Prague braces for mass rally against Babiš public media funding bill

The bill cleared its first of three readings at 4:36 a.m. on October 24, after the coalition fast-tracked it through an overnight session. It would scrap the licence fee that funds Czech Television (CT) and Czech Radio (CRo) and move both broadcasters onto the state budget, with funding cut by around 15% in the first year.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš's centrist ANO, the far-right SPD and the radical conservative Motorists argue the licence fee is an unfair tax and say the new arrangement would make the two broadcasters more efficient, pointing to similar changes in other EU states.

Opposition parties and international media watchdogs say the aim is to undermine independence at outlets whose critical reporting has long irked ANO and the SPD. Analysts note that models elsewhere in the EU carry guarantees of long-term financial stability and editorial independence; the Czech proposal offers neither.

CT and CRo have warned the reduced budget means programming and staff cuts. Staff at both called a strike in early November that disrupted television and radio schedules.

Sunday's rally in Letná park, organised by Million Moments for Democracy, follows weeks of demonstrations and student-led marches in cities and towns. The group brought an estimated 300,000 onto the streets during Babiš's first term in 2019 and more than 200,000 earlier this year.

"Words are worth nothing," the group said. Million Moments for Democracy stated that while people stand up for independent media, "the government continues to act as if it owns the country."

Vaclav Stetka of the European New School of Digital Studies called the cuts "an act of cultural vandalism". Otto Eibl, a political scientist at Masaryk University in Brno, said the confrontational approach and attempts to limit parliamentary debate had fed the backlash.

Babiš has said a new proposal — moving public media funding off budget and guaranteeing editorial independence — would be drawn up for full debate. Critics note the absence of detail and say other ministers remain on course.

The government has the parliamentary majority it needs to push the bill through and defeat likely vetoes from the upper house Senate and President Petr Pavel. Babiš said he will not attend the Velvet Revolution anniversary celebrations on November 17. Sunday's rally falls two days before that anniversary.

Martin Vokalek of the Prague-based EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy said the real risk is that the media issue becomes a lightning rod for broader dissatisfaction.