Czechast with Ivan Kytka, a Czech Journalist Living in London

He started his career working for the Czech News Agency, or ČTK, as we Czechs call it, first as a regional correspondent in Central Bohemia, later in the central newsroom. In the early 1990s, after the Velvet Revolution that saw the fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia, Ivan was selected as a correspondent in London. 

Ivan Kytka|Photo: Czech Television

Here, he continued his journalistic endeavors, bringing insightful reporting to Czech audiences through his work with Czech Public Television in London. His reports from this vibrant city offered a unique perspective to his audience back home, bridging cultures and communities.

In the latter part of his career, Ivan Kytka joined the Czech Section of the BBC World Service, a prestigious platform where, I am proud to say, I was his colleague for a few years. In 2006, however, the BBC World Service made a significant shift in its broadcasting strategy, which included the closure of several language services, including the Czech Section.

Ivan Kytka|Photo: Vít Pohanka, Radio Prague International

But unlike most other producers of the Czech Section, Ivan Kytka did not return to Czechia; he stayed in London and still works there as a freelance journalist with very deep and firsthand experience and knowledge of life in London and Britain in general.

In this episode of Czechast Ivan Kytka explains what it was like to work as a young reporter in a Communist country, but also about the life in post-Brexit Britain.