Czech TV is not TV Seznam

20.11.2018 - EB

It's inconceivable that Seznam.cz's lawyers don't know that Switzerland is a sovereign country with its own laws. Yet the legal analysis released by the company to justify its report about Andrej Babiš Jr. fails to acknowledge that the conversation with Babiš Jr. took place in a foreign country where such recordings without the consent of all participants is a criminal act. Seznam is a commercial entity and apparently decided to take a calculated risk. Its behavior should be judged in this light. An entirely different issue is the way Czech TV has forsaken its legal obligation to report the news fairly. It has systematically failed to acknowledge (here and here, for example) that Seznam's reporters likely committed crimes in the interest of getting a scoop. ČT's deputy news editor, František Lutonský, even said that we were lying when we invoked specific articles of the Swiss penal code. Seznam might have violated Swiss law; ČT is answerable under Czech law.

Glossary of difficult words

inconceivable - not capable of being imagined or grasped mentally; unbelievable;

consent - permission for something to happen or agreement to do something;

calculated risk - a risk that is considered to be worth taking because the result, if it is successful, will be so favorable;

to forsake - to abandon or leave;

scoop - a piece of news published by a newspaper or broadcast by a television or radio station in advance of its rivals.



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