In Shocking Rebuke To EBC, Senate Passes On Recombis

[HEM]

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"In Shocking Rebuke To EBC, Senate Passes On Recombis"
HEM Tiberius
Managing Editor

With the resignation of Minister Vinage Vinage from the Communications Ministry, First Minister Rand tapped EBC Director* Recombis to jump up to the next rung on the ladder to take Vinage's post.

After a nearly week-long confirmation process, the Senate rejected this internal promotion and now asks First Minister Rand to try again. Recombis was denied his promotion by a 3-1 vote with Senator Winged Bear absent (and now removed).

Even Senator Lloenflys who voted aye, did so with reservations: "If this was a nomination for a full term, I may not vote the same way," Lleonflys said before suggesting that he wanted to give Recombis a chance with limited time remaining.

During both Senatorial and public discussions on the nomination, people brought up significant concerns about the amount of content produced by the department and by EBC Director Recombis.

"I'm also frankly concerned with the lull in the production of the EBC, especially when this nominee keeps citing that they were tasked with the oversight of this area," Senator United Vietussia said during the confirmation hearing. "Articles out of the EBC are few and far between as of late and that pales in comparison to just a few months ago when it felt like there was a piece coming out every couple of days."

While some people gave Recombis credit for being upfront about his own lack of writing—he only produced one article this term so far—others pointed out that Recombis had admitted to falling short in the EBC during his First Minister campaign two months back and promised to do better. That being said, as lead over at the EBC had Recombis been working to motivate others to write his own output may have been overlooked, but the EBC had only published three articles in April during the height of the discussion on Recombis' nomination. This total output came under scrutiny, and a severe dissatisfaction with the direction of the EBC seemed to be a motivating factor in rejecting Recombis' nomination.

Senator United Vietussia told ENN that if the EBC weren't "struggling to produce content" that would've changed how he viewed the nomination, and potentially his vote. He stressed that the emphasis of "training" over content in a time where content was low struck him as the wrong vision.

In an exclusive interview, Senator Aexnidaral Seymour told us that he wanted a nominee who "got down in the mud and wrote articles." When asked whether his vote was reflected concerns about the direction of the EBC, he had a simple answer: "yes."

Ultimately, this vote wasn't just about Recombis, it's about the Senate having no confidence in the current management of the EBC. It's likely that Rand will be forced to nominate someone relatively junior in the department, or an outsider to bring major change to the Ministry, if he is to get the Senate's blessing.

*The nominee and First Minister seem to disagree about whether Recombis was Director of the EBC or Deputy Director. Since Rand leads the domestic executive, we refer to Recombis as the Director in this article.

 

[Sopo]

Ultimately, there's some promising talent in the EBC, and I think the next first minister should take a chance on one of the active writers. I don't expect anyone else to be nominated this term given the proximity of the election.

Good overview.

 

[Prim]

From Vinage's Department Structure thread:

EBC Director (Traditionally the Minister of Communications)
Assistant Director of the EBC (Deputy Minister Level) - @.recombis

Great article HEM

 

[Kari]

Good article HEM.

*The nominee and First Minister seem to disagree about whether Recombis was Director of the EBC or Deputy Director. Since Rand leads the domestic executive, we refer to Recombis as the Director in this article.

This seems like a rather glaring issue when neither the nominee or the First Minister nominating them seems to have even known what the position of the nominee within the Ministry of Communications actually was.

 

[Lethen]

Good article HEM.

*The nominee and First Minister seem to disagree about whether Recombis was Director of the EBC or Deputy Director. Since Rand leads the domestic executive, we refer to Recombis as the Director in this article.

This seems like a rather glaring issue when neither the nominee or the First Minister nominating them seems to have even known what the position of the nominee within the Ministry of Communications actually was.

Another sign to me that Rand wasn't as invested in this nomination as one would want the FM to be (or as Rec would have wanted his boss to be, for that matter)

 

[recombis]

This seems like a rather glaring issue when neither the nominee or the First Minister nominating them seems to have even known what the position of the nominee within the Ministry of Communications actually was.

I was appointed as Assistant Director of the EBC. That's what's on my appointment announcement, that's what's on the Department Structure. I was in no way confused about what my position was. I presume that the First Minister was confused, and referred to me as the Director accidentally.

 

[HEM]

This seems like a rather glaring issue when neither the nominee or the First Minister nominating them seems to have even known what the position of the nominee within the Ministry of Communications actually was.

I was appointed as Assistant Director of the EBC. That's what's on my appointment announcement, that's what's on the Department Structure. I was in no way confused about what my position was. I presume that the First Minister was confused, and referred to me as the Director accidentally.

Definitely speaks to the point of the First Minister not being particularly engaged in your nomination.

EDIT: Which, for the record I understand is sort of a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" proposition for Rand. Rand has previously gotten into spats with the Senate, so maybe his calculus was that Recombis would be a more effective advocate for himself rather than insert himself into another #drama.

 

[Rand]

The nominee and First Minister seem to disagree about whether Recombis was Director of the EBC or Deputy Director. Since Rand leads the domestic executive, we refer to Recombis as the Director in this article.

I already had discussed with Recombis that I thought it was silly for the Minister to have the title "Director of the EBC" when he is already the Minister. I deliberately called Recombis "Director" because of this, and also because, even if he was to have the title "Assistant Director," most organizations would drop the Assistant/Deputy/Associate/whatever half of the title when referencing someone's name.

As for the nomination itself, I share the public's displeasure with MinComm's activity this term. Minister Vinage unfortunately did not have enough time to run the Ministry, and we should've been more proactive in promoting someone who could support the agenda. Recombis was largely the go-to person in the Ministry this term, and much of what did come out of the Ministry was under his direction. That's why I nominated him.

Going forward, I will keep in mind he feedback from this process. We will be looking for a senior leader with experience and activity necessary to make the Ministry successful. We will also be setting a commitment to weekly output (which I had proposed at the beginning of the term, but my advisors didn't recommend), much like Interior commits to putting out telegrams and Culture commits to making events happen and Radio schedules shows on a regular basis. Measurable objectives are crucial to success.

 

[Deepest House]

While I publicly called for recombis to be given a chance, this isn't an unfair outcome.

That said, this is an excellent article and demonstrates how hard news should operate in the EBC.: a major event happens and article is up very quickly that summarizes the event and provides context by reaching out to individuals involved.

Once again, ENN sets the standard for private news media in Europeia.