Czech public media workers go on strike over a government plan to overhaul their funding

PRAGUE -- Czech public media workers went on a one-day strike on Tuesday to protest a government plan to overhaul how public broadcasters are funded, legislation that many say would threaten their independence.The plan is led by populist billionaire turned Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and has already seen street protests in Prague, the Czech capital, last month and before. Under the plan, the country's public radio and television would be financed from the state budget, not from an existing system of regular fees from individuals, households and businesses. The media would receive about 15% less money than they do now, which could lead to staff layoffs, limited production and program cancellations.Critics say the overhaul would give the ruling three-party coalition the means to take control of the media, similar to what populist governments did in Slovakia under Prime Minister Robert Fico and in Hungary before former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was ousted from power in April.Michal Kubal, chief news editor at Czech Television, said the strike on Tuesday is unprecedented in the history of Czech public service media. On their TV screens, Czech residents on Tuesday saw an announcement ...