Support your local cartel

What percentage of Czech business activity is linked to the political and business cartels that are running the country? A conservative estimate is perhaps 25%. Given the size of this figure, it's not entirely true when Editor-in-chief István Lékó of Euro says that it would be self-destructive if his magazine had a policy of not writing anything critical about ČEZ, as lobbyist James de Candole had claimed in LN. Even with a blatant pro- ČEZ bias, Euro would still have a sizeable potential audience from among those readers in various sectors of the economy whose livelihood is beholden to the cartels. These readers would not want any sunshine that is projected on ČEZ to bring their own shady deals into the light. If PPF has changed its mind about selling Euro, it might be because of the shift on the media scene. There's clearly a greater tendency now to criticize the political and business cartels that are choking the economy. Propping up Euro is one way to assure that these cartels continue to get "objective" coverage. [Czech Republic Lidové noviny Partners]