If it's like in Austria, then the state media doesn't receive cheques from the state government, but directly from the taxpayers via a separate tax collected by

If it's like in Austria, then the state media doesn't receive cheques from the state government, but directly from the taxpayers via a separate tax collected by an independent agency granted power by the state, and not from the state itself. On paper this makes it so that the state media is reporting directly to the paying citizens similar to a national Patreon, in practice IMO, it's still state control but with extra steps and middlemen designed to give the illusion of independence.