Czech bill would put public media under political control

The Czech government has approved a controversial bill that would eliminate the current public service media license fee and instead fund Czech Television and Czech Radio through direct political allocation from the state budget. Critics warn the move would put a pillar of Czech democracy at risk by undermining media independence and allowing government influence over editorial content. The bill now moves to parliament for debate. If passed, it would fundamentally change how public broadcasting is financed in the Czech Republic, aligning it with government-controlled media models seen in Hungary and Poland.