Another day, another plan by the Slovak government of Robert Fico to undermine free society. This time they have the public service broadcaster “Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS)” in their crosshairs.
The populist prime minister wants to turn it into a state-controlled institution and give government a much greater say in its editorial content, especially in relation to news.
However, Fico’s media strategy goes wider than this: he has a public list of media outlets that, he has made clear, his party officials, members of parliament and the government, will not speak to.
The government takes inspiration from its southern neighbour, Hungary, where Viktor Orbán has controlled the public media for years and, through friendly oligarchs, also much of the private media.
It is worth noting that, back in 2006, when Orbán was growing in popularity and influence,…
