Czech Republic advances media funding overhaul despite criticism

Journalists prepare to strike as politicians push through changes that critics say threaten independence.

A woman walks past placards hanging on a building of Czech Radio as employees of public broadcasters strike in protest at the government's planned overhaul of public media funding, in Prague, June 22 [David W Cerny/Reuters]

The Czech Republic’s governing coalition has advanced changes to the funding of public media, despite criticism that it could weaken broadcaster independence.

In a rare overnight vote in the early hours of Saturday, the coalition voted to send the bill to committees for further discussion.

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The changes include scrapping the 205 crown ($9.45) household broadcasting fee, and replacing it with funding from the state budget.

The populist government of billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis, backed by the far-right SPD party, has frequently criticised public and private media coverage of its policies and accused some outlets of bias.

Babis promised to scrap the broadcasting fee before taking office last December, and says his three-party government is now fulfilling that pledge to voters.

Public media employees staged a strike against the move in June , saying it would make broadcasters vulnerable to government pressure.

Opposition parties have compared the changes with reforms under neighbouring Hungary’s former Prime Minister, Viktor Orban .

Babis has said the new funding model would be fairer to poorer households and encourage outlets to become more efficient.

“There is no war for independent media,” Babis said on Facebook late on Friday. “There is no fight for democracy and no nationalisation of media is being prepared.”

The proposal would cut funding for Czech Television and Czech Radio by about 15 percent and keep nominal funding unchanged for several years.

Public media are among the most trusted news sources in the Czech Republic, with Czech Television the most-watched broadcaster across several age groups.

A civic group has called a public protest for Sunday, while journalists and other employees at the broadcasters announced a strike for November 3.

记者们准备罢工，因为政客们强行推行改革，批评人士称这些改革威胁到独立性。

6月22日，在布拉格，一名女子走过捷克广播电台大楼上悬挂的标语牌，当时公共广播机构的员工正在罢工，抗议政府计划对公共媒体资金进行改革。[David W Cerny/路透社]

尽管有人批评此举可能会削弱广播公司的独立性，但捷克共和国执政联盟还是推进了公共媒体资金改革。

在周六凌晨罕见的通宵投票中，该联盟投票决定将该法案提交委员会进行进一步讨论。

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捷克公共媒体员工罢工事件之二（共两起），罢工理由是政府威胁其独立性。

这些改革措施包括取消 205 克朗（9.45 美元）的家庭广播费，并用国家预算资金取而代之。

由亿万富翁总理安德烈·巴比什领导的民粹主义政府，在极右翼社民党的支持下，经常批评公共和私人媒体对其政策的报道，并指责一些媒体存在偏见。

巴比什在去年12月上任前承诺取消广播费，并表示他领导的三党联合政府现在正在履行对选民的承诺。

公共媒体员工在6月份举行罢工，抗议这一举措，称这将使广播公司容易受到政府的压力。

反对党将这些变化与邻国匈牙利前总理维克托·欧尔班领导下的改革进行了比较。

巴比什表示，新的融资模式对贫困家庭更公平，并鼓励商家提高效率。

巴比什周五晚些时候在脸书上表示：“不存在捍卫独立媒体的战争，不存在捍卫民主的斗争，也没有准备将媒体国有化。”

该提案将削减捷克电视台和捷克广播电台约 15% 的资金，并在未来几年内保持名义资金不变。

在捷克共和国，公共媒体是最值得信赖的新闻来源之一，其中捷克电视台是各个年龄段观众收视率最高的广播公司。

一个公民团体呼吁在周日举行公众抗议活动，而广播公司的记者和其他员工则宣布将于 11 月 3 日举行罢工。