Filip Turek digs at ČT defenders: Now show love and pay twice

The battle for funding for Czech Television continues to intensify. Minister of Culture Oto Klempíř has introduced a proposal that abolishes mandatory concession fees and replaces them with a contribution from the state budget. At the same time, he also counts on voluntary contributions from people. And that's exactly what Filip Turek hit upon, who enjoyed the staunch defenders of public television in his own way.

Filip Turek found another target and this time he took aim at those who most loudly defend Czech Television. The government representative and MP for Motorists reacted to the upcoming change in the financing of public media ironically, but exactly where their supporters are most concerned. He told them that now they have the ideal opportunity to prove how much they love Czech Television. With their wallets.

Turek wrote on Facebook: "I think that all advocates of public service will send the double fee voluntarily and the objective and impartial Czech Television will still make money from it."

The proposal of the Minister of Culture, Ota Klempíř, does indeed count on the end of mandatory television and radio fees and the Czech Television and Czech Radio receiving regular contributions from the state budget. In addition, they are also to be able to accept voluntary contributions from individuals and legal entities in the Czech Republic. It is precisely this voluntary nature that Turek is referring to. What he is essentially saying is this: those who today beat their chests for public service can now demonstrate their devotion without coercion and even with a larger amount than before.

The government wants the new system to come into effect on January 1, 2027. According to the proposal, Czech Television is to receive roughly 5.7 billion crowns from the budget and Czech Radio just over two billion. Compared to this year's expected income from fees, the television would therefore be roughly a billion lower. That is why there are already concerns about cuts and layoffs from CT.

And this is where the counterattack began on the networks. Opponents of the government plan and Turk's provocation claim that this is not about freeing people from fees, but about an attempt to weaken public media and tie them more closely to political power. STAN head Vít Rakušan called the proposal "literally devastating" for the quality of democracy and spoke of nationalizing the media. Pirate MP Andrea Hoffmannová wrote on the X network about "liquidators of Czech public media" and pointed out that the budget returned to the level of 2024, according to the leadership of both institutions, is not even enough for current obligations.

Within a few hours, two completely different camps had formed on social media. One applauded Turk for accurately identifying the discrepancy between loud moralizing and a willingness to actually pay. The other accused him of cheap ridicule at a time when, according to critics, the independence of public service media is at stake. Even from the open posts on the X network, it is clear that some opponents are linking Turk, Klempíř, and the entire government change into a single image of an attack on ČT.

Source: Express