Tschechien: Massenproteste gegen Rundfunkreform
Spiegel.de reports, citing AFP, that hundreds of thousands protested in Prague against the Czech government's plan to replace broadcasting fees with direct state subsidies, a change organizers fear will cut public broadcasters' budgets by 15% and, as critics including Reporters Without Borders say, follow Orbán and Fico in curbing media independence. Demonstrators wore triangular newspaper hats, public transport broke down under the crowds, thousands of broadcaster employees struck, and organizer Mikuláš Minář told them, "The future of our country depends on people like you," while Andrej Babiš assured that no one wants to control or nationalize the public media.
