Polona Fijavž, editor-in-chief of the news programme on the national television, TV Slovenia, has banned Rosvita Pesek, the presenter of the show Odmevi (Echoes), from hosting Thursday’s event, organised by the Association for the Values of Slovenian Independence (Združenje za vrednote Slovenske osamosvojitve – VSO).
“I can confirm that the editor-in-chief, Polona Fijavž, has banned me from hosting this event,” the television presenter, Rosvita Pesek, told our media outlet.
Namely, the Association for the Values of Slovenian Independence organised a round table entitled “The Foundations of Slovenian Democracy and Independence” on Thursday, the 9th of January, at 6 p.m. at Cankarjeva Street 11. The panel discussion, which was attended by Alojz Peterle, Dr Dimitrij Rupel, Janez Janša, Janez Podobnik and Igor Bavčar, was originally supposed to be hosted by Rosvita Pesek.
However, Pesek was forbidden from moderating the panel discussion “on the grounds that she could not moderate a conversation with anyone who might be a potential guest of the show Odmevi”. Tanja Dominko then moderated the panel instead.
When asked whether this was not a case of discriminatory treatment of employees – namely, Pesek’s journalistic colleagues had hosted public events in the past, and with people who could later also be interviewed on the national media outlet RTV Slovenia’s programmes – she replied: “I have to check on that. If it is a case of the editor-in-chief treating her colleagues differently, then these are completely different categories,” she said.
The other presenters are happily hosting and moderating social events
In the past, RTV presenters have had no problem hosting public events. A lot has been written about Igor E. Bergant in particular, who is also a presenter of the show Odmevi, and who has, in the past, hosted several public events featuring “potential guests of the show Odmevi”.
For example, on the 20th of June 2023, he moderated a conversation with Tanja Fajon and Matjaž Han at the 5th National Conference on the Internationalisation of the Slovenian Economy.
In the past, Pesek’s journalist colleague from the team of the show Dnevnik (Daily News) also had no problems with hosting politically exposed events, even posing with ministers. Saša Krajnc was even thanked by the now-resigned Minister of Justice, Dominika Švarc Pipan, in one of her posts on X: “Today, Saša Krajnc chaired an event to mark the Day of the Judiciary. As always – professional, sympathetic and with an everlasting warm smile. When we at the Ministry of Justice had to choose the host of today’s programme, we chose him unanimously, and with good reason, including the message this choice carries.”
Marcel Štefančič has also hosted several public events in the past, also with potential future guests of RTV Slovenia.
The editor-in-chief in question, Polona Fijavž, last upset the public when she banned Urška Cankar Soares from appearing on the RTV programme Intervju (Interview) with presenter Jože Možina. The censorship of the co-organiser of the Slovenian March for Life was clearly carried out according to political criteria. “Double standards in the selection of guests at the national media outlet are unacceptable to me,” Možina wrote at the time.
We sent press questions in relation to this story to our public media outlet, namely, about the discriminatory treatment of employees. We will publish the response when we receive it.
Ž. K.
