Independent media scene
We reward the work of journalists and support libraries.
Society- wide problem
The media cease to be the watchdog of democracy. According to regular CVVM surveys, confidence in traditional media (press, television and radio) has fallen by an average of 25% since its peak in 2005. Although public service media are better positioned than their counterparts in neighbouring countries (Germany or Austria), they have been under increasing pressure from politicians over the past 2 years. The media scene is changing. High-quality journalism ceases to be the normand social consensus is disappearing about which media and methods of journalism carry true and unbiased information. Journalists are accused of not doing their job honestly, and the media is losing the power to bring to light the problems that politicians should address responsibly.
Our solution
To a large extent, the media have the ability to purify themselves. In practice, this means the emergence of new titles that build on quality content and genuine journalism. At the same time, however, the gap between the media that are committed to the fair mediation of reality and the “others” is widening. And that on the side of both the journalists and their readers. Thanks to the Journalism Award we enter into discussion about the quality of media content and show that the above-mentioned division line is not so clear and that good texts are also produced in the media, which for various reasons fight for their reputation. We contribute to the coherence of the journalist community and at the same time to maintaining quality content as part of the media mainstream. So journalists are more valued and less reproached for their work. Thanks to the follow-up work with award-winning texts and cooperation with their authors, we can spread awareness about quality content even further. This is supported, among other things, by cooperation with the Union of Librarians and Information Workers (SKIP) and also with libraries where we support media education events for the general public.
What we do:
- we appreciate quality journalism by giving the Journalism Award annually;
- in the coming years, we want to integrate journalistic awards under the Journalism Award which should become the focal point for the entire journalistic community;
- we send books on the pitfalls of contemporary media to all regional libraries;
- we support public programmes in libraries in the Hradec Králové, Ústí nad Labem and Moravian-Silesian regions that focus on enhancing media literacy (e.g. Listování Lukáše Hejlíka in the Best Book on Fake News, Zvolsi.info initiative seminars);
- we bring to the Czech Republic personalities of world journalism (e.g. multi award-winning reporter and promoter of Solutions Journalism, David Boardman, and board member of the German section of Reporters Without Borders, Gemma Poerzgen);
- we inspire journalism students to see their future work as not only the opportunity to inform truthfully, but also to influence public discourse and address social challenges;
- with the Nadační fond nezávislé žurnalistiky (Nadační fond nezávislé žurnalistiky) and the Společnost Ferdinanda Peroutky (Ferdinand Peroutka Society) we have established Novinářské fórum (Journalist Forum) – students, editors, journalists and editors-in-chief have the opportunity to share their experience across editors offices;
- we supported seminars for teachers on the topic of media education in libraries across all 14 regions of the Czech Republic, so that they could better support the navigation of library visitors through the flood of media content.