{"id":173458,"date":"2024-10-16T15:32:03","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T15:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/?p=173458"},"modified":"2024-10-16T15:32:03","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T15:32:03","slug":"journalists-are-possessed-by-the-devil-says-slovakias-pm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/journalists-are-possessed-by-the-devil-says-slovakias-pm\/","title":{"rendered":"Journalists Are \u2018Possessed By The Devil\u2019 Says Slovakia\u2019s PM"},"content":{"rendered":"

Robert Fico, who was shot and critically injured on May 15, suggested establishing a national media watchdog to rein in the \u201chate<\/em>\u201d that is being spread by reporters.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

During a press conference<\/a>, Fico, who survived an assassination attempt by a reportedly pro-Kiev shooter following sustained media criticism of his position on Ukraine, became visibly agitated when asked about tensions within his three-party governing coalition.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the first day, when the results of the parliamentary elections came in, you went against us like bloodthirsty bastards from morning to night<\/em>,\u201d Fico said, dismissing any notion of a government crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you read your articles after you\u2019ve written them? I don\u2019t think you do. It\u2019s pure hate. You\u2019re possessed by the devil<\/em>,\u201d he said. \u201cYou just want to do wrong at any cost, and that\u2019s why the atmosphere in Slovakia is like this. Why did they shoot me in the stomach?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

He singled out the major Slovak daily papers Dennik N and Sme<\/em>, and the Aktuality.sk<\/em> portal, which have been highly critical of his government since he returned to power for a fourth term after his Slovak Social Democracy (SMER-SD) party won the election last September.<\/p>\n

The prime minister expressed support for establishing a \u201cnational media authority<\/em>\u201d and \u201csanctions<\/em>\u201d for journalists who fail to correct errors in their reporting. He also suggested that journalists should undergo requalification courses, similar to those required for lawyers and public notaries.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should perhaps also be part of some professional associations, where you would face disciplinary procedures, similar to lawyers<\/em>,\u201d Fico said, stressing that his government needs to take action because \u201csuch a media mess as we have in Slovakia doesn\u2019t exist in any other EU country<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The comments were swiftly condemned by opposition politicians, with some accusing Fico of attacking freedom of speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of a national media authority that would control journalists is nothing more than a thinly veiled effort to censor and limit the media, which exists perhaps only in North Korea<\/em>,\u201d said lawmaker Zora Jaurova from the liberal opposition party Progressive Slovakia.<\/p>\n

The chair of the For the People party, Veronika Remisova, argued that by referring to journalists as \u201cbloodthirsty bastards<\/em>,\u201d the prime minister and his \u201ccronies<\/em>\u201d are themselves spreading hatred.<\/p>\n

Fico was shot and critically injured on May 15 in the town of Handlova while greeting a crowd. A 71-year-old suspect, who previously worked as a security guard, was arrested at the scene and charged with attempted murder and terrorism.<\/p>\n

In June, the Slovak prime minister argued that the assassination attempt was orchestrated by foreign-backed politicians who refuse to accept policies prioritizing Bratislava\u2019s interests over the agendas of major Western powers. He also warned against efforts by adversaries \u2013 including media outlets bankrolled by billionaire political activist George Soros \u2013 to downplay the implications of the shooting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to ask the anti-government media, especially those co-owned by George Soros\u2019 financial structure, not to go down this path and to respect not only the gravity of the reasons for the attempted murder but also the consequences of this attempt<\/em>,\u201d Fico said at the time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

yogaesoteric
\nOctober 16, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robert Fico, who was shot and critically injured on May 15, suggested establishing a national media watchdog to rein in the \u201chate\u201d that is being spread by reporters. During a press conference, Fico, who survived an assassination attempt by a reportedly pro-Kiev shooter following sustained media criticism of his position on Ukraine, became visibly agitated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1093],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-censored-news-social-5127-en-censored-sensational-news-3480-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173458"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173462,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173458\/revisions\/173462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}