Personal attacks, poor economic conditions, and a high degree of editorial freedom. Research evaluates the Czech and global journalistic environment

Czech journalism has undergone significant changes in recent years. According to the World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders, the Czech Republic has moved from 40th to 10th place since 2021. A similar trend is reflected in the latest wave of the Worlds of Journalism Study (WJS), which examines who works in the media, the conditions journalists face, and how they perceive their profession. More than 32,000 journalists from 75 countries participated in the international study – making it the world’s largest comparative research project on working conditions in journalism. The Czech section of the study was conducted by a team of researchers and students from the Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University (ICSJ FSV UK).

Data collection in the Czech Republic took place between 2022 and 2023. The research shows that Czech journalists perceive only a limited number of factors that seriously threaten their work. Most have not faced legal action directly aimed at them, nor physical violence. The greatest threats are seen as personal attacks, pressure, questioning of professional integrity, and hate speech. These perceptions are reflected in their main concerns:

• nearly 38% fear that those who harm journalists in the Czech Republic go unpunished,
• 16% express concerns about their emotional and mental wellbeing,
• 10% fear losing their jobs in the media,
• and almost 3% are concerned about their physical wellbing.

The study also provides insights into who works in Czech media:

• The Czech journalistic environment is dominated by men, who made up almost 60% of respondents.
• The average age was 41.6 years.
• The average working week lasted 46.3 hours.
• Almost half (46%) earn additional income outside journalism, pointing to financial insecurity and instability in the profession.

Czech journalists also report a high degree of editorial autonomy:

• 77% strongly agree that they have freedom in choosing topics, and
• 82% say they are free in deciding how to frame them.
• However, only 58% express confidence in the overall freedom of the media in the country, suggesting a more cautious view of the broader political and economic context.
• Compared to the previous wave of research (2012–2014), the number of respondents who perceive “extreme or very strong” influence from media owners has decreased – from nearly 25% to 18% today. Journalistic ethics and personal values are seen as the key factors influencing their work.

“The relatively optimistic results compared to other countries should be viewed with some caution in light of the new political situation following the parliamentary elections. This is especially relevant given the emerging government’s stance toward public service media and recent attacks on Deník N and particularly investigative journalist Zdislava Pokorná,” says Alice Němcová Tejkalová, head of the Department of Journalism at ICS FSV UK and one of the coordinators of the study in Central and Eastern Europe. She collaborated on the study with Sandra Lábová (also a co-author of the global chapter on editorial autonomy and media freedom), Barbora Součková, and Anna Hrbáčková from ICSJ FSV UK. Students from the institute also contributed to mapping the Czech media landscape and conducting interviews with journalists.

Political and military influence

Media expert Alice Němcová Tejkalová was also one of the lead authors of the global chapter within the WJS focusing on how journalists perceive factors influencing their work. The results show that the intensity of these influences varies significantly across regions. Western countries, especially those in Northern Europe, consistently show the lowest levels of perceived influence – for example, the United States (before the re-election of Donald Trump) was the only non-European country among the twenty nations with the lowest perceived level of government censorship. In contrast, journalists in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and parts of Latin America experience far stronger political interference. In conflict areas such as Yemen, Ukraine, and Pakistan, military influence is perceived as particularly strong.

Consistent with previous waves of the WJS, the global findings confirm that journalists most frequently experience organizational and procedural pressures that directly affect their daily work. The impact of personal relationships remains stable, while economic and political pressures have deepened in many countries. These trends illustrate that journalism never operates in isolation from its social context – and in light of the rise of populism, they reflect growing concerns about external interference in journalistic work.