Martin Bartkovský

Martin Bartkovský wrote that according to him, Czech Television concealed the results of the municipal elections: Robert Rosenberg was credited with 1,947 votes and Jindřich Rajchl with 1,018. He added that while he was unsure about politics, in another industry there was only one king, in his opinion. #volby #politika #ČeskáRepublika (translated)

Martin Bartkovský reminded that Andrej Babiš last year in the square in Ústí nad Labem urged people not to vote for those whose leadership they were not satisfied with. According to Bartkovský, the locals listened to him: after counting 65% of the votes, JEDNO ÚSTÍ (Pir/Z/Stan/TOP/NČ+others) had 50% and the ANO Movement had 15%. He commented on the result with the words "Wow." #ÚstínadLabem #Volby2023 #AndrejBabiš (translated)

Martin Bartkovský described the events in Černouček as a small step significant for the local elections across the Czech Republic. He wrote that the debate about who is running in these elections and what they want, or do not want, to do for others could now be reopened. #Česko #komunálnívolby #politika (translated)

Martin Bartkovský turned to Alena Schillerová, Andrej Babiš, and the Czech National Bank with the question of why they dragged banks into the debate. He wrote that a year ago, in his opinion, almost all billboards in the Czech Republic promised that Schillerová, Karel Havlíček, and Babiš would lower prices. He added that they should lower prices since, in his opinion, the majority elected them. #banky #Česko #zlevnění (translated)

Martin Bartkovský stated that after sharing a statement from 40 editors-in-chief, he criticized the journalistic community for failing to unanimously agree on a rejection of violence and equal access to information sharing. He added that he generally expressed his personal opinion about those who repeatedly did not stand up for their colleagues. Subsequently, according to him, he received a number of insults and comparisons to communists. He emphasized that by not signing the statement, in his view, no harm was caused to anyone nor will it be. He stated that he did not plan to fire, kill, or hang anyone and did not prepare lists of inconvenient people. He thanked the remaining 39 editors-in-chief for supporting their colleagues across the field and apologized to them that the discussion had shifted in a different direction due to his contribution. He responded to criticism with several other apologies, including to podcast entrepreneurs, a former colleague, a Czech writer, and a former MEP. Regarding the former colleague, he recalled that for the last 10 years, the status of journalism had been labeled bad, despite the fact that they worked for the same media for six years, which the colleague led. He also mentioned that he apologized for his surname starting with the letter B, which he had for 37 years, and for the reference to Chinese spies. He also apologized to the media Euro, Info, Zdopravy, Okraj, and Chiptron, which he said were not invited to the statement, despite discussions about its wording lasting a month. He offered to connect anyone interested in adding their signature with the organizers, among whom he claimed he did not belong. In a note, he stated that he deleted the original post because he confused two writers and mistook a father for a son in connection with the anti-chart. He apologized for the error, yet called the comparison to the anti-chart inappropriate, stating that parallels with the communist past, in his view, did not help anything. #žurnalistika #svobodaSlova #politika (translated)

Martin Bartkovský stated that when he shared the statement from forty editors-in-chief, he did not expect the reaction it would provoke. He criticized that the journalistic community he addressed, according to him, was unable to unanimously agree even on rejecting violence in their relationship with politicians and on equal access to sharing information. He added that he expressed his personal judgment about those who repeatedly refused to stand up for their colleagues in an indirect manner. For that, he claimed to have received a number of insults and comparisons to communists; one of the people who signed the Anticharta wrote to him that he had never seen anything more disgusting. Bartkovský clarified that not signing the statement did not harm anyone and would not harm anyone, and he rejected the idea that he wanted to dismiss, threaten, or create lists of uncomfortable people. He thanked the remaining 39 editors-in-chief for their support for colleagues from the entire field and apologized to them for the discussion veering in a different direction due to his contribution. He then made a series of apologies that he delivered ironically: among other things, to podcast entrepreneurs for reminding him of something other than Chinese communism, to a former colleague for criticizing journalism at a time when they both worked in the same media for six years, and to a Czech writer for reminding him of his signature on the Anticharta. He also apologized to those who labeled him a "svazák" (a term for a member of the youth organization during the communist regime) and to a former Member of the European Parliament regarding his judgment about Bartkovský's character. He added that he also apologizes to the media outlets Euro, Info, Zdopravy, Okraj, and Chiptron, which, according to him, were not addressed, even though the text had been discussed for a month. He offered to connect interested parties with the organizers of the statement so that they could join him. #žurnalistika #komunikace #mediálníetiketa (translated)

Martin Bartkovský stated that he did not consider himself a moral authority and that others repeatedly labeled him as such. According to him, there were people in the leadership of some Czech media who repeatedly refused to stand up for their colleagues. #Žurnalistika #Média #Etika (translated)

Martin Bartkovský wrote to Martin Caban that as a journalist, he found it worse to overlook that government politicians, in his opinion, were inciting their voters and followers to verbal attacks on colleagues. He added that everyone is different. #novinářství #politika #společnost (translated)

Martin Bartkovský wrote that the most interesting aspect of the challenge from the editors of Czech media to the government and politicians to reject violence and stop limiting access to information for some journalists was the list of those who did not sign it. According to him, everyone was approached, and not signing "even this minimum" showed the character of the individuals concerned. https://t.co/Akj5FvLOh5 #Žurnalistika #SvobodaTisku #Politika (translated)

Martin Bartkovský wrote that the president should go to the elections, especially since he is the one calling for them, and that his absence would be a mistake that his opponents would take advantage of. He added that when choosing between "ČERNOUČEK 2026" and "ČERNOUČEK FOR HIMSELF," he would also go on vacation. #volby #politika #prezident (translated)

A very nice issue of Reflex has just come out today. I would be glad if you would give it a chance. Here is my editorial on it: HOW SHOULD WE REMEMBER VÁCLAV HAVEL? I often say that I am "as old as the revolution," by which I obviously mean the Velvet one. And this alone brings a whole set of advantages. Your age always reflects the anniversary of the fall of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, so you remember it well. I am not burdened by the sins of the past, having to decide whether to collaborate with the regime or not. Likewise, I do not have to blame myself for missing the harsh onset of capitalism and coupon privatization. I had to learn to speak first. And to walk. Those of us born in the early '90s sometimes tend to refer to ourselves as "Havel's children." But how can I identify with a person I didn't properly experience in adulthood, yet who so fundamentally shaped the state I grew up in? And how should I, as well as our entire nation, actually remember Havel? I cannot remember Havel like many other older journalists do. I leave it to my more experienced colleagues. I have only one small personal memory of him. I was about eight years old, and we were on a school excursion in Prague. My classmate and I were lagging at the end of our class line. There was a long queue at Wenceslas Square, and we walked along it. We got a bit distracted and created a gap. And into that gap stepped a crowd of people, in the middle of which walked Václav Havel. We both started staring at him and quickly exclaimed, "Good day, Mr. President," and he replied to us with his typical stammering 'r': "Hello, boys," and then disappeared into a bookstore to sign his books. The queue was standing there for him. It was the year he was dealing with health complications, delivered the famous Rudolfín speech, and signed the absolutely fundamental Czech-German declaration. But I only remember the "hello, boys." And that’s all. When he died in 2011, I was starting in the media, so I was only responsible for some minor media outputs around the funeral. Otherwise, I perceived him as the person whose picture hung next to the blackboard throughout my school life. On television, he appears either as a "gumshoe" in a satirical sketch or giving some speech that is too complicated for my child self to listen to. My opinions of him have therefore formed mostly indirectly, like for most people in our country. Through plays and compulsory reading in school, recordings of speeches, and the exceptional film Citizen Havel, where he allowed us to peer candidly into his private life. I never succumbed to the need to idolize him; I was most fascinated by the fact that despite such a rich life, he was essentially a "normal guy" who enjoyed life and who, even in the presidential office, could fulfill his dreams. A smoke with the Rolling Stones, meditation with the Dalai Lama, a beer with Clinton. None of that made him a better politician. Personally, it made him a human to me. The point of Havel's legacy and its breadth is, in my opinion, that everyone can remember him in their own way. Some remember him as the best person in history, others as a brilliant politician who is missed by the Czech Republic. Others see him as a naive believer in truth who preferred grand gestures over political pragmatism. Some as a womanizer, others as a great world author of absurd drama. Historians and philosophers still debate his legacy to this day. So vehemently that due to one "ezonomist" and pseudophilosopher on an electric unicycle, his name was removed from the library's title. But I would like to highlight one thing about him that seems increasingly rare in today's world. He managed to grow old without becoming bitter. He did not turn into a grump shouting at the clouds. He did not allow himself to be dominated by eternal contrarianism and being against all mainstream opinions at any cost. At the same time, he wasn't afraid to confront the mainstream until the end. I would wish for all of us to grow old like Havel. It’s a pity he was given only 75 years. I would have liked to listen to him even at ninety, which he would have celebrated this year. #VáclavHavel #Reflex #historie (translated)

Zatímco Macinka už nekohabituje s prezidentem, ale jen s novináři, plyny Filipa Turka dusí jeho Motoristy. Co důležitějšího se děje na pozadí jeho kauz, proč ho stále drží mezi sebou a proč to všechno Babiš toleruje? Nejen to je hlavní téma nového Reflexu ⬇️ https://t.co/677RQK2i4o #politika #Babiš #Reflex

Já mám doma ocelovou trubku, ze které by šla udělat raketa krátkého doletu. Vy máte moštárnu, do které se vejde tank. A přesto nám na dveře neklepe zásahovka a ministr obrany nedává prohlášení na hraně poplašné zprávy. Přečtěte si zprávu SÚJB, vy blbečku (váš vlastní slovník), který musel reagovat na vaše bláboly. Vím, že je to složité, ale SUD není BOJOVÝ PLYN. #bezpečnost #politika #informace