Tens of thousands protest public broadcasting reform in Prague — Der Spiegel

In Prague, Czechia, tens of thousands of people protested for media freedom and against the proposed public broadcasting reform. The demonstration was organized by the Million Moments for Democracy initiative, Der Spiegel reports. In the preceding days, smaller protests also took place in Prague, Brno, and other Czech cities.

Abolishing fees and cutting funds

The government of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš plans to abolish public broadcasting fees. Czech Television and Czech Radio would instead depend on payments from the state budget. The proposed changes also envisage cutting funding by more than 15%.

Critics of the reform warn that the authorities seek to turn Czech Radio and Czech Television into their mouthpieces. Babiš rejected these accusations, stating: “No one intends to interfere in programming or news coverage.”

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President's response

The bill passed its first reading in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of parliament, during a nighttime session. The document will now be referred to committees for consideration.

Czech President Petr Pavel criticized the rushed procedure for considering the initiative. According to him, processing the bill at night and on weekends “undermines faith in the good intentions of its initiators.”