Hundreds of thousands of people gathered on Sunday in Prague to defend the independence of public television and radio and to oppose the government’s plans to change their funding system. The protest was organized by the civic organization Million Moments for Democracy. In the Czech capital’s largest square, Letná, according to media reports on Sunday afternoon, between 350,000 and 400,000 people took part, Euronews writes.
The protest in Prague was held under a special slogan referring to the time of the parliamentary vote. The rally’s slogan, “Never again 4:36,” refers to the time when the governing majority pushed a controversial legal amendment through the Chamber of Deputies at first reading in mid-October.
The vote took place in the early hours of Saturday, after the majority interrupted the plenary debate and denied more than 60 opposition MPs the opportunity to speak. Demonstrators, who came from many parts of the country, sharply criticized the government’s policies and demanded that the coalition party Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD), led by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Tomio Okamura, leave the government. ## Funding from the budget and fears for independence Both public broadcasters are currently funded by citizens through a mandatory monthly fee, while the government aims to fund them from the state budget in the future.
The proposal has sparked widespread public resistance, as many worry that the government could exert influence over editorial independence and the impartiality of the two broadcasters. According to publicly available data, the future state subsidy would be much lower than current revenues from public television and radio subscriptions.
The opposition, the press and a considerable part of public opinion oppose the change, arguing that state funding of public media would limit its freedom. In Czechia, every household that owns a television or radio is required to pay a monthly fee of 150 korunas for television and 55 korunas for radio.
This year, Czech Television’s revenues from these fees amount to 6.73 billion korunas, while Czech Radio receives 2.47 billion korunas. The Babiš government has announced that it will abolish household fees and fund both public broadcasters through the state budget. ## Support from students, theatres and athletes At the demonstration, student organizations from Czech universities and colleges, dozens of theatres, writers, well-known athletes, churches, health workers and representatives of international journalists’ organizations expressed their support for public television and radio.
Speakers repeatedly stressed that public media cannot be the property of politicians, the government or the state, but belongs to everyone and must reflect the views of all important segments of society. They also called for independent and free public media.
The demonstration in Prague was broadcast live by the public news channel, the CTK news agency and several independent media. Radek Vondráček, from the strongest party in the government, Action of Dissatisfied Citizens (ANO), condemned the protest organizers and the Million Moments for Democracy organization in a television debate program, calling them “an association of professional agitators.” According to police reports, the demonstration continued without incident until the early evening and there were no disturbances.