číslo 1/2013 - Paneurópska vysoká škola

104
Global Media Journal
Slovak publishing media – background
The legislative framework in the Slovak media environment deals separately with the print media and with
the electronic, audio and audiovisual broadcasting media. During communism, the main law responsible
for media regulation was Act No. 81/1966 on Periodical Press and on Other Information Mass Media.
Basically, the effort to create new legislative framework in regulating the printed press was in evolution since
the fall of communism in 1989. The first comprehensive and final update of the 1966 law came with Act No. 86
in 1990. Since then there have been at least twenty new draft proposals but there was always a lack of political
will to act. Government, journalists and publishers were never capable of reaching a feasible compromise. The
government tried to get a grip on the media to control when it proposed a conditional registration of publications
for a special permit or with provisions that have to protect the private lives of politicians. Journalists on the other
hand want not only more protection from the government but also from publishers. Publishers did not support
greater rights for journalists because they wanted to continue to enjoy their entrepreneurship freedoms. Debates
culminated with the new press law enacted in 2008 that was of great criticism by journalists and publishers
alike. The law was later adjusted during the new right-wing government.
One of the Press Law’s proposals on the Right of Reply allowed citizens (and in that regard the government
as well) to react on front-pages of the respective newspapers, even if they published truthful and factbased
information. They feared that this would spark a chain reaction, which would damage newspaper’s
content. However, the most controversial aspect is the part of the law that gives the Right to Reply political
elites like the representatives government. There was fear that this could constrain the work of journalists
in a dramatic way. All newspapers’ covers went blank in protest, which text they published on their front
page twice, the first ahead of the vote on March 27 th 2008 with extensive criticism of the new law on the
front-page and it stated:
1 the Right of Reply even when the published report is truthful and fact-based
2 that it allows to correct information that did not harm anyone
3 that it allows double sanction – the Right of Correction and at the same time Right of Reply
4 publisher is responsible for replies that are against the law or decency
5 Right of Reply have state bodies as well which opens the opportunity for misuse
6 the editorial staff is not allowed to react and that can be deemed as unconstitutional
7 publisher cannot refuse the reply, otherwise he can be sanctioned with a 5 000 euros fine.
(SME, 2008)
Indeed the most controversial parts were the Rights of Reply and Right of Correction. In Slovakia there
are now three institutes with which can the subjects of the news reporting can react and seek correction of
the published texts. They are:
a) the Right of Reply
b) the Right of Correction
c) the Right of Supplementary Information
The basic difference between the reply and correction is that the reply is a right of a person, a natural
or legal entity, to comment on article that involves him or her, and it is not important whether the original
GMJ Book.indb 104 21.1.2013 9:44