STVR Council Elects Martina Flasikova as New Director of Public Broadcaster

Bratislava, May 12 (TASR) - Martina Flasikova has become the new general director of public broadcaster STVR. The STVR Council, which has the power to elect and dismiss the public broadcaster's head under current legislation, made the decision in a secret ballot at its meeting following the hearings of the candidates on Monday. Flasikova garnered seven votes, while acting director Igor Slanina received two votes from the council members. "We'll hand over the decree to the new general director on Tuesday (May 13) at the premises of the STVR creative centre in Bratislava," said council chair Jozef Kroslak. In addition to the elected candidate, four other candidates presented themselves with their projects at the council session on Monday: Martin Jakubec, Peter Janku, Norbert Majer and Igor Slanina. Flasikova has been working as the head of STVR's television section, and she has worked in public-service television in the past. As part of her career in the audiovisual environment, she has also been engaged in production activities. In her project, she wants to maintain the current programme services, but wants to make the range of programmes and newscasts more efficient and dynamic. She also intends to increase the share of children's programmes in broadcasting, including via a new family series. Among the tools for STVR's financing, she intends to establish a specialised department for grant calls from EU funds. She also plans to merge STVR with the TASR news agency and create a nation-wide news service centre. The hearings were broadcast online, and the council members ultimately approved the presence of MPs at the hearings, although they weren't allowed to take an active part in them. The opposition protested against the exclusion of the public from the hearings. However, the council argued that the legal requirement to make the hearings available to the public was met by providing an audiovisual online broadcast. The public contest for the STVR general director post was related to a change in the law that transformed the then RTVS into STVR last year and prematurely terminated then director Lubos Machaj's term in office. ko/df