“They just decided to do it, and there was no response… They fired me before my contract expired, and that was the decision of the then-management. No explanation was ever given as to why I was fired. They used the “new format for the show” as an excuse, but it was clear a year before already that I was “problematic,” however; no one told me what the problem actually was,” the actor and former host of the popular Male sive celice (Little grey cells) quiz-style TV show for children, Pavle Ravnohrib, described his experience of being fired from the national Radio-Television Slovenia.
Recently, it seems that the world has stopped for the leftists because the management team of the national media outlet, RTV Slovenia, did not extend the contract of the now-former host of the show Studi City, Marcel Štefančič, who worked on the show for 33 years. Even politics and its subordinate civil society are convincing the public that this politically limited and not very cosmopolitan host of the show should have at least 33 more years for the hosting of his politically biased broadcast with poor ratings. And that this is the point where free journalism falls. But is this really in the best interest of the viewers? History shows that in the past, on RTV, without a lot of noise and with political decrees, former management had cancelled other TV shows before and also got rid of their hosts, for whom no one from the journalist’s guild stood up. Unfortunately, not everyone is as privileged as Marcel, who creates political propaganda for the transitional left.
With the victory of “Freedom” at the latest elections (meaning, the Freedom movement party – Gibanje svoboda), calls for the “liquidations” of individuals are regularly brought up in public, which carries with it a creepy touch of those long-gone days of May 1945… A few days ago, we also saw a celebration of Marcel in the Slovenian Youth Theatre (Mladinsko gledališče), where there were inscriptions such as “Victory Day” and “Studio 9th of May,” which is actually very reminiscent of those dark, horrible times, when it all started… A few days ago, a call appeared in the most popular mainstream newspaper in Slovenia, written by two regime journalists – Ali Žerdin and Janez Markeš, who called for the removal of two RTV journalists – Jadranka Rebernik and Jože Možina, in the style of “we won, and now it is time for the purges to start.”
The leftists are especially bothered by journalist Možina since, for years now, he has been exposing the myth of the impeccability of the partisan fight and the revolution, on which the moral foundation of the post-war rule was built, and whose proud heirs have once again sensed the opportunity to get rid of the “traitors” in a slightly more humane way. The hatred reached a boiling point after the impactful episode of the show Utrip (Pulse), on which Možina worked, which ruthlessly dismantled all the lies of the Dražgoše myth. Another RTV journalist, Igor Pirkovič, has also been the target of similar calls for his removal – or even death. But it must be made clear that the symbolic repetition of 1945 will not come without consequences. The proud successors of the Communist Party of Slovenia can expect a repeat of the patriotic protests from the year 2019 or even those of the late 1980s.
Let us borrow the famous words that the leftists have been using for their “martyrs”: “WE ARE ALL PIRKOVIČ! If Igor Pirkovič falls, the public RTV falls. If the public RTV falls, democracy falls!” And even people like Žerdin and Markeš will have to face the music at some point. No power is forever, even if it lasts for “eight years”… And by the way: in the past, Markeš was considered to be a staunch opponent of Milan Kučan. He even said that he believes that Kučan is “one of the most malignant people he has ever met.” However, the matter is not all that surprising if we remember the recent words of LMŠ MP Brane Golubović, who said: “Look, people realise things.”
Renowned cultural worker Ravnohrib is also on the list of people to be removed
“People change. We have one journalist who used to write for the right-wing newspapers and is a normal journalist today.” So, Markeš experienced a kind of transformation from “abnormal” to “normal” journalist? Well, we will stick with those who, apparently, belong to the second-class caste of “abnormal” journalists. In early May, the infamous list of “people to be removed” appeared on social media, entitled “The biggest Janšaists and collaborators of Janšaism in the culture sector.” The infamous list was published by none other than the Ljubljana City Councillor and member of the Associations of the National Liberation Movement of Slovenia, Janez Stariha. And, who knows why, journalist and actor Pavle Ravnohrib was also on this list.
The latter recently shared his experience of being fired from RTV Slovenia with us. “They just decided to do it, and there was no response… They fired me before my contract expired, and that was the decision of the then-management.” He never got an actual explanation as to why he was actually fired. He was invited to an talk with the management twice, but both times the then-director of RTV Slovenia, Ljerka Bizilj, cancelled the meeting. They used the “new format for the show” as an excuse, but a year before being fired, Ravnohrib already knew he was “problematic,” however, no one could actually tell him what the problem was. Later, he even had problems in the cultural field. Two directors explicitly demanded that he be part of a television show, despite the resistance of certain people…
“Apparently, I should have been shouting with the rest of the cultural workers, who all said that Janša is a “fascist,” but I did not do it.”
Ravnohrib felt the consequences of his dismissal in the field of acting as well. Namely, all state-funded public institutions refused to cast him. It was like a chain reaction. “I believe that Možina and Pirkovič will suffer the same fate – or perhaps it will be even more brutal. And considering that I am also on this list that is currently making rounds on social media, I don’t think that anything good is coming for those who dare to think differently. And I really don’t know how I came to be on that list. I don’t know what kind of a “collaborator” or “fascist” I am supposed to be. However, I am a patriot, and I did perform at the state celebrations under the Janša government, and I obviously should not have done that. Apparently, I should have been shouting with the rest of the cultural workers, who all said that Janša is a “fascist,” but I did not do it. However, Miklavž Komelj, one of the top intellectuals, was also on the list – and there is no field of art he does not know a lot about…”
Domen Mezeg
