IPI report: Czech government must help strengthen media independence and pluralism

The Czech Republic’s new government must help strengthen media independence and pluralism, according to a new report focusing on media freedom and independence in the country that was published by the International Press Institute on Tuesday. The report focuses on what it claims to be the spread of media capture under the previous government of Andrej Babiš and provides recommendations for the new government led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala on how to reform and strengthen the independence and pluralism of the media sector.

According to the report, Andrej Babiš undermined the Czech public broadcaster Czech Television and steered government advertising to his media, as well as using his power in the media to “promote and defend his government’s record”. The report also claims that media capture in Czechia differs fundamentally from that going on in neighboring Hungary where this is mainly a state-led media takeover. IPI writes that many of the Czech Republic’s largest private media outlets have been acquired by a “handful of oligarchs for whom media could be used to promote their wider business interests”.

The International Press Insititute is a global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists that is aimed at promoting conditions that allow journalism to fulfill its public function.