Czech public media staff strike over funding plan

Czech public media workers went on strike on Tuesday and thousands of people rallied across the country against a government plan to change how public broadcasting is funded.

The protesters oppose a proposed switch from a licence fee paid by individuals to direct financing from the state budget. They say the change could allow the government to restrict media freedom.

The coalition government led by billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis says public broadcasters need to cut costs and insists the plan will not affect editorial independence or programme content.

Czech TV and Czech Radio reduced their programming as thousands of employees joined the protest. Staff marched from media headquarters to a central square in Prague, where university students and other protesters joined them.

The Czech parliament, dominated by Babis's three-party nationalist coalition, passed the bill through the first of three readings in an overnight session last month. Babis said this week that the second reading could take place in January.

The plan has drawn criticism from the European Broadcasting Union, the European Federation of Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and the International Press Institute. Thousands had already rallied in Prague on October 25, and a larger demonstration is planned in the capital on November 15.