Czech media oligarchs consolidate press powers

In one of his frequent outbursts against the Czech media, President Milos Zeman railed in September that it “usually only sides with those in power.” That is possibly because increasingly the Czech media are, like elsewhere in central Europe, owned by the rich and powerful.

The most blatant example was the acquisition by Andrej Babis, then head of a new party riding high in the opinion polls, in 2013 of the MAFRA Media Group -- which owns the best-selling Czech broadsheet Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) as well as the influential Lidove noviny. The subsequent election made Mr Babis finance minister, leader of the second largest party in parliament and -- according to polls -- now the most popular in the country. With his political and media power, backed by the huge financial resources of his agricultural-chemical conglomerate Agrofert, Mr Babis is widely considered the most powerful man in the country.