Czech government causes alarm with plan to scrap license fee
In their campaign ahead of last autumn's election, the populist and far-right parties that now make up Czechia's coalition government promised a revamp of Czech Television (CT) and Czech Radio (CRo).
On June 15, the cabinet kept this promise by giving the nod to a corresponding bill.
If approved by both houses of parliament and signed by the president, the legislation will from next year scrap the current license fee, which costs households and businesses the equivalent of €8.50 ($9.75) a month, and move funding of the two outlets to the state budget.
Prime Minister Andrej Babis, a populist centrist billionaire, insists that the new model will be fairer, eliminating a "flat tax" that demands poorer households — not coincidentally the core of his electorate — pay the same as any other.
He also said it will push CT and CRo to improve efficiency.
"The public broadcasters are not making any cost savings and nobody controls them," he told a press conference.
Czech journalists warn of dangers of public media reform
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'Cultural vandalism'
After 17 years of bickering, the license fee was finally raised by the previous government last year.
Under the current government's plan, each outlet's annual budget would return to the level it had before the increase. That would cut CT's 2027 budget by about €41 million to €237 million, while CRo would have to make do with €16 million less at €85 million.
The directors of the two outlets warned that the "shocking" budget cuts would force mass layoffs and limit programming and broadcasting in the regions and for special interests.
The cuts come despite CT and CRo enjoying the highest levels of public trust of any Czech outlets, as well as being the most trusted public service media organizations in Central and Eastern Europe and among those with the biggest audience reach.
"In this context," said Vaclav Stetka at the European New School of Digital Studies, "the dramatic budget cuts represent an act of cultural vandalism."
European trend
Defending the plan, the government says it is merely joining the majority in the EU.
Most EU states "have already dropped this outdated financing method," declared Otto Klempir, a former funk musician installed as culture minister by the radical right-wing Motorists for Themselves party.
While it is true that many European countries — including, France, Spain and the Scandinavian states — have moved away from a license fee model, experts have suggested that the comparison is not as straightforward as the minister suggests.
Researchers at Charles University in Prague wrote that "a shift to funding from the state budget would not necessarily eliminate unfairness in terms of payment levels [...], as these depend on the structure of the tax system."
Stetka said that the political culture in post-communist states is another factor. "In this region," he told DW, "the political elite has never accepted the independence of public media."
No safeguards
The Charles University researchers suggested that the direct funding model can "function relatively effectively" in countries with a high level of political consensus, stable political culture and high respect for the independence of public service media.
The Czech bill now headed to parliament shows little evidence that such conditions are in place.
Stetka noted that many European states that have made the move to state funding first built in checks and balances to guard against political interference.
But with Klempir's initial effort to draw up a bill scrapped amid criticism that it was rushed and poorly written, the government now plans to simply adapt current legislation that contains no such safeguards, CRo director Rene Zavoral has warned.
'Devastating for democracy'
That, Zavoral asserted, shows that the government push is driven not by an urge to save money but to banish the guarantee of maximum autonomy that the current system offers.
Media watchdogs, analysts and the political opposition universally agree that the funding switch would be a clear threat to the independence of Czechia's public service media.
That alarm is stoked by the state capture of public service media over the past decade by governments in nearby Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.
Vit Rakusan, leader of the opposition STAN party, labelled the proposal the "de facto nationalization" of public media and warned it would be "devastating for the quality of democracy."
"The Czech government has started to financially blackmail the public service media," Pavol Szalai, director of Reporters Without Borders' Prague bureau told DW, warning that the move sets the stage for "undue [political] interference."
Government denies it wants to interfere
The government firmly rejects such warnings.
"We have never threatened the independence of Czech Television, nor will we," Babis said as the bill was given the green light."
However, the prime minister has history when it comes to CT, having sought to gain control of its governing council during his 2017–21 term as prime minister.
Babis's ANO party and far-right coalition partner SPD have long accused the broadcaster of unfair coverage, censorship and spreading "Brussels propaganda."
Referring to her recent study on public service media in Czechia, Marina Urbanikova of Brno's Masaryk University confirmed to DW that the two parties view public media as biased against them.
Significant opposition expected
Yet given that close to 60% of Czechs say they trust CT and CRo, the plan looks set to spark significant opposition.
Student-led civil society movement Million Moments for Democracy has organized numerous protests, the largest of which saw around 200,000 people gather in Prague in March to protest the government's course.
Another rally is scheduled for Sunday. The following day, CT and CRo staff — several of whom have told DW of growing political pressure in recent months — will go on strike.
Opposition to the government plan is not entirely new: Twenty-five years ago, weeks of industrial action and public anger forced the then government to step back from its own bid to seize control of the outlet.
A petition organized by Million Moments has already been signed by over 500,000 people, and the civil society group says it will continue its protests until "the politicians withdraw the controversial law."
Edited by: Aingeal Flanagan
