Punishing ČT and ČRo for taking sides
A 15% cut in the budgets of Czech TV and Czech Radio, as preliminarily approved yesterday by the government of Andrej Babiš, is enough to maim but not kill the public stations and also enough to satisfy most supporters of the coalition parties that Babiš isn't chickening out again. The legislative change was a long time in the making. SPD proposed exempting pensioners and some other groups from the user's fees in Oct. 2019, but the Babiš government took a neutral position on it then, saying that a 30% cut in ČT's fee base and 48-67% in ČRo's was too much, and the bill lapsed when the electoral term expired. This was in 2019-21, which means the two public stations had plenty of advance warning, yet they put their bets on the continuation of the Fiala-led coalition in last year's elections and decided to serve almost exclusively that coalition's voters. This was their downfall. If the public stations had tried at all to be politically neutral and to serve the broad public, more Czechs would be standing up for them now.
Glossary of difficult words
to maim - to wound or injure (a person or animal) so that part of the body is permanently damaged;
to chicken out - to withdraw from or to fail in something through lack of nerve;
in the making - in the process of being made or done;
to lapse - (of a legislative bill, resolution or motion) to expire after failing to pass before the end of a specific legislative timeframe;
downfall - the cause of a loss of power, prosperity or status.