Babiš replies to editors, Czech minister Macinka insults journalist

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš agreed with a call by 40 editors-in-chief of Czech media to reject violence and words used as weapons, but demanded that journalists follow the same rules. Almost at the same time, Foreign Minister Macinka publicly insulted a reporter from Seznam Zprávy.

Basic boundaries and the “Basic Mirror”

Forty editors-in-chief of Czech media issued a joint appeal to politicians. They ask them to reject violence, observe decency in communication and respect free access to information. “I have no problem with that, but I say one thing: the same rules must apply to the media too,” Babiš said.

The editors called their document “Basic Boundaries”, and the prime minister dubbed his reply the “Basic Mirror”. He urged the media to give up verbal attacks and manipulation and to follow the principles of journalistic work and their own codes of ethics. In his words, the public has the right to truthful, complete and impartial information.

“A word must not be a weapon. Personal attacks are not an argument, and journalists have no right to replace substantive criticism with smears and deliberate repeated attacks,” Babiš said. He called criticism of politicians legitimate, but said that taking facts out of context and manipulating public opinion cannot be justified by press freedom. He addressed the appeal to editors regardless of ownership structure, political orientation and editorial line, and acknowledged that the editors’ initiative itself was fair.

What Macinka said

The prime minister read out his reply after Deník N journalist Markéta Boubínová asked him to comment on the words of Minister Macinka, spoken shortly before. Macinka insulted Seznam Zprávy reporter Lukáš Valášek over an article reporting that the foreign minister had not supported Finland’s call to tighten the EU’s visa policy toward Russians. According to the minister, that initiative had weak support, and Czechia had earlier backed another, similar one.

The minister said he had tried to explain everything to the reporter “as clearly as possible”, but sometimes there are people whose resistance to understanding is exceptional. He sent his regards to Seznam Zprávy editor-in-chief Robert Čásenský, congratulated him on a “quality inclusion policy” and expressed hope that he would at least buy Valášek a lollipop as a reward. Macinka phrased all of this in a harsh and insulting manner.

The outgoing senator Miroslava Němcová (ODS) did not escape either. She had criticized the minister for his stance on the Finnish call and described him as a pro-Russian collaborator. Macinka suggested that her words were “traditionally hysterical” and advised her to read a children’s book in her political retirement, for example about Chuk and Gek, which, he said, “may match her current mental capacities”.

Babiš distanced himself from the minister’s words: “The minister said something, I don’t talk like that. We want to communicate politely.”

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz