Czech News Agency (CTK)

The Czech News Agency (Česká tisková kancelář, CTK) is the national public service news agency of Czechia. It publishes news in Czech and English; its Slovak service was terminated in 2011. The agency was established in 1918, the day the state of Czechoslovakia was formed.

Media assets

News agency: CTK

State Media Matrix Typology

Independent State Managed (ISM)

Ownership and governance

CTK operates under the CTK Act enacted in 1992. It was established as an independent public corporation, accountable only to the public.

The agency is overseen by the Czech News Agency Council (the CTK Council), comprising five members appointed by the Chamber of Deputies for five-year terms. The Council appoints the General Director. Individuals holding political office or public positions are ineligible for Council membership, although civil society nominations are absent—thus authorities may exert some influence via appointments.

In March 2023, Jaroslav Kábele was appointed the new Director General of CTK for a six-year term, succeeding Jiří Majstr, who stepped down after 12 years as head of the agency. Kábele’s previous roles include Director of Strategy and Development at CTK, and editorial and leadership roles at Mafra and iDNES.cz.

Source of funding and budget

By law, CTK is primarily funded through commercial revenues from content sales. State subsidies are permitted under certain conditions but cannot be used to cover losses.

In 2020, most of CTK’s budget was generated from content sales and other services. Overall, CTK earned total revenues of CZK 267m (€10.2m) in 2020, with the majority of the earnings coming from sales of news content, photos, videos, and other news-related services, as indicated in an annual report.

The agency reported sales of products and services amounting CZK 282.6m (€11.1m) in 2021, as per the company’s annual report. Additionally, its total income in 2021, including compensation and subsidies from the EU, was CZK 291.1m (€11.4m). In 2022, CTK’s total income exceeded CZK 305.8m, an increase of 8.2% compared to the previous year (€12.4m). In the following year, the agency’s income surged further to CZK 312.9m (€13m).

In 2024, CTK’s total revenues reached CZK 342.5 million, exceeding the budget by 19.3 million (6%), while total expenses amounted to CZK 338.2 million, also above the plan by 15.2 million (4.7%); the agency thus closed the year with a net profit of CZK 4.3 million, surpassing the budgeted surplus of just CZK 197,000.

Editorial independence

CTK imposes no restrictive editorial rules. Its financial self-sufficiency has helped safeguard its journalistic independence. No recent evidence suggests pro-government bias in CTK’s coverage. Being commercially viable necessitates fact-based, unbiased reporting. The CTK Code enforces public service principles and editorial standards. The CTK Council oversees CTK’s compliance with these norms, though its appointment mechanism remains politically influenced.

September 2025