http://www.centraleurope.com/ceo/special/nova/novahome.html

and he will answer them in a 'special Central Europe Online Real Video' broadcast, which will be made available through the Internet.

The above mentioned Home Page, with an official CV of Vladimir Zelezny, Nova TV's chief executive, has raised some wry comments among the Czech readers of the internet daily Neviditelny pes.

Vladimir Zelezny calls himself a dissident, although he was not a signatory to the Czech Charter 77 human rights movement. His official CV also states that he participated in the "non-communist student movement of the '60s" and worked with "every illegal TV studio" during the 1968 Russian occupation of Czechoslovakia.

The following samples of reactions by Czechs might perhaps be of interest:

Tomas Pecina wonders on the Readers' Forum of the Neviditelny pes internet daily why Mr. Zelezny's official CV fails to mention that Zelezny presented on state television the transmissions of Soviet space flights . Mr. Pecina has written to ask Mr. Zelezny on the web to ask him these two questions:

Dear Mr. Zelezny,

Would you please specify which were the "illegal TV studios" you worked with during the Soviet occupation?

Dear Mr. Zelezny,

Can you give me more details about your activities in the non-Communist student movement in the

1960s? Do you refer to activities within or without the official youth organization (the Czechoslovak Union of Youth, [i.e. the equivalent of the Russian Komsomol] CSM, later known as SSM, the Socialist Union of Youth)?

(Pecina adds that he personally esteems Zelezny both as a journalist and as a manager, but that he does not like the personal glorification of Vladimir Zelezny.)

Milan Pavlik has written on the Readers' Forum:

I remember the Prague Spring of 1968 well. At that time, I never heard a word about Vladimir Zelezny. There was indeed an "illegal television studio", a single one, i.e. remnants of TV equipment, hidden in private flats and country houses for a few days, until the Russians found it and stopped the broadcasts.

There was no independent student organisation in Czechoslovakia in the 1960s either, with the exception of about six months in 1968, when students became very radical. But there was no time to set up a proper, permanent organisation. I have never ever heard the name of Vladimir Zelezny mentioned in connection with any independent student organisation. (Actually, Zelezny did participate in the student movement of the 1960s. JC.)

This seems to me like a typical CV made to order. It is as if, after throwing a few paving stones at a Russian tank I then wrote in my CV: "He actively participated, in the armed resistance against the occupation by Russian tanks".

That sounds great, does it not. But it is quite probable that Mr. Zelezny did participate in some form of resistance against the Russians during the invasion. At that time, tens of thousands of people did that. To transform this into humbug and to use it to improve one's image as a media personality (obviously this is intended for the English speaking world, which will swallow anything?) shows certain deficiencies in Mr. Zelezny's ethics....

Jindrich Parik comments on the Neviditelny pes Reader's Forum:

"I was really interested and so I made my way through the whole CV, in spite of my poor English. I have learnt, among other things, that the Iron Mouth (The expression "Zelezny" means "A Man of Iron" in Czech, translator's note) was one of the founders of Vaclav Havel's Civic Forum political party. Silly me, I have always thought that the Civic Forum was a broad national movement, totally non party political, and now they tell me that it was actually Havel's party with the Iron Man as his spokesperson.

Really, Zelezny's CV is well worth reading. But I think that this time, Mr. Zelezny has slightly misfired. The people who browse the internet are not usually ardent followers of Nova TV's Dallas or the Swarzenegger films.

So, undoubtedly, on Saturday at lunchtime (the transmission time of Zelezny's self-advertising programme Ask the Director, when he will ansawer the questions asked by the internet browsers, translator's Note) we will learn from the Man of Iron that the Czechs are just full of envy, they are simply jealous of the hard-working Nova TV collective (at this point Zelezny's spectacles will come off his face), but the Nova TV team is justifiably proud of its achievement (the glasses will go back on), the Nova TV team will not be put off because they are working for many contented viewers who are constantly growing in numbers (glasses off again and a long, sincere look into the camera).

Jan Culik - Glasgow University