Ljubljana - The leadership of RTV Slovenija is not up to running a public media service as it does not understand what the public is, and should therefore leave, Delo says in Tuesday's front-page commentary headlined They Don't Like Public Radio and Television.

The leadership's radically shortening or cancelling altogether news shows while the staff were on strike is irrational, unacceptable and incompatible with the mission of the public service.

The leadership does not understand the concept of the public, in fact they hate it. All they care about are ratings, yet all the innovations they have introduced to increase them have in fact resulted in the ratings plummeting.

"RTV Slovenija has been hijacked. If there were a crime against the public interest, the leadership's action could be said to be criminal. What we have now is the dismantling of a public good."

Attempts to dismantle public goods have been a strong feature of social developments in recent years, not only in the media but also in art and culture, and healthcare.

"The message of the April election is clear: public space is an asset that must be protected. Public space is an asset that amateur managers are not allowed to butcher."

Whereas TV staff know their job well, the director general should bid farewell, he should leave leadership to those who know the ropes and who don't hate the public.