New Act on Public Broadcaster Reduces State's Role, Says Simoniti

Ljubljana, 5 April - The government's committee for state administration and public matters has confirmed the new bill on public broadcaster RTV Slovenija, which was released last week and has already drawn criticism from the ranks of journalists. Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti is adamant that the bill in no way curbs journalist autonomy and that the state is indeed "withdrawing" from the programme council, although the bill says that parliament will appoint 21 of its 29 members.