Thousands protest Czech plan to cut public media funding by 15%
Thousands protested in Prague after the Czech lower house fast-tracked a bill to replace public television and radio licence fees with state-budget funding. The proposal would cut their budgets by about 15%; critics say the change risks political influence, while Prime Minister Andrej Babiš says funding would be guaranteed by law and editorial independence would be unaffected. The bill still needs approval from the upper house.
Bottom line — Czech public media workers have announced a strike for 3 November as the bill moves through parliament.
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Al Jazeera and Newsday report that coalition lawmakers advanced the bill in an overnight vote at 4:36 a.m., limiting time for opposition debate.
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The opposition says it will challenge the legislation in the constitutional court, according to Al Jazeera and FMT.
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President Petr Pavel called public service media a pillar of democracy and warned against irreversible, hasty steps, FMT reports.
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The European Broadcasting Union, European Federation of Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and the International Press Institute have criticised the plans, according to FMT.
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Babiš says the state allocations would be mandatory spending set by law and that no government could cut them arbitrarily, FMT reports.
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Public media workers say the funding shift could expose broadcasters to government censorship, OCCRP reports; Culture Minister Oto Klempíř called the protests a dispute about money rather than media independence.