The Czech News Agency, abbreviated to ČTK, is a national public service news agency in the Czech Republic. It provides its services in Czech and English.
History
ČTK was founded on 28 October 1918, on the same day as Czechoslovakia, as Czechoslovak News Agency.[1] It was formed from several unofficial Czech press agencies, which until then functioned in exile. It published in several languages, including in German together with then-official Czechoslovak.
The agency remained throughout both the Nazi and Communist regimes, however, its reporting was highly censored and it served to the regimes' needs.
As modern ČTK
Following the Velvet Revolution of 1989, the government lost its power to interfere in editorial decisions. In 1993, the government relinquished control of the agency, which has since been managed by its CEO in his sole responsibility.
Following the Velvet divorce, the agency split into the Czech Press Agency, which kept using the ČTK branding, and a newly created