Czech Public TV and Radio Staff Strike as Thousands Protest Plan to Fund Broadcasters From the State Budget
Critics say the change would let the governing coalition control the media. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš says "nobody wants to control public media."
By Watchman Report staff ·
Czech public media workers went on strike and thousands rallied across the country Tuesday against a government plan to replace the licence fee with direct funding from the state budget, Euronews reported. Under the plan, public radio and television would get about 15% less money than now.
Czech Television and Czech Radio cut programming to archived items and shorter bulletins. Michal Kubal, chief news editor at Czech Television, called the strike unprecedented. Unions, university deans, churches, artists and athletes backed it, Euronews said.
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said Monday that "nobody wants to control public media, let alone nationalise them." Parliament, dominated by his three-party coalition, passed the bill's first of three readings in an overnight session last month. A joint statement by the European Federation of Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and other groups said the model "opens the door to political pressure."
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