Apolena Rychlíková is the editor-in-chief of the media project Page 404, the first slow journalism media outlet in the Czech Republic.

She is an award-winning filmmaker and journalist who focuses on social inequalities, gender-based violence, racism, minorities, and Czech politics.  Her film and journalistic work has won numerous awards, and she was shortlisted for the European Press Prize in 2021.

In 2021, she and her colleague Jakub Zelenka were behind the exposure of the biggest sex scandal in the Czech Republic, at the end of which prominent politician Dominik Feri was sentenced to prison.

For eight years she worked as an editor of the Czech left-wing daily Alarm. Apolena works as a permanent podcaster for public radio, where she is also a political commentator. She cooperates with a number of other Czech media.

She has completed the BIRN fellowship and the ECJP programme. Her articles have been published in Balkan Insight, the Guardian, Krytyka politiczna, and Eurozine,  She lectures externally at the FAMU Film and Television School in Prague, where she graduated in documentary filmmaking. She has co-authored several award-winning books. Her domain is social reporting and investigative reporting on sexual violence, as well as commentary journalism. She is a co-founder of Women in Media, which seeks to improve the position of women in Czech journalism.    

Photo by Barbora Voříšková.  

Apolena Rychlíková

Basic information

Name
Apolena Rychlíková
Title
Journalist, filmmaker
Expertise
Gender issues, sexual violence, labour, housing, social inequalities
Country
Czechia
City
Prague
Website

Supported projects

Exporting Abortion

  • Healthcare
  • Human Rights

BRUSSELS - Exporting Abortion is a cross-border, collaborative investigation into the unequal access to abortion in Europe. Journalists from across the continent have investigated how thousands of women each year are forced to travel from one country to another to get an abortion. The investigation has revealed that at least 5,860 women in Europe faced this situation in 2023, and more than 25,000 since 2019.

Exporting Abortion

Two States, One Common Injustice

  • Human Rights
  • Justice

BRATISLAVA/PRAGUE - The project "Two States, One Common Injustice: Uncovering the Legacy of Coercive Sterilisation of Roma Women" focused on investigating the different legal approaches to involuntary sterilisation of Roma women in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The research confirmed that although coercive sterilisation took place on the territory of one state, the legislation dealing with compensation for victims was different.

From OnlyFans to OnlyScams

  • Exploitation
  • Human Rights
  • Technology

BERLIN - This investigation focuses on the winners and losers in the online sex work revolution, where people can buy digital subscriptions to explicit content. A pioneer of this model is OnlyFans, a booming platform whose users spent $6.6 billion in 2023 alone.

Photo credit: Unsplash

(Un)just Green Shifts in Czech-Polish Coal Regions

  • Energy
  • Environment
  • Politics

KATOWICE / KARVINÁ - This cross-border research project compares the energy transition in Silesia and Karviná, the coal regions on the Czech-Polish border, with a focus on the implementation of the EU's Just Transition Fund.

Climate and Economy Push Europe’s Farmers to Mental Health Breaking Point

  • Agriculture
  • Climate
  • Healthcare

LARISSA / JAÉN / VASLUI - Farmers are already under immense pressure due to economic strains compounded by stringent EU regulations. Now, the intensifying impacts of climate change are exacerbating these challenges, leading to insomnia, anxiety, and depression among farmers.