor did and will not finance Šrot’s MBO of Laško by buying back Mercator at a markup price. Pengovsky smells an out-and-out foul play here (..)

There’s more, however. Only hour after pengovsky published the above, Delo newspaper announced that it bought almost 80 percent of Večer newspaper. Now, Delo is owned by Laško, meaning that if Delo indeed takes over Večer, Laško would control three out of four most influential daily newspapers: Delo and Slovenske Novice (a tabloid), both published by Delo, as well as Večer, whose influence in Štajerska region is unparalleled.

The motivation behind the move to sell Mercator is still being questioned. Is Boško Šrot running out of money to finance the MBO of Laško, trying to pre-emptively dicsipline the new government or pull the same trick twice:

Officially, Šrot says that he is selling Mecator because the regulators are “terrorising his company” and that he’s had enough of it. Were the new government to put a leash on regulators, however, Laško might be persuaded not to sell half-a-billion-euros-worth of Mercator stock, quite possibly to a foreign owner. The last sentence resurrects the debate of national interest in economy. Interestingly enough, when Laško and Interbrew were locked in a battle for Union brewery in 2002, it was Boško Šrot who lauched the theme, saying that it was waaay better for Slovene companies to be owned by Slovene capital – that this was in our national interest, so to speak.

Boško Šrot won the “brewery wars of 2002”, but this time around, it seems the “national interest” will be a tough sell. Namely – The state does not own either Laško or Mercator anymore, meaning that it has little or no interest vested in Mercator. Some say that the new (foreign) owner would drastically reduce the number of employees and limit access of Slovene food and drinks producers to Mercator’s shelves, threatning an entire branch of Slovene economy.

Which is a load of bollocks (I seem to be using the phrase a lot lately)

Mecator has a 36% market share in Slovenia and the number of employees is by now no doubt “optimised”, i.e.: overworked and underpaid. There will be precious little a new owner will be able to do in that department. As far as Slovene food and drinks producers are concerned, things are even more simple. If the new owner wil indeed try to squeze Slovene products out, it will soon be faced with declining sales and in turn declining profits, not to mention the fact that other retail chains will be more than happy to re-employ the old “Buy Slovene!” approach and increase their market share.

So, why should the government fork out half a billion euros to finance Šrot’s MBO of Laško, just to reacquire Mercator. Should this happen, Mirko Tuš, owner of Tuš retail chain would rightfully ask “what about me!”. Mercator is not a company at peril (not yet, at least) and there is absolutely no reason for the state to cough up the money. There are more pressing issues for the new government to address with taxpayers’ money.

The presumptine new minister of economy, Matej Lahovnik, already said that there is no reason for the state to buy Mercator:

“I don’t see a reason for the state to buy [Mercator] back at the same price it sold it three years ago. Even if we did buy it, we’d be faced with the question, what to do with it in the coming months (…) We’d have to sell it again. Are we to buy it back again in four years at a higher price? It makes no sence, so the state will not buy Mercator back. Unless the price would be lower. In that case the purchase might be possible”

As far as Delo’s takeover of Večer is concerned, however, things are both clearer and a lot more murky at the same time. The takeover is definitely illegal, as Delo did not get an approval to increase its share in Večer above 20%. The approval is issued by the minister of culture and under pre-2005 legislation it was automatically rejected if the combined media companies exceeded certain limits in terms of market share and/or reach. When Janša’s government changed the Law on media, it also changed this particular article. Under current provision the decision whether or not to allow media concentration or not is made solely at the minister’s discretion. Which naturally opens the road for some heavy lobbying and even top-level corruption.

The presumptive new minister of culture Majda Širca (like Lahovnik, she too is a member of Zares) did not take a position on this issue, but I would expect her to uphold the decision of the outgoing minister Vasko Simoniti, who rejected any possibility of allowing the concentration and even filed criminial charges, and notified the Market Protection Office.

And after she does that, she might want to re-examine the media conentrations that were allowed under tenure of Vasko Simoniti. And those before him…

BTW: If you’re interested on how the new minitster sees the new role of RTVSLO, click here (Slovene only)

This one is exactly a week old, but it is still a telling story. Upon his return to his hometown of Brežice, Slovenian Olympic gold-medalist Primož Kozmus was greeted by more that 5000 fans and a couple of politicians, including Prime Minster Janez Janša, who was – somewhat surprisingly – booed throughout his short speech. Surprsingly, because booing at politicians is not exactly commonplace in Slovenia. Indeed I’d venture to say that even Milan Kučan at an SDS even would receive a warmer reception (OK, I may be pushing it here :)) And secondly, because Janša’s SDS carried Brežice by a huge margin in 2004 elections (it got some 44% of the vote) and yet Janša was received by a definite lack of enthusiasm.

Janša starts talking at 02:00 (source: POP TV)

Now it could very well be argued that it wasn’t political and that the crowd just resented JJ trying to steal the moment and thougth that he had no place on the stage, but only weeks before elections everything is political. And the PM getting booed at is not a good thing. But he needn’t worry. RTVSLO – the state television did not report on it at all. Instead, they cut his speech out altogether, and just showed his handing back the microfone with the crowd cheering. It looked much better 😈

EDIT: You’ve got a nice comparison over at JaKa’s – he dug out SDS‘s version of the event and the one published by Vest.si