New and ingenious ways of marketing at Markiza

The Slovak commercial TV channel Markiza has found a new way of marketing its new TV programmes.  A work of sheer genius!  Its executives stopped broadcasting an extremely popular Turkish soap opera for a week, and in its slots they started showing a new – and extremely stupid -  reality show called the Farm.  The change in the schedule is not reflected in any TV listings. The spokesperson has said the decision had been made for the sake of the people holidaying in that particular week so they didn’t miss out on their favorite series.  The soap opera is back on next week.  The Farm has been shifted to the slot straight afterwards.  The viewing figures show the Farm has as many viewers as the soap opera.  But I am going on holiday next week!   

'Clever' TV bosses

Slovak TV channels like playing games with their audiences.  When a pouting blonde presenter doesn’t get some facts right, or the producer makes a mistake in the continuity order, cue-ing a report and actually showing something completely different, a collective amnesia overcomes them all.  There is never any correction or an apology, or any acknowledgement of a mistake.  When I privately asked a senior representative of a channel why there is so much disrespect for the viewer  they answered ‘it’s our strategy not to attract attention to mistakes.  The viewers won’t notice anyway’.  How clever! 

Regarding the commercial TV channel Markiza, what is even more frustrating a testament to either i) the utter incompetence or ii) a complete disregard for its viewers, is that almost every day the daily programme bears no resemblance to its listings in newspapers and magazines. Viewers just never know what is on, and when. No apologies are ever given, Markiza executive doubtless idiotically believing that, again, we won’t notice.

Complicated mathematics in Markiza and TASR

On the website of the Slovak TV commercial channel of Markiza I have come across a news item sourced to the Slovak Press Agency TASR, in which, again, I have found evidence of careless and lazy journalism, or translation. The item reads:

'News Corporation owns only 39% of television shares which it planned to increase to 61%.  It would give the company total control over this electronic medium and a huge influence on the British media market.'

However, the facts are as follows: News Corporation owns 39% of BSkyB shares, and it planned to increase the share by 61%. 39 + 61 = 100. It means an increase to 100%. Wrongly copied or translated, again. Markiza and TASR, why are you employing such lazy and incompetent workers? I just hope they do not stylize themselves as journalists. It would be an insult to my trade.

Zložitá matematika

Na webstránke televízie Markíza som natrafila na správu o vývoji škandálu okolo médií Ruperta Murdocha, prebranú z TASR, s nepresnými a lajdácky podanými informáciami:

"News Corporation v súčasnosti vlastní iba 39 percent podielov televízie, čo plánovala zvýšiť na 61 percent. Spoločnosť by tak získala by [sic]úplnú kontrolu nad týmto elektronickým médiom a obrovský vplyv na celom britskom mediálnom trhu."

 Fakty sú takéto: News Corporation vlastní 39 percentný podiel v televíznej sieti BSkyB, čo plánovala zvýšiť o 61 %!  39 + 61 = 100.  Teda na 100%.   Zasa zle odpísané alebo preložené, a neoverené.  A navyše, BSkyB nie je elektronické médium, ale satelitná vysielacia organizácia.  TASR a Markíza, prečo zamestnávate takýchto lajdáckych pracovníkov?  Aspoň dúfam, že sa nevydávajú sa za novinárov.

Journalists or scribblers?

I cannot believe the sloppiness of some Slovak journalists writing on international affairs. One has to ask if they are journalists at all,  or rather scribblers who steal content from foreign websites and translate them carelessly into their own language.  I have come across such an article on the medialne.etrend.sk website.  Mistakes all over. Their grubby skills are apparent when mentioning the News of the World which they refer to as Now rather than NOTW.  How misleading, how lazy.

Lajdácky novinár alebo prekladateľ?

Žijem v Londýne a tak slovenské správy môžem sledovať iba na internete. Keďže sa neviem dočkať, kým tam STV dá svoju večernú spravodajskú reláciu (už čakám 2 hodiny), pozerám sa na slovenské blogy.  Natrafila som na adresu medialne.etrend.sk a samozrejme, že som si v prvom rade vyhľadala Murdocha a s ním spojený škandál v Británii.  A nemôžem uveriť vlastným očiam! Je to český alebo slovenský článok? Podľa adresy by mal byť slovenský, ale podľa obsahu ho nejaký skaderuka-skadenoha "preložil" do slovenčiny tak neporiadne, že si nezaslúži výplatu.  V jeho podaní je britský denník Times "list", Brownow syn má "nevyliečiteľnou cystickou" fibrózu, priatelia "Brownových" uviedli, že telefonát "je" rozrušil...Navyše, autor si neoveril skutočnosť, že The News of the World má skratku NOTW, a nie "NoW" a "Now" ako lajdácky píše on/ona.

The Murdoch affair in the Slovak TV

On July 11th, the Slovak public service TV, STV, in its main evening news bulletin spared 20 seconds on one of the biggest media crises in the UK or perhaps the world. It selected one and only one aspect of the crisis: Rupert Murdoch and the failure of his business expansion.  Indeed, it is impossible to squeeze in more, such as the crisis in police ranks or of the British journalism. And as the facts were too sparse, inaccurate and incomplete to hold the attention of the public, the presenter must have decided to entertain the viewers by infusing those precious 20 seconds with as many mistakes as she could fit in. And not just in the pronunciation of the proper names.  She failed to name the BSkyB company as the one R. Murdoch wants to buy off in the UK, she resorted just to a 'network of British TV stations' instead. She said that 'after the hacking affair the contract is in unforeseeable future'.  After! She suggested that the affair was over, whereas the power struggle is just beginning.  It is a standard behaviour for the Slovak media to serve inaccurate and incomplete information to their audiences because they know that no one will ever complain against the practice. Why bother finding out exact facts and verify the  pronunciation of such famous names like Rupert Murdoch?  However, every cloud has a silver lining and STV deserves credit for running the news item for 20, albeit farcical, seconds; the TA3 channel that stylizes itself as a rolling news channel, has had no mention of the affair at all.

And the headline of the whole news item was: the

Murdochova aféra a správy STV

Slovenská verejno-právna televízia dnes, 11. júla,  vo svojom hlavnom večernom spravodajstve venovala jednej z najväčších mediálnych kríz v Británii, a možno aj vo svete, 20 sekúnd.  V ich rámci  vybrala len jediný aspekt, a to Murdocha a zlyhanie jeho podnikateľského plánu. Pravdaže, do 20 sekúnd sa nezmestí zmienka o kríze v policajných radoch alebo o kríze britskej žurnalistiky. A aby ten výber suchých,  neúplných a nepresných faktov aspoň niečím zaujal divákov, moderátorka Hargašová sa ich rozhodla pobaviť tým, že v rámci tých vzácnych 20 sekúnd urobila toľko chýb, koľko sa len do nich dalo vtesnať, a nielen vo výslovnosti:  britský vicepremiér Nick Clegg nie je Nig Glegg ale Nik Kleg (slovesnký prepis výslovnosti),  a Rupert Murdoch nie je Rapert Márdok, ale Rupert Merdok. "Sieť britských televíznych staníc" ktoré Murdoch chce kúpiť, má svoje meno, BSkyB, ale moderátorka si asi myslí, že dať slovenským divákom presné údaje je hádzať perly sviniam.  A "po afére s odpočúvaním je zmluva v nedohľadne"? Akože po afére?  Tá aféra sa len teraz začína rozvíjať, je v plnom prúde, tak prečo moderátorka naznačuje, že je už po nej? A boj o moc sa len začína! Zo skúsenosti však viem, že slovenský divák sa nikdy neohradí proti nepresnostiam, ktoré mu jeho médiá servírujú, tak načo by si novinári a moderátori zisťovali presné fakty a overovali výslovnosť cudzích mien?  Ale keďže každý mrak má strieborný okraj, aj tu si STV zaslúži kredit, že takejto veľkej medzinárodnej udalosti venuje 20, aj keď úbohých, sekúnd, kým TA3, ktorá je vraj spravodajskou stanicou, o tom nemala dnes ani zmienku.