Server HlidaciPes calls itself a new model of journalism that works in the public interest. But its dependence upon funds from two local businessmen suggests otherwise.


They say never to look a gift horse in the mouth. But when it comes to gift horses donated to watch dogs perhaps one should.

"We are not a lobby group. We will not take sides in politics or in business. We want to expose dodgy dealings and to bring about change. Reporters today lack the time and resources for long term, in-depth work. It is necessary to look for new models that would allow journalists to work in the public interest and to uncover abuses of power."

Fine words indeed from Ondrej Neumann, the founder of HlidaciPes, a project which he calls ‘public interest journalism’. The problem is that this experiment in speaking truth to power is funded by two controversial Czech industrialists, Jaroslav Veverka of Noen and Annonce, and Milan Simonovsky of Sigma, through an endowment fund they jointly control.

Noen runs bucket wheel excavators and conveyor belt systems for open pit coal mining and coal-fired power plants. Its chairman, Jaroslav Veverka, also owns Annonce, the classified ads firm. Veverka is a colourful figure with close ties to former Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek and his sidekick Marek Dalik (see these examples of true public interest journalism, CT1's Reporteri here and here.)

Sigma is a heavy engineering company that supplies hi-tech pumps to conventional and nuclear power plants. It is a part of the Russian MIR 1200 consortium hoping to supply nuclear reactors to the Czech Republic, a deal that would be worth EUR1 billion to Sigma alone, according to Simonovsky (see here). Simonovsky was charged with fraud in 2001, spending several months in jail before being released -he was never convicted.

Veverka and Simonovsky set up the 'Czech Industrialists Endowment Fund' in mid-2014. The ‘revizor’ or internal auditor of the fund is Veverka's own employee. This fund is the principal donor to HlidaciPes, committing to finance the project for up to two years according to Neumann, who is nevertheless keen to stress that “a key source of finance is donations from the widest range of people." When pressed, Neumann is unwilling to be more specific about the share of the finances provided by the general public.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Given the commercial interests of the project’s donors, we must ask the question of whether HlidaciPes is fulfilling its commitment to speak truth to power in its coverage of this country's energy sector?

No. To date, the server has produced eight articles on Czech energy policy, all posted in the last eight weeks and all written by Robert Brestan, formerly of Ekonom. The coverage is confined to two subjects: the thoughts of Pavel Solc, a middle-aged ministry official responsible for drafting energy policy documents for the government; and coal mining limits.

Of the eight posts, three cover the debate on breaking coal mining limits; four are copy-paste pieces containing Solc’s latest cogitations on this country’s energy policy, either in the form of an interview with the great man himself or summaries of his latest jottings on paper; and finally there is a regurgitation of an opinion piece from the Financial Times about why Germany was mad to abandon nuclear power.

HlidaciPes’s promise to deliver in-depth analysis and investigation into abuses of power does not appear to include the domestic energy sector. Its coverage is wholly uncritical and slavishly conventional -like the power plants upon which its donors depend for their living. If this is a new model of journalism, then Andrej Babis is my uncle.

They say never to look a gift horse in the mouth. But when it comes to gift horses donated to watch dogs, you had better look and look closely if you wish to keep your reputation for barking.