Thousands join Czech protest against public media financing plan

Critics say the overhaul would give the ruling three-party coalition the means to take control of the media, similar to what populist governments did in Slovakia under Prime Minister Robert Fico and in Hungary before former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was ousted from power in April. Czech public media workers went on strike and thousands rallied across the country on Tuesday over a government plan to change the way public broadcasting is funded. The plan is led by billionaire turned Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and has already seen street protests in Prague, the Czech capital, last month and before. The protesters fear the plan to switch from a licence fee paid by individuals to direct financing from the state budget will enable the government to stifle media freedom. The coalition government, however, argues that the broadcasters need to cut costs and insists the plan will have no impact on editorial independence or programme content. Under the plan, the country's public radio and television would be financed from the state budget, not from an existing system of regular fees from individuals, households and businesses. The media would receive about 15% less money than they do now, which could lead to staff layoffs, limited production and program cancellations. The Czech parliament dominated by Babiš's three-party nationalist coalition rushed the bill through the first of three readings in a controversial overnight session last month. Babiš said on Monday that "nobody wants to control public media, let alone nationalise them" and that "none of what the people are protesting against... is true". Critics say the overhaul would give the ruling three-party coalition the means to take control of the media, similar to what populist governments did in Slovakia under Prime Minister Robert Fico and in Hungary before former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was ousted from power in April. Both Czech TV and Czech Radio reduced their programming on Tuesday with thousands of employees joining the protest. Michal Kubal, chief news editor at Czech Television, said the strike was unprecedented in the history of Czech public service media. On their TV screens, Czech residents saw an announcement saying: "We are doing everything we can to ensure that we can continue to provide a public service in its full scope and quality in the future.” According to Kubal, only limited programming would be broadcast — archived items and shorter news bulletins. The staff marched from the media headquarters to a central square in Prague, where they were joined by university students and other protesters. Many wore triangular paper hats similar to a popular animated character from Czech TV that has become a symbol of the protest. The strike has also been backed by labor unions, university deans, churches, artists, athletes, international media organizations and others. “Such a funding model opens the door to political pressure and threatens editorial independence,” a joint statement of the European Federation of Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and several other groups said.