RTV Slovenija

Ljubljana – Prime Minister Robert Golob has proposed that TV Slovenija journalist Petra Bezjak Cirman be appointed the new head of the government Communications Office (UKOM). Earlier on Wednesday, the prime minister’s office confirmed for the STA that Dragan Barbutovski was leaving the post after just over two months on the job.

Ljubljana – Uroš Urbanija, who served as the head of the Government Communication Office (UKOM) under the previous government, will be appointed director of TV Slovenija by RTV Slovenija general director Andrej Grah Whatmough on Monday, RTV Slovenija said in a press release on Friday.

Koper – The regional newspaper Primorske Novice says in Tuesday’s commentary that only politics can drive politics out of the media, as it urges the Robert Golob government to do this at RTV Slovenija and then to resist the temptation to exert political pressure itself.

Ljubljana – The National Assembly launched on Thursday a parliamentary inquiry into suspicions of illegal financing of “party political propaganda in the media with funds of state-owned companies, state institutions or foreign institutions or entities” targeting media owned by or linked with the SDS.

Ljubljana – The leadership of RTV Slovenija is not up to running a public media service as it does not understand what the public is, and should therefore leave, Delo says in Tuesday’s front-page commentary headlined They Don’t Like Public Radio and Television.

Ljubljana – RTV Slovenija journalists continued on Monday the strike they first staged on 23 May, ending the day with a rally protesting against political interference. The public broadcaster’s heads meanwhile ordered that news shows be radically short or cancelled today, a move the staff see as an attempt to undermine the strike.

Ljubljana – The opposition Democrats (SDS) have strongly condemned a letter Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon has addressed to RTV Slovenija director general Andrej Grah Whatmough urging him to reconsider his plan to cut the public broadcaster’s international network of correspondents. The SDS sees her move as unacceptable political pressure.

Ljubljana – RTV Slovenija director general Andrej Grah Whatmough has urged the public broadcaster’s in-house trade unions to cancel the strike planned for Monday and sign the strike agreement he has offered them in a bid to prevent “irreparable damage to news programmes”. But the unions have responded by saying the strike will go ahead as planned.

Ljubljana – The management of public broadcaster RTV Slovenija is surprised at yesterday’s announcement of a strike by the in-house trade unions, arguing that a number of proposals had been offered to implement the strike demands during the talks in the wake of the 23 May token strike.

Ljubljana – Journalists at public broadcaster RTV Slovenija will go on strike on Monday after their 23 May strike and subsequent talks with the management brought no progress on their strike demands.

The strike will take place between 2pm and 11pm, and a rally will be held at 7pm in Republic Square, across the street from the National Assembly.