- Moderator Václav Moravec is leaving Czech Television after more than 21 years.
- He justifies his departure by saying that he can no longer guarantee the complete independence of his work.
Moderator Václav Moravec is leaving Czech Television after more than 21 years. He announced this on Sunday after the end of his political show Otázky Václav Moravec on the grounds that he could no longer guarantee the independence of his work and did not want to disappoint the trust of viewers, writes TASR, according to a report from the Novinky.cz portal.
“Our time has come to an end, just like my time at Czech Television has come to an end after more than 21 years. Recent events have confirmed to me that under the current conditions, I can no longer guarantee the independence of editorial work and critical reflection of events, as stated in the preamble of the Czech Television Code,” said Moravec.
“The trust of hundreds of thousands of you, the television viewers, who for 21 years made Otázek the most watched television debate in the country, I don’t want to disappoint by moving towards a pseudo-balance, if you will, a blind balance, which in my opinion destroys the public service,” he added.
At the end, Moravec thanked the audience and the team that participated in the creation of his political show. After eight years, the guest of the Sunday part was the head of the SPD and the chairman of the Chamber of Deputies, Tomio Okamura.
In response, ČT stated that it respects Moravec’s decision, although it was not informed about it in advance. “At this moment, it is premature to comment anything more. But we fundamentally reject Václav Moravec’s claim that the independence of editorial work is not guaranteed at CT. The standard editorial approach applies to Václav Moravec, in the position of moderator of the main political discussion of CT, as well as to all other presenters of other CT shows,” the television wrote on the social network Facebook.
