Today at 4:36 p.m., citizens will gather in Prague to support the journalists and media workers of Česká televize and Český rozhlas, who are going on strike in response to an attempt to bring public service media under political control.
On 24 October, at 4:36 a.m., Andrej Babiš’s governing coalition pushed through the first reading of a bill in Parliament that would abolish the licence fee for public television and radio, replace it with direct funding from the state budget, and reduce their funding by approximately 15%.
Czech journalists, media workers, students and citizens have decided they will not remain silent. Today, they are going on strike and taking to the streets because they understand that this is not simply about how two public broadcasters are funded. It is about who will decide their future, how independent they will be, and whether journalists will be able to do their jobs freely.”
