On Our Radar

New Zealand, Czechia, and Israel

19 June 2026

On Our Radar this week: harmful rhetoric targeting RNZ in New Zealand continues, the Czech government takes another step towards abolishing the public broadcasting licence fee, and a French journalist is expelled from Israel as press freedom concerns extend beyond Gaza.

On Our Radar this week…

PMA remains concerned by yet more harmful rhetoric against New Zealand’s public broadcaster, RNZ, from government ministers. The most recent attack came from Fisheries Minister Shane Jones, who warned on air on 13 June that RNZ risked becoming a mouthpiece for anti-fishing lobby groups. It’s the latest incident in a series of verbal confrontations. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon set a troubling tone earlier this year when he cautioned a journalist during a live interview, and Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour — who holds shareholding responsibilities for RNZ — criticised the broadcaster’s decision to hire journalist John Campbell as a Morning Report co-host, suggesting that RNZ’s chief executive “won’t be answering the call at RNZ for much longer.” Seymour also said that it was “critical” to place new board members to reshape the organisation’s management. PMA raised its concerns about Seymour’s remarks in a statement published last month. Now, mere weeks later, another minister has added his voice to the chorus. When government officials make repeated public attacks against a public broadcaster’s editorial decisions, leadership, and funding, the cumulative effect represents a form of political pressure that could be perceived as a threat of interference against management and undermine confidence in the organisation’s independence. Read more via Stuff.

Meanwhile, PMA is deeply disappointed by the Czech government’s approval of a bill that would abolish the licence fee for Czech Television (ČT) and Czech Radio (ČRo) and replace it with direct, fixed state budget financing, with funding rolled back to 2008 levels. ČT’s director has warned that the reduction could cost the broadcaster between one billion and six billion crowns, forcing 300 to 500 redundancies, while ČRo faces 150 to 200 job losses with consequences for its foreign news services and future productions. The bill still faces three parliamentary readings, the Senate, and a possible presidential veto. PMA maintains its position that the Czech government must halt this legislation, engage in genuine consultation with the broadcasters and civil society, and ensure that any reform of public media financing fully honours the Czech Republic’s obligations under the European Media Freedom Act. Read more via the PMA Briefing.

Finally, we are also concerned by the expulsion of French freelance journalist Alice Froussard from Israel on 10 June, after she arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on assignment for Radio France Internationale (RFI). Froussard held all required documentation, including a valid visa and an official RFI contract, and had covered the West Bank for years. Nonetheless, she was detained within thirty minutes of landing, interrogated for more than ten hours, and put on a return flight to France. The official entry denial order cited vague grounds of public security and prevention of illegal immigration, while Israel’s Minister for Diaspora Affairs, Amichai Chikli, publicly welcomed the expulsion, making an unfounded accusation that Froussard “supports Hamas.” RSF, which has condemned the expulsion as a serious press freedom violation, notes that it is the latest in a series of entry bans and visa revocations targeting foreign journalists covering the occupied Palestinian territories. RSF warns that the pattern signals a deliberate effort to extend the media blackout that has characterised Gaza coverage to the West Bank, depriving global audiences of independent international reporting from the ground. Read more via RSF.

PMA Advocacy Team