Have a read of this article from BBC News Online. On the basis of one reading of it can any reader have the faintest idea what is actually going on? The headline – Vote splits Czechs over EU role – is very wide of the mark. It’s actually that Mirek Topolanek’s ODS party lost heavily in regional elections taking place across Czech Republic, and that, as a result, the credibility of the national government is in doubt -Â especially important as Czechs hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from 1st January 2009. It’s not – as the article implies – that the approach towards the EU of either ODS or the opposition Social Democrats were the reason why the ODS did badly in the regional polls.
With the BBC ploughing more resources than ever into coverage of the US election is it too much to ask for their reporter to produce an accurate article about a not-so-far-away place – Czech Republic?
