Final Word from Thursday, November 21, 2019
In an article in Le Monde about the "turn to conservatism" of Daniel Křetínský's Info.cz, Editor-in-chief Michal Půr of the Czech website said the shift was an economic decision. In a rebuttal to what he called Le Monde's smear against Křetínský as the French newspaper's minority owner, Půr explained that the crowding on the left/liberal side of Czech online journalism made the shift unavoidable. There's more room for Info.cz outside of this, he said. What he didn't mention is that the conservative side of Czech journalism is also hugely competitive. Making money there is no cakewalk, but at least Info.cz and others don't have to go head-to-head with the guaranteed multibillion-crown budgets of Czech TV and Czech Radio. These public stations have a liberal hegemony and keep extending their reach. Until and unless they launch their own conservative products, media plurality and profits will be mostly limited to the non-liberal side of the ideological spectrum. [ Czech Republic Czech Media Invest EPH France Paris Blesk ]
Glossary of difficult words
rebuttal - an instance of countering evidence or an accusation;
smear - a false accusation intended to damage someone's reputation;
to crowd - to fill a space, leaving little or no room for movement;
cakewalk - an absurdly or surprisingly easy task;
hegemony - leadership or dominance, esp. by one state or social group over others.