Prague - Nobody really expected it. When Aktualne.cz was launched on 1 November 2005 as the first Czech online daily without backing of any established traditional media (like newspaper or TV), it was almost universally predicted that the bold but risky internet project would have a very short life.
When the project started, Czech media heavyweights admitted it was interesting and attractive from a journalistic point of view, nonetheless argued in unison that without any backing from a traditional media and - allegedly - with no solid business plan, it could never be profitable and thus would not survive the year 2006.
Indeed, in 2005 the idea of an online newspaper with no relation to any print newspaper was new not only to the Czech Republic, but was a rarity even in the European context, with Norwegian Nettavisen being possibly the only exclusively online newspaper in Europe at the time.
Five years later, Aktualne.cz is still here. And not only that it is alive - it actually prospers. The online daily is now one of the Czech Republic's most influential news sources. It has avoided fate of other ground-breaking internet news projects.
Read more: Groundbreaking hyperlocal media project killed by owner
Readership
The daily needed only two years to establish itself as one of the most influential news sources in the country. In two years, Aktualne.cz managed to double the number of monthly unique visitors, from 500,000 in November 2005 to one million in November 2007. Currently, the average number of monthly unique visitors is more than 1.2 million. (The Czech Republic is a country of roughly 10.5 million people)
The number of page views per month enjoyed steady increase from roughly 11 million in November 2005 to 69 million as of October 2010.
Today, Aktualne.cz is regularly quoted by other Czech mainstream media including the public service Czech Television or largest printed dailies. In addition, the daily has been also quoted by the world's largest news sources such as Bloomberg, Reuters, or AFP.
Investigative journalism
In the five years, Aktualne.cz investigative journalists have uncovered a number of important political scandals.
In fact, Aktualne.cz's investigative reputation had even faster start than its readership numbers. The daily's first edition from 1 November 2005 opened with an article about how the Czech Land Fund chaired by then Agriculture Minister Petr Zgarba cheaply sold state-owned parcels near Prague to speculators. The difference between the parcels' market price and the sum the speculators actually paid was more than CZK 2 bil (EUR 80 mil). Ten days after the story was published, Petr Zgarba resigned. One shot - one hit, some could say.
The author, Sabina Slonková, had gained acclaim for her investigative stories already before moving to Aktualne.cz. Infamously, she had even became an object of a murder plot as a revenge for her articles.
Read more: Man who plotted to kill journalist freed on probation
One of the most important stories published by Aktualne.cz more recently was the so-called Savoy affair. A few days before the Czech presidential election (Czech president is elected by the parliament) in February 2008, Aktualne.cz released a video footage capturing Czech President Václav Klaus' chancellor Jiří Weigl secretly meeting a controversial Czech lobbyist Miroslav Šlouf linked to the former Social Democratic (ČSSD) Prime Minister Miloš Zeman in Prague's Savoy hotel. The video was very important because it displayed one of the closest advisors of Václav Klaus meeting with a person seen by many as an enfant terrible of the Czech politics. In the election, Václav Klaus was re-elected for his second term.
Read more: Police investigate leak of Savoy meeting
Breaking the language barrier
Also, in the 5 years, Aktualne.cz has introduced countless new web features, including blogs, videos, photo galleries, online interviews, news database, and many others.
And, last but not least: CzechNews, Aktualne.cz's gate to the (English-speaking) world, was launched in October 2007. Every week, CzechNews publishes several stories that might be interesting for non-Czech speakers. And even this section has quickly found its regular readers. So, stay tuned, folks!
