Czech journalists threaten to strike over plan to scrap licence fees
Summary
Journalists at Czech public broadcasters plan to strike if the government goes ahead with a proposal to end licence fees and fund media directly from the state budget. The move, supported by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s party, is seen as a threat to media independence and would reduce funding for Czech Television and Czech Radio significantly.Key Facts
- The Czech government wants to stop household licence fees and fund public media from the state budget.
- The culture minister announced that licence fees will be cancelled.
- Journalists say this change would allow political control over media content.
- The new budget would cut public media funding by about £48 million in 2027.
- Czech Television would lose nearly one-third of its budget; Czech Radio about one-fifth.
- Thousands of university students protested against the plan in Prague.
- Opposition politicians and media figures criticize the plan as a threat to media freedom.
- Licence fees have remained almost the same since 2005, and the new plan would reduce real funding levels to that time.
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