Radio and television staff turned up for work dressed in black, and called on all their supporters to wear black as well. The warning strike will last 24 hours.
Jan Moláček, a journalist with Czech Television who spoke to a Radio Free Europe correspondent, claims that the majority of Czech Television and Czech Radio staff took part in the strike, but broadcasting continued.
‘The strike does not mean we are showing viewers a black screen. This is a warning strike and we must continue broadcasting. That is why those not directly involved have come out here. I do not expect that this single warning strike will change the authorities’ minds and stop them from trying to control both the media and television and radio… We expect the protests to grow even larger and become more visible to the government,” says the journalist.
According to Daniel Stach, a journalist and presenter at Czech Television, media professionals are concerned that pressure from politicians will increase.
Daniel’s colleague notes that journalists see a danger in potential changes to funding.
“They (the government — ed.) are not giving us any guarantees that the media will retain its independence, so we have decided to demonstrate that we are genuinely concerned about the issue of the public broadcaster; we want to keep working as we do now,” she emphasises.
On 21 June, several thousand people took part in a solidarity rally outside the Czech Television building in Prague. A protest was planned for 22 June outside the radio building, along with another rally outside the television building.
Andrej Babiš’s government has proposed a bill to abolish licence fees and fund radio and television from the state budget. However, funding will be significantly reduced. Opposition representatives who supported the journalists claim that Babiš’s aim is to bring public television and radio under government control. Czech President Petr Pavel has also expressed his concerns.
Babiš and other officials have stated that the aim of the changes is to save money, and that the government has no intention of interfering in the professional activities of journalists. At the same time, some politicians, including representatives of Babiš’s populist coalition partners, have repeatedly criticised Czech Television in particular, accusing it of bias and of providing an unbalanced account of their political parties’ activities. Pro-Russian forces have also criticised the broadcaster.