Latvian Radio journalists reject blame on news chief over storm coverage

Latvian Radio’s news department has backed its head, Uģis Lībietis, and called for the responsibility of the entire LSM board and editor-in-chief to be assessed over inadequate coverage of last weekend’s destructive storm, LSM reported.

Lībietis announced his resignation on Monday after LSM acknowledged that its radio news coverage during the storm-related crisis had not been satisfactory. The news department’s staff said it was unfair to blame one person for the media organisation’s mistakes and urged Lībietis to remain in his post.

In an open letter to the public, the staff apologised to anyone who had expected more information from Latvian Radio. It acknowledged that the work could have been done better and accepted part of the responsibility for what happened.

At the same time, the department said it had gathered and reported the available information as far as possible. News bulletins were broadcast every 30 minutes on Sunday after the storm, alongside the station’s regular news programmes.

The staff said it disagreed with the LSM board’s position that the main personal responsibility for communication failures during the storm currently rested with Lībietis.

“We believe that this outcome is unfair. Uģis has the support and trust of the news department, and we want him to continue leading it,” the staff said, describing him as a good manager.

LSM board member Ieva Aile, who is responsible for programme and service development, said in an interview with Latvian Radio on Tuesday that LSM lacked an algorithm defining the stages of decision-making. The news department also said the LSM editor-in-chief had not had complete information about what was happening.