Four Czech ministers including Interior Minister Stanislav Gross held talks with state TV journalists occupying studios to protest alleged political bias, one of the newsmen told AFP Friday.
The ministers, all from Prime Minister Milos Zeman's Social Democrat (CSSD) party, pledged to remain impartial in the TV row, which has raised questions about media independence over a decade after the collapse of communism.
But at the same time they noted a recent CSSD statement calling for Hodac to resign to resolve the dispute, according to Jiri Potuznik, a member of the journalist's crisis committee.
The journalists have occupied the headquarters of Czech Television since the weekend to protest the appointment of Jiri Hodac as director general, claiming he has close links to the rightwing opposition Civic Democrats (ODS).
Zeman and President Vaclav Havel, foes of ODS leader and former prime minister Vaclav Klaus, have both called for Hodac to stand down to resolve the dispute, which has disrupted broadcasts since Wednesday.
The four ministers met protestors' leaders for 90 minutes at TV headquarters late Thursday, they said.
The meeting was attended by Gross, deputy Prime Ministers Pavel Rychetsky and Vladimir Spidla, in charge of justice and social affairs, and Industry Minister Miroslav Gregr.
Spidla notably called for a truce to allow state TV to resume normal services, he said.
The protesting journalists are meanwhile "continuing to work normally," said Potuznik, even though their work is not being aired.
Late Thursday the main evening news bulletin, put together by the protesting journalists, was interrupted and replaced by a statement by Hodac calling on authorities to "use all means to re-establish legal programming and prevent the illegal activities" of the protestors -- PRAGUE (AFP)
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