Investigace.cz was founded by investigative journalist Pavla Holcová in 2013. She wanted to work on cross-border investigative journalism stories, and there was no such platform in the Czech Republic. At the same time, corruption and crime were operating across borders, but no cross-border journalist teams would follow up. So she founded an Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) partner organisation in the Czech Republic. In 2022, the newsroom had 10 members and contributors (most of them women).
The investigative media outlet covers stories on European issues and internationally. The newsroom regularly collaborates in groundbreaking investigations, such as the Panama Papers.
Investigace.cz is the sole Czech representative in the international investigative networks: the OCCRP and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
The information published by Investigace.cz is partly original investigative stories and partly other OCCRP pieces. The pieces published by Investigace.cz are translated into English and Spanish, and OCCRP articles are translated into Czech. Some articles are also shared by the newspaper Deník N. Apart from publishing stories on the website, Investigace.cz has a podcast that explains topics and criminal cases in-depth. The podcast is possible thanks to the Independent Journalism Endowment Fund.
None of the articles published in Investigace.cz are behind a paywall.
Pavla Holcová has received numerous awards for her work, including the ICFJ Knight International Journalism Award and the Allard Prize For International Integrity in 2021.
She cooperated closely with Slovak journalist Ján Kuciak, who was murdered, together with his fiancée, in Slovakia in 2018. The movie The killing of a Journalist by director Matt Sarnecki was released in 2021.
Last updated: January 2023