Newsroom ČT24 | How journalists work in Brussels

What is the work of journalists in Brussels like? How difficult is it to find respondents for interviews? And is a lot of media in the Czech Republic interested in the EU? Viktor Daněk, Deputy Director of Institute EUROPEUM, talked about his experiences as a journalist in Brussels on the programme Newsroom ČT24.

What is challenging is building a network of informal contacts. The work there is based on knowing people inside the institutions who must be willing to explain the background of things off the record, not on the microphone. They explain why something is happening, what the context is, and you need to earn the trust of these people who are not allowed to speak on the record. This takes months or even years of work.

You can watch the entire program here from appoximately 46. minute.

Viktor Daněk
Deputy Director

Before entering the NGO sphere, Viktor Daněk worked for almost ten years as a journalist. During his time with the public service Czech radio, he focused mainly on covering EU affairs. He spent almost five years as a permanent correspondent in Brussels, where he cooperated with other media outlets. Before his career in journalism, he gained experience in the area of marketing and communication in the Česká spořitelna banking group and at the Czech Technical University in Prague. He holds university degrees in Media Studies and International Relations. Viktor Daněk joined the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy in October 2023. He continues to be active in the media as a freelancer. His main areas of interest are institutional questions of European integration, globalisation and the EU’s climate and migration policy.