Switching public media funding to the state budget hands politicians a yearly lever to punish or reward broadcasters based on political mood — that's not reform, that's a power grab. License fees exist precisely to keep government hands off editorial decisions, and scrapping them for budget line items mirrors the playbook used in Hungary and Slovakia. The strike at Czech Television and Czech Radio is a direct response to a plan that threatens genuine editorial independence.
The funding reform was publicly announced in the government's program declaration — this isn't a surprise attack on press freedom, it's a promise being kept. Czech Television and Czech Radio would still receive billions in state funding, with an inflation-adjustment mechanism built in, and the savings from eliminating fee collection alone could reach 250 million crowns annually. The strike is really about institutions resisting financial accountability, not defending independence.
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