Founded in 2009, Deník Referendum has been for ten years the platform of the Czech civil society giving voice to those who would not be heard otherwise. The news-and-analysis website is creating a space for bold, transformative journalism on social and environmental issues.
We aim to encourage the participation of citizens in all spheres of the public life, giving a voice to marginalized communities, NGOs, and grassroot movements, investigating on the core causes of current problems and facilitating a debate about systemic alternatives. During the ten years of existence we have gained respect and sympathy from a broad group of people ranging from decision-makers, journalists to representatives of social movements.
The news organization has four units, opinion providing a platform for civil society and progressive community; home and international publishing analytical features on major news and reporting involved in long term investigative projects. It has a broad network of authors and volunteers.
It produces two newsletters and often enagages with the community of readers and supporters on public events. A substantial part of the work is the international coopeartion. Deník Referendum is a part of European Network of Corrporate Observatories (ENCO). It has been also the only founding Czech partner of #CoveringClimateNow — the cooperation of world media for better reporting on the climate crisis.
The major achievement of the newspaper came with the establishment of the investigative reporting unit five years ago. One of the first large investigation projects resulted in a series of articles exposing the real motives behind the Czech Oligarch Andrej Babis entering the politics. The book collecting the investigations “The Yellow Baron” has become a national bestseller in 2017.
There are also other important issues the investigative unit of Denik Referendum covers. Some of the recent projects include the investigation on the reasons behind hiking prices of housing that is becoming a one of the worst crisis in the EU countries. Other major investigation “Normalization of Hatred” involving undercover reporting exposed the inner workings of Czech far right “SPD” party and the political, economic and social reasons behind the growth of hatred, racism and xenofobia in the Czech society.
The unit consisting of four women has a unique position in the Czech media. It can operate freely from the pressures of mainstream, there is no push for quick results or quantity of material published but rather for the quality and social value of the outcome. The reporting unit focuses on issues that are neglected or directly repressed by the corporate news outlets because there is no advertising value in them or because they directly cross the interests of the publishers.
The unit consisting of four women has a unique position in the Czech media. It can operate freely from the pressures of mainstream, there is no push for quick results or quantity of material published but rather for the quality and social value of the outcome. The reporting unit focuses on issues that are neglected or directly repressed by the corporate news outlets because there is no advertising value in them or because they directly cross the interests of the publishers.
The main source of money for DR are small contributions of the readers and supporters coming on monthly basis through a Public Fund managed by the editorial team. Small revenue comes from advertising.
The foundations that have supported work of DR include Czech Fund For Support of Independent Journalism, Isvara Foundation, Fridrich Ebert Stiftung, Orlicky Family Foundation.
