CT report cut to pieces: Farmers, Russia, teachers. Everything is different

On Monday, May 6, the editors of CT again “distinguished themselves”. In the program Reportéři ČT, they literally got excited about the protests of farmers and, by extension, teachers. Both professional groups were duped and the organizers stole their protests. Pearls were literally falling in the report entitled Abuse. At the beginning of the program, the presenter introduced the report with the following words: “Teachers and farmers have organized some of the largest protests in the country in recent years, but within their protests, more than teachers and farmers, people associated with disinformation or pro-Russian activities have been seen. A number of protesters are now saying, we didn’t want this, the events were stolen from us.” And the report ended with the reporter’s statement: “Self-proclaimed leaders, unknown people a few years ago, are taking part in breaking up their protests in the eyes of the demonstrators, thus stealing attention for themselves.”

I would like to remind public television reporters of the regulations that they should follow when providing a public service, and above all, strictly adhere to them. This is the Statute of the Czech Television, where in Article II under the title Public Service of the Czech Television it is stated: “The main tasks of the public service in the field of broadcasting established by the Czech Television Act are in particular: provision of objective, verified, balanced and versatile information for free creation opinions.” And in the CT Codex it is written: “In reporting and topical journalism, Czech Television pays attention to accuracy and impartiality, consisting mainly in ascertaining and verifying the facts.” current affairs programs to start in such a way that the viewer cannot recognize their opinion on the matter they are reporting on.” I dare to say that the authors of the report have never read the code or the statute.

In the beginning of the report, farmers who were not satisfied with the February protest, when hundreds of tractors came to Prague in front of the Ministry of Agriculture, were given a chance to express themselves. They didn’t like that the protest was politicized, that it was actually stolen from them and that: “People who have nothing to do with agriculture stuck to it.” After these words, the two organizers of the February event were introduced. And the ČT reporters didn’t mind at all, maybe it didn’t even occur to them, that both gentlemen have a lot in common with agriculture. Bohumír Dufek is the chairman of the Association of Free Trade Unions and Zdeněk Jandejsek, an agricultural baron, headed the Agrarian Chamber of the Czech Republic and now belongs to the largest agricultural entrepreneurs in the country and receives subsidies. However, with Jandejska, they did not forget to mention his candidacy for the European Parliament, even though the individual candidates were not yet known in February. It was purposeful information intended to support the farmers’ claim that the event was politicized. In February, thousands of farmers came to Prague, five unconnected appeared in the report, and how many were satisfied? Why weren’t their voices heard there too? This is an example of the plurality of opinions presented by CT.

ABUSE. REPORT OF REPORTERS THURS

And another “star” of the reportage was the analyst Bohumil Kartous, spokesman for the Czech Elves. This is a group of fighters against foreign disinformation campaigns on the Czech Internet and Russian propaganda in Czech cyberspace. Yes, you guessed it right, now comes the passage about pro-Russian activities. Bohumil Kartous often appears in CT programs and is considered a relevant respondent. According to available information, he is a professional provocateur of public debate. He was the director of the Prague Innovation Institute. He had to leave because of the non-transparent management of the institution, which has been under investigation by the police headquarters against organized crime for several months. Kartous continues to act as vice-chairman of the NELEŽ association, which pressures entrepreneurs not to endanger their reputation by advertising on disinformation websites. And this person was given space on public television to label protest organizers. “They are people who crave attention and try to use it to their advantage.”

The passage dedicated to the Czech elves, who are again often defended as the only true source, was again dedicated to Dufko and Jandejsk and their pro-Russian activities. One appeared at demonstrations where speeches were given that recorded Russian propaganda and the other on a website that spreads conspiracy theories and records Russian propaganda. KTV television, which often spreads manipulation and misinformation, was also mentioned. However, it should be noted that on the list of disinformation media published by the Foundation for Independent Journalism, Neovlivni.cz or Hospodářské noviny, you will not find KTV.

And analyst Veronika Víchová also commented on the pro-Russian activities of the organizers. And now pay attention, because understanding the meaning of her words is not easy. “Whether those people are doing it consciously, helping Russian interests in the Czech Republic, or unconsciously, it actually has no effect on how they manage to influence the Czech society. In quotes, this is what we call a useful idiot. Those people simply don’t do it in a programmatic way that they want to help Russia, but they actually help it anyway.” What to add, maybe only that he cooperates with the Center for an Informed Society. It is an independent non-profit organization that is not affiliated with any political party, but is open to cooperation and dialogue with political groups that adhere to democratic principles.

And the disgruntled farmers got the floor again. They don’t want politicians to take part in the protests, and that’s why they prefer not to do any protests. They are said to always be joined by some group of people who demonstrate with each group. And Josef Šlerka, an expert on the issue of disinformation, adds his comment: “The feeling it causes in those people is really a feeling of abuse, and I actually understand it as a big problem, because the protests were legitimate in themselves and at a time when the second time the protests were stolen, so the people are facing a situation, how should we solve it, what should we do. Either they learn to organize themselves better, or they stop protesting.”

“People who go to demonstrations against the government, where they want to show their disapproval of some government actions, for example, they meet a number of pro-Russian activists who exploit their frustrations and try to further promote fear, anger and various other negative things in them emotions that can lead to greater radicalization,” adds Veronika Víchová, and B. Kartouz adds: “In the Czech Republic, we can talk about a million to a million and a half adults who hold radical anti-system attitudes. Czech elves are following them on social networks.” The report also featured a Slovak sociologist who is known for his criticism of Robert Fico, whose government he declared would end liberal democracy in Slovakia. “Aggression on social networks then spills over into the real world,” says Michal Vašečka.

At this point, the author of the report manipulatively uses the sociologist’s statement to give the audience the impression that the protesters are aggressive. With the sentence “Farmers have experienced it, and teachers know about it too!”, she got to the teachers’ strike in November. This was announced by the school unions, 70 percent of the schools joined it, as well as other health, engineering, transport, woodworking unions… Petra Mazancová, a teacher and chairwoman of the Teacher’s Platform, was already given a lot of space in the ČT news. She publicly claimed that the strike was stolen, that the action was misused and that it had become an anti-government protest. Why did a representative of the professional organization Učitelská platforma, which has approximately 1,780 members, appear in the report, when according to data from the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports there were 157,000 full-time teachers working in education in December 2023? How can her words be taken as the opinion of tens of thousands of teachers? Well, because she said exactly what the reporters needed to use in the report.

And the best part at the end… The blogger Daniel Sterzik, known as Vidlák, must also be an uninvited guest at the teachers’ and agricultural protests. It is he who appears at events of conspiracy groups and movements, steals protests, and because of this, an atmosphere of fear is created at events. Which will be confirmed to us by a female teacher. The report ends with the author’s words: “Self-proclaimed leaders, unknown people a few years ago, participate in breaking up their protests in the eyes of the demonstrators and thus steal attention for themselves.”

An attentive viewer must have recognized that the report was about several things: First, to discredit the organizers of the protests in connection with the planned farmers’ actions, to show only the opinions of those who imagine the protests differently, and above all to discourage those who want to join the actions. The government is afraid of the organizers, because you have to know how to organize such an event. The farmers who are now toiling from morning to night in the fields are not really organizing it. And as for the useful idiots that the report talks about, then think about it, but I think that the people who are fighting for their rights are definitely not them.

Alena Marsálková

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