Tens of thousands of Czechs rally against government media funding plan
By Michael Kahn
PRAGUE, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Czechs protested in Prague on Sunday against a government plan to cut a public media fee and move funding to the state budget – a policy critics say would dent the broadcasters' independence and viability.
Opposition parties compared the proposals in an October bill to changes in Hungary under former Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who built an array of pro-government media.
Local authorities had estimated hundreds of thousands would attend the rally days before the November 17 holiday commemorating the 1989 Velvet Revolution that swept away Communist rule and propelled dissident playwright Vaclav Havel to power.
The front section near the stage in Letna park overlooking the Czech capital filled quickly as protesters clogged nearby metro stations. Many wore pointed hats folded out of newspapers as tribute to an animated character who has introduced Czech Television's nightly children's bedtime stories for decades.
The populist government of billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis, backed by the far-right SPD and eurosceptic Motorists parties, accuses private and public media of bias.
The coalition backs a bill that would cancel a 205-crown ($9.26) monthly household broadcasting fee currently used for funding. The bill has passed a preliminary vote and awaits further debate.
Czech public television and radio workers escalated the fight with a one-day strike earlier in November that led to broadcast curbs and protests backed by artists and students.
Critics say the funding shift to the budget would undercut the media's relationship with paying viewers and make the sector susceptible to political pressure.
A 15% financing cut proposed as part of the change would bring television's nominal budget to the level of 2008 and radio's to 2005. Media say that is unworkable.
Babis says the government is merely meeting a promise to lighten the financial burden on people.
($1 = 22.1280 Czech crowns)