Management purging Slovak public broadcaster of experienced journalists
(World News Austria)

When Jaroslav Rezník took over as general director of Radio Television Slovakia (RTVS) in August 2017 there was ample reason for concern. His turn-of-the-century experience leading Slovak Radio under semi-authoritarian strongman Vladimír Meciar, and his more recent decision to forge an alliance with Russian propaganda outlet Sputnik while he led the state-owned TASR newswire, were among the biggest red flags. Adding to the alarm was a politically charged appointment process that saw the conservative nationalist Slovak National Party (SNS) advocate Rezník`s candidacy against an incumbent, Václav Mika, who was widely praised for having bolstered public media`s news prowess. In the months...