Czech journalists threaten to strike over plan to scrap licence fees

Government aims to move TV and radio funding under state control, which critics say undermines independence

Journalists at the Czech Republic's public broadcasters have said they are prepared to go on strike unless the government of the billionaire prime minister, Andrej Babi, backs down on its plan to scrap licence fees and move funding under state control.

In what the journalists see as a threat to their independence, the government wants to replace the current system, in which households pay fees directly to public service media, with direct funding from the state budget. Licence fees are cancelled," the culture minister, Oto Klempi, declared last week.