Between 350,000 and 450,000 people attended the Prague rally organized by the Million Moments for Democracy group to oppose the restructuring of Czech TV and Czech Radio. The legislative measure, introduced by Culture Minister Oto Klempir, has already triggered staff strikes and cleared its initial parliamentary hurdle in an overnight vote. Protesters also submitted a petition seeking the removal of far-right parliament speaker Tomio Okamura alongside the complete withdrawal of the bill. The governing coalition continues to argue that the spending cuts are necessary and will not impact media independence.
Key points
Opponents fear replacing licence fees with state budget payments will undermine the edito…: Opponents fear replacing licence fees with state budget payments will undermine the editorial independence of public media.
Prime Minister Andrej Babis rejected accusations of nationalization, maintaining that the…: Prime Minister Andrej Babis rejected accusations of nationalization, maintaining that the reform simply mandates necessary cost reductions.
The media funding dispute has transformed into a wider public challenge against the gover…: The media funding dispute has transformed into a wider public challenge against the governing coalition's political leadership.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
PRAGUE: Hundreds of thousands of Czechs rallied in Prague on Sunday against the nationalist government's plan to overhaul public-media funding, which critics see as a threat to press freedom.
The government of billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis wants to switch from funding Czech TV and Czech Radio through licence fees paid by viewers and listeners to payments from the state budget.
Opponents say the move will stifle media freedom as it will make the outlets more dependent on the state.
"We need to keep media independent. The government is taking steps to control them, cut their funding and affect what they broadcast," computer programmer Jan Snasel told AFP at the rally.
Mikulas Minar, head of the Million Moments for Democracy group organising the rally, said that "between 350,000 and 450,000 people" showed up on the sunny Sunday afternoon.
Many wore triangular paper hats similar to a popular animated character from Czech TV that has become a symbol of the protest, while others sported banners saying "we won't give media away".
Babis's coalition, comprising his catch-all ANO party, the far-right SPD…
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Opponents of Prime Minister Andrej Babis fear that transitioning public broadcasters from license fees to direct state budget allocations will compromise editorial independence and mirror media restrictions seen in Hungary. The historic demonstration reflects widespread public resistance to the governing coalition's legislative push, which cleared an initial parliamentary hurdle late last month.
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