Czech public media workers stage warning strike over funding overhaul
Broadcasters and civil society groups warn that the proposed 15 per cent budget cut and shift to state financing threaten institutional independence and could force significant job losses.
Employees at Czech Television (CT) and Czech Radio (CRo) have staged a one-day warning strike in Prague, protesting a cabinet decision to place their funding under direct state control. The industrial action, centred on CT’s headquarters in a southern suburb and CRo’s building in the city centre, follows a large public demonstration at the same location the previous day.
The Czech cabinet approved the switch from the existing licence fee system to direct financing from the state budget last week. Under the proposed model, allocations for public broadcasters would be reduced to 2008 levels. This represents an approximate 15 per cent cut compared to current funding, which was raised last year by the previous administration for the first time in 17 years.
Prime Minister Andrej Babis has defended the restructuring, stating the new funding model is intended to be fairer to poorer households and to encourage greater efficiency within the outlets. Babis claims the government is fulfilling a pre-election pledge to cancel licence fees made ahead of taking office in December, insisting there is no intention to interfere with the independence of the media.
However, directors of public radio and television have warned that the budget reduction would force them to fire hundreds of employees and cancel programmes. Staff and civil society groups fear the move will lead to increased political interference, citing similar efforts by hardline governments in Hungary and Slovakia in recent years.
During the strike, thousands of journalists and staff participated in the industrial action. Several programmes began with a minute’s delay and a countdown clock, accompanied by explanatory notes. Protesters formed a human chain around CRo’s central Prague building and gathered outside CT’s headquarters, many wearing black and holding banners reading “We are not state media” and “Independence is no expenditure”.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and other media observers have publicly criticised the government’s move and its potential impact on state broadcasters. The current three-party coalition includes far-right and radical-right figures who have previously complained about the liberal outlook and alleged bias of the public media.
This event marks the latest in a series of rallies warning that the populist government is threatening the independence of the country’s public media. Opposition to government efforts to control public broadcasting is not new in the Czech Republic; in 2000, journalists occupied CT studios to protest a similar bid for political control, leading to street protests that forced the government to retreat.
