Thousands of people marched in Prague on Sunday to protest the Czech government’s proposed overhaul of the country’s decades-old public media funding system, with critics warning the changes could undermine the independence of state broadcasters.
The demonstration came a day before employees of Czech Television and Czech Radio were due to stage a strike over the reforms, disrupting programming while keeping both broadcasters on air.
The government, led by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and his ANO party, last week approved plans to abolish licence fees, the main source of funding for public television and radio.
The government argues that most citizens oppose paying the household and business licence fees and says public broadcasters should instead be financed through the state budget. Critics, however, warn the move could expose public media to political interference and threaten their editorial independence.