A new resignation has recently taken place in the depoliticised institution of Radio-Television Slovenia (RTVS). This time, Vanja Vardjan, editor-in-chief of the entertainment programme of TV Slovenia, has left his post. The reason for his resignation is the alleged irregularities in the selection of the Slovenian Eurovision song.
Ksenija Horvat, Director of TV Slovenia, has already accepted his resignation. According to RTV Slovenia, Vanja Vardjan made the decision that is in the best interests of RTV Slovenia, the entertainment programme, the Eurovision selection and the selected performer, and he decided to resign in order to enable an impartial determination of the facts in the selection of the Eurovision Song Contest, the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) reports.
The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK) is supposedly dealing with suspicions of irregularities in the implementation of the Eurovision Song Contest project. The report was accepted in early January. If things do not change, Slovenia will be represented at the Eurovision contest by the singer Raiven with her song Veronika.
RTV did not ask the people to participate in the selection of the song that will represent our nation at Eurovision, but merely organised a press conference in December to announce the singing champion.
More than 100 people allegedly applied to the tender. Last year’s representatives, the Joker Out group, were selected in the same manner. Previously, singers were selected at RTV Slovenia’s popular Ema event. The last time it was organised was in 2022, when the LPS group was selected.
Purges at RTV
Parallel to this story, there are ongoing purges at the national media outlet RTV, with political, as well as purely personal backgrounds, separate from politics. As is well known, a management clique close to the Left party (Levica) has risen to the top of the institution. Their latest victim is the war journalist and editor Dr Valentin Areh. The latter sent out a public letter in which he said: “Today, the members of the management board of Radio-Television Slovenia, Zvezdan Martič, Andrej Trček and the Workers’ Director, Franci Pavšer, sent me a vile and cowardly contract, demanding that I accept a 17-grade pay cut and start working as a junior journalist, while at the same time, I have to give up any lawsuit against RTV.”
Many other journalists had already lost their jobs on the small screen before him – some had left RTV, others had been demoted.
Ž. K.
