Czech Republic - Stories of disruption
‘The Land of Stories’ represents the official tagline of the Czech Tourism Agency, communicating the country’s image internationally – and, indeed, 2022 has been full of stories when it comes to disruption of various kinds.
Politics
More than 32 years on from the so-called ‘Velvet Revolution’ (separating Czech Republic from the socialist block lead by the USSR), and for the first time under democratic conditions, the Communist Party of Bohemia & Moravia did not make it to Parliament. This event was very well predicted by Ipsos’ election research.[1]
Ukraine
Still very early in the year, the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces brought an extreme movement of solidarity among Czech citizens, companies and Government, resulting in the highest per-capita financial support of Ukraine in Europe. It also heralded the highest-ever wave of immigration in the country’s modern history (perceptions of which were monitored by Ipsos surveys which showed that seven in ten citizens are in favour of supporting Ukraine).
2022 has been full of stories when it comes to disruption of various kinds
Fake news
Following an enormous spread of disinformation and fake news related to the war in Ukraine, Ipsos partnered with the Central European Digital Media Observatory (CEDMO, part of the European Digital Media Observatory), founded by The Charles University in Prague, with the support of some other Czech, Slovak and Polish universities and media organisations with proven fact-checking records (e.g. AFP). This work culminated at a key event in September where we presented alongside the EU Commission Vice-President, the regional GM of Microsoft and the Charles University rector.[2]
Meanwhile, in relation to the highest-ever level of Czech inflation (which was running at over 17% during the third quarter) we built on the global What Worries the World series and added a local deep-dive into consumer sentiment, helping us explore the differences between our perceptions and the reality...
The component combining the real level of inflation recorded by the Czech Bureau of Statistics and the inflation levels perceived by the country’s population (separate picture enclosed) has been extremely well-received.
Jakub Maly
Notes
