Czech Republic: public media under pressure from all sides

On 17 November 2022, coinciding with Freedom Day in the Czech Republic, which commemorates the start of the Velvet Revolution in 1989, thousands of anti-government protesters marched from the centre of Prague to the headquarters of public broadcaster Česká televize and demanded access to its studios and to be allowed to voice their protest against the broadcaster on its programmes.

Most viewers would disagree, however. In their opinion, the broadcaster has been doing exemplary work, especially since the start of the invasion of Ukraine. And this is hardly surprising given that it is sending its best people to the front. Česká televize correspondents who normally cover the news from all over the world are taking it in turns to do multi-week stints in Ukraine. Together with their camera teams, they provide viewers with their own moving reports day after day. As a result, the broadcaster barely needs to use agency material, which is not always verifiable. With its cumulative competence in providing up-to-date information, Česká televize clearly outshines the competition from the private TV stations.

The positive trend at Česká televize was already apparent during the pandemic. Not only was the network able to boost its viewing figures to unusually high levels, but a representative survey by the Faculty of Journalism at Masaryk University in Brno showed that it was by far the country's most trusted broadcaster.

Public radio broadcaster Český rozhlas is doing very well too. Its current affairs and politics station Radiožurnal has the highest audience ratings of all Czech radio programmes, and in terms of public trust it enjoys the same high ranking as its public television counterpart.

Attacks from on high

When the second and final term of Czech President Miloš Zeman ends at the beginning of March 2023, the public broadcasters will breathe a sigh of relief. In recent times they have come under growing pressure not just from anti-government protesters on the streets, but also from above, from the state leadership. In fact, years of verbal tirades by President Zeman, many of which were directed against Česká televize and Český rozhlas, are what inspired these protesters in the first place.

The head of state poured scorn on other media outlets too, specifically those owned by the publishing company Economia, such as Hospodářské noviny, which is widely considered the Czech Republic's top quality daily, the liberal weekly Respekt, which has won several international media awards, and the opinionated web portal Aktuálně.cz. The only outlets that were spared Zeman's frequent attacks, which in essence were always attacks on press freedom, were the newspapers belonging to the Agrofert group, which is owned by ex-prime minister Andrej Babiš and is currently under trusteeship so that Babiš cannot be accused of a blatant conflict of interest.

But even without Zeman as president, the pressure on the media exerted by certain parliamentary parties will hardly lessen. Several independent media outlets have had their access to public information cut off since 2020, with their reporters repeatedly being denied accreditation for press conferences. One example was a joint press conference given by Babiš and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was clearly to be spared the ordeal of critical questions. Petr Dvořák, director of Česká televize, nevertheless takes a calm view of the situation. As he pointed out in an interview with Hospodářské noviny, at least the Czech Republic does not have a one-party government which, as in Poland or Hungary, could truly shake the foundations of free journalism.

World Press Freedom Index (Reporters Without Borders): Rank 14 (2023)

Last updated: December 2022

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