Klímová, Szanto receive prestigious Czech prize for journalists

Prague, Feb 7 (CTK) - Jana Klimova, an analyst of Czech Radio, and Jakub Szanto, the Middle East reporter of Czech Television, received the prestigious Ferdinand Peroutka Prize for 2017 from the Ferdinand Peroutka Society on Wednesday.

The prize has been awarded since 1995.

Klimova received it for her capability of explaining the most complicated economic problems and Szanto for his preparedness and professional approach.

Klimova now works with Czech Radio. Before it, she worked in the Hospodarske noviny financial paper, Mlada fronta DNES daily and Respekt weekly.

In Czech Radio, she is a member of its investigative team.

"In recent years, Klimova opened up many major cases in the sphere of Czech business and politics," Martin Groman, a member of the jury, said.

During his studies, Szanto joined the foreign desk of the commercial television station Nova.

He has been working with Czech Television since 2006 and as a permanent foreign correspondent for the Middle East in Tel Aviv since July 2013 .

"He deals with the historical context, explaining and analysing, while he does not give any instruction on whom to side with. He only feels full responsibility for how and why he presents his reports," Veronika Bednarova, a member of the jury, said.

Ferdinand Peroutka (1895-1978) was a respected, democratic Czechoslovak journalist who left the country after the communist coup in 1948. He headed the New York-based Radio Free Europe's Czech-language section between 1951 and 1961.