Bad newsCzech Public TV and Radio Strike Over Plan to Cut Funding 15%
Staff at Czech Television and Czech Radio struck on 3 November as thousands rallied against a government bill that would scrap licence fees, fund them from the state budget and cut their money by about 15%.
This story runs on the bad side only. The biggest stories of the day are told on both sides.
Czech public television and radio ran a skeleton service on Tuesday as staff struck over the government’s plan to change how they are paid for. Euronews reports that Czech Television and Czech Radio cut programming, with archive items and shorter news bulletins replacing the normal schedule. Michal Kubal, chief news editor at Czech Television, called it unprecedented in the history of Czech public service media.
The bill would abolish the licence fee that individuals, households and businesses pay and fund both broadcasters from the state budget instead. They would receive about 15% less money than now, Euronews says, which could mean layoffs, limited production and cancelled programmes.
The argument over control
Critics fear that money from the state budget gives the ruling coalition leverage over newsrooms. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš leads a three-party nationalist coalition. Critics compare the plan with what populist governments did in Slovakia under Robert Fico and in Hungary before Viktor Orbán lost power in April, Euronews reports. A joint statement by the European Federation of Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and other groups said the model opens the door to political pressure and threatens editorial independence.
The government says the broadcasters must cut costs and insists that the plan will not affect editorial independence or content. Babiš said on Monday that nobody wants to control public media, let alone nationalise it, and that what protesters fear is untrue.
EUobserver says a large majority of staff at both outlets joined the strike, after the broadcasters agreed with the organisers that essential news would still be provided during extraordinary events. Marches took place in Prague, Brno and Ostrava, and more than 300 Czech athletes backed the action. The strike was called by an initiative named Veřejnoprávně.
Euronews adds that unions, university deans, churches, artists and international media groups supported the walkout. In Prague, protesters wore paper triangle hats like those of a popular animated character from Czech Television that has become a symbol of the protest.
Where the bill stands
The Chamber of Deputies advanced the bill through the first of three readings in an overnight vote on 24 October, after debate was restricted, EUobserver says. Two more readings remain, and neither source gives dates for them or for further strikes. Euronews notes that the legislation was rushed through the first stage in a controversial overnight session.
Public opinion offers one measure. A STEM/MARK survey for Czech Television, a party to the dispute, found that 68% of Czechs agree public media should stay well away from state control or private ownership, EUobserver reports. The poll was commissioned by the broadcaster, so it should be read with that in mind, and neither source cites an independent poll.
What the cut would mean in practice is not yet known. Neither source says which programmes are at risk, how many jobs could go, or whether the 15% figure is the government’s or the critics’. The government’s case rests on cost, and neither source shows its calculation. The critics’ case rests on independence, and Euronews says they point to Slovakia and Hungary.
For Czech audiences the immediate effect was a day of reduced programming, with archive material instead of live shows. For the staff, it is a dispute over who holds the purse. The next test is the second reading, for which no date has been announced.
