Czechia: RSF and partners urge Prime Minister and Culture Minister to guarantee public media’s independence

On Tuesday 13 January, the new Czech government led by Prime Minister Andrej Babis will ask Parliament for a vote of confidence on the basis of a programme that could threaten the independence of public media outlets and that RSF had already strongly criticised alongside the Czech Syndicate of Journalists and Czech Radio. It notably includes plans to abolish the broadcasting licence fee, currently the main source of funding for public media outlets.

Ahead of the vote, the Public Media Alliance, RSF and their Czech and international partners sent an open letter to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Culture demanding guarantees for public media’s financial independence, notably for Czech Radio (CRo) and Czech Television (CT).