Czech public media staff strike citing government threat to independence
Key takeaways
- Plan to put funding under direct government control has sparked widespread opposition, with critics fearing political interference.
- The strike, threatened weeks ago, was centred on CT’s headquarters in Prague on Monday and followed a large public protest at the same spot the previous day.
- The strikers, civil society groups, and large cohorts of the public worry that the government of Prime Minister Andrej Babis is seeking to exert political control over the media outlets.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Plan to put funding under direct government control has sparked widespread opposition, with critics fearing political interference.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo People attend a protest in support of public media as the Czech government plans to revamp and cut funding for Czech TV and Czech Radio, in Prague, Czech Republic, June 21, 2026 [Eva Korinkova/Reuters]By AFP and The Associated Press Published On 22 Jun 202622 Jun 2026Czech public media employees have staged a one-day “warning” strike, demanding the government drop plans to place the funding of Czech Television (CT) and Czech Radio (CRo) under its direct control.
The strike, threatened weeks ago, was centred on CT’s headquarters in Prague on Monday and followed a large public protest at the same spot the previous day. It was the latest of many rallies warning that the populist government is threatening the independence of the country’s much-respected public media.