Explainer
Why are tens of thousands marching for Czech public broadcasting?
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Tens of thousands gathered in central Prague on Sunday to defend press freedom. The protest opposed a plan to change how public broadcasters are funded, and the bill has already passed a first reading in parliament.
Prague
The billionaire prime minister, Andrej Babiš, wants to scrap the household fee and pay the broadcasters from the state budget. The bill would also cut their funding by more than 15 percent. Critics fear that would turn them into mouthpieces for the governing coalition.
15%
Babiš rejects the accusations. "Nobody intends to interfere with programming or news coverage." President Petr Pavel, though, says the haste undermines trust, and the reform needs a broad public debate first.
“Nobody intends to interfere with programming or news coverage.”
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Tens of thousands protest in Prague against plan to fund Czech public broadcasters from state budgetRead the article
Based on reports by
- De MorgenTens of thousands of Czechs take to the streets to defend press freedom after controversial bill
- G4Media.roTens of thousands of Czechs protested in Prague against the public media funding reform
- Deutsche WelleTens of thousands protest in Prague against public broadcasting reform
- Bloomberg BusinessThousands Protest in Prague Against Public Media Funding Change
- HotNews.roTens of thousands of Czechs protested against a Babis government project, adopted at night. “We do not want a return to censorship”
- newsORF.atCzech Republic: Tens of thousands protest against broadcasting reform