People are now apparently ready to stop playing political games with public television.
This is the moment for cool heads to get together to put in place a serious programme of reform. The IFJ, which says that the occupation of Czech Television by almost 2,000 journalists and media workers is a moment of truth for Czech democracy, believes the hard lessons learned in Prague will send signals to all countries of the region that public broadcasting must be kept at arm's length from party politics. During his visit, White had met with news executives opposed to the protest by journalists and asked them to lift the blackout. The debate about the future of public broadcasting is now out in the open. The IFJ told journalists in Prague that it fully supports the strikers.