6.10.2023
The Czech News Agency (ČTK) has officially opened its renovated PressCentrum at its headquarters in Opletalova Street No. 5 in Prague. It includes a hall for 50 seated participants, a large screen, a photo wall for custom photography, and an audiovisual studio. The ČTK's goal is to reinstate the centre as a prestigious venue for press conferences, public debates and round tables, ČTK Director General Jaroslav Kábele said.
"We would like experts and masters of all disciplines to meet with journalists here, at a good location in the centre of Prague, and we want the outputs of these meetings to reach a wide reader or viewer forum," he added.
The PressCentrum has served as a place for press conferences and a base for journalists since the First Czechoslovak Republic. The building that houses the PressCentrum was built between 1928 and 1930. The PressCentrum hall served its original purpose until the mid-1990s, after which the premises were rented out for other purposes.
Presscentrum in 1993. Inauguration of ČTK Director General Milan Stibral (second from the right). ČTK photo/Hejzlar Jaroslav.
Having started in the spring of 2023, the revamp has cost about six and a half million crowns. The ČTK has covered the costs from its own budget, which is not subsidised by any state contributions or fees similar to those received by the public radio and television.
"From the economic point of view, PressCentrum is part of our commercial activities which we undertake to co-fund the production of independent news. This is similar to the way we rent unused space in our buildings, prepare and distribute press releases, and create custom-made video streams special printed or web supplements," Kábele said. PressCentrum's range of services can be found on the ČTK website.
The ceremonial launch of PressCentrum marks the 105th anniversary of the ČTK. It was founded as a state-owned agency on October 28, 1918, the same day as the Czechoslovak Republic. It has been operating as a public agency independent of the state since the division of the Czechoslovak federation in 1993.
The evening opening ceremony was preceded by an event for schools called Četka učí o 105 (The ČTK Teaches at Full Speed), organised by the ČTK Academy together with the Jeden svět na školách (One World at Schools) project of the People in Need organisation. It included a debate among the heads of news desks and young, prominent faces of all three Czech public media, i.e. the Czech Television, the Czech Radio and the Czech News Agency. After the debate, the ČTK organised thematic workshops for students focused on photojournalism, foreign reporting and the use of AI tools in news coverage.