Hundreds of thousands of people rallied in Prague against cuts in public media funding.
On Sunday, November 15, hundreds of thousands of people rallied in Prague against the government's plans to reform the public media funding system. The rally was held in Latna Park, the same place where large-scale protests took place during the 1989 Velvet Revolution.
According to the estimates of the organizers of the action, the "Million Moments for Democracy" movement, about 400,000 people participated. This is the largest rally in the modern history of the Czech Republic.
Currently, public radio and television in the Czech Republic are financed through regular fees from individuals, households and companies. The government wants to abolish this system and start financing them from the state budget. At the same time, the broadcasters will receive about 15% less money than they currently receive, which may lead to cuts, production restrictions and program cancellations.
Critics of the reform argue that it will give the three-party coalition the opportunity to control the media, as happened in Slovakia under Prime Minister Robert Pico and in Hungary under former Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Despite the protests, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis vowed to continue implementing the plan and rejected claims that the reform would affect media freedom.
Photo: Reuters/David W. Sarni.