Photo: Czech Radio
Chants of “Hands off the media”, “Drop the bill” and “No Orbanization of Czechia” filled Prague’s Old Town Square as thousands of people voiced their concern over the fate of media freedom and democracy in the country.
The protest, organized by the civic group Million Moments for Democracy, targeted the government’s proposed funding reform for Czech Radio and Czech Television. Under the plan, the current license fee system would be scrapped and both institutions would be financed from the state budget. The proposal would also reduce their overall funding.
Photo: Czech Radio
Million Moments is calling for the withdrawal of what they describe as a law intended to nationalize the public broadcasters and bring them under political control.
They pointed to similar reforms in Hungary and Slovakia, which they say undermined media independence by putting financial and political pressure on the respective institutions and warned that such a move could cause irreversible damage in the Czech Republic as well.
Photo: Czech Radio
Speakers highlighted the historic role of public media in 1945, 1968 and 1989 when they became the voice of resistance and the struggle for freedom, telling the crowd that the time had now come to defend Czech Radio and Czech Television from politicians.
Protesters in the crowd voiced their concerns over the draft bill:
“I came to show my support for Czech Radio and Czech Television because I want them to stay independent. The present system of financing best guarantees that they will not come under political pressure.”
Photo: Czech Radio
“We came to defend the free media, because we are concerned by these plans to restrict their freedom. The minute they come under state financing politicians will have much more influence over their activity and their budget –which would not be a good thing.”
A petition calling on politicians to preserve the decades-old funding model has already gathered more than 175,000 signatures.
The overhaul of public media funding has come under fire from opposition parties and the European Broadcasting Union, which also warns that it could undermine the independence of the country’s public broadcasters.
Photo: Czech Radio
However, the coalition government appears determined to push it through, arguing that the current license fee system is outdated and puts some social groups at a disadvantage. It claims that public media are state-funded in 17 EU member states and insist that sufficient guarantees will be provided to protect media independence. Patrik Nacher from the ANO party ruled out back-tracking on the proposal.
Photo: Czech Radio
“I fully respect people’s right to demonstrate and hold protest marches, but I hope that they in turn respect the outcome of general elections. This change of legislation is one of our election promises to voters, one of the reasons why they put their trust in us – and we are determined to fulfill that promise.“
Meetings between the culture minister and the heads of Czech Radio and Czech Television have failed to make any headway and trade unions at both broadcasters are on strike alert over the planned legislation.
Photo: Czech Radio