WikiLeaks: A breakdown of Czech sources cited by the US Embassy in Prague

Prague School of Economics (VSE) politics professor Vladimíra Dvořáková comes out head and shoulders above her peers as the US embassy in Prague’s most favored commentator between 2004 and 2010. Her name cropped up in the leaked WikiLeaks dispatches nine times in all.

Former political advisor to ex-president Václav Havel and director of New York University in Prague, Jiří Pehe, follows in second place among commentators, with the embassy relying much on his input in dispatches four times.

The fact that US President George W. Bush was installed in the White House over the period in question and the US ambassadors in Prague were prominent Republicans, William J. Cabaniss and Richard W. Graber, does not seem to have made much difference to the fact that the embassy drew on figures who are mainly known for their center or center-left views.

Dvořáková started to appear in dispatches from 2006 after she had just stepped down as vice-president of the prestigious International Political Science Association (IPSA).

Dvořáková started to appear in dispatches from 2006 after she had just stepped down as vice-president of the prestigious International Political Science Association (IPSA). The US embassy’s press office in Prague said she was tapped for information simply because she appeared so often in the media. Pehe, as a graduate of Columbia University, and as the local director of NYU, needed little introduction from the Czech press.

The US embassy cast its net wider with a handful of other political experts sought and mentioned. These include Bohumil Doležal, Miroslav Mareš and Zdeněk Zbořil. Why they didn not search out other experts — also educated in Western Universities and cited in learned journals — is unclear.

If the selection of the political experts and commentators appears a bit random, then that of the Czech journalists cited seems even more so. Jan Macháček, a prominent political and economic commentator for the business daily Hospodářské noviny, is mentioned just once, in connection with plans for a US radar station in the Czech Republic as part of its missile defense shield.

Mladá fronta dnes commentator and journalist Martin Komárek is also mentioned only once, and also in regard to a realm distant from his usual field, the banning of the far-right Workers’ Party (DS).

The journalists cited most in the WikiLeaks dispatches out of Prague are Hospodářské noviny’s Jiří Leschtina and Právo’s Alexandr Mitrofanov. They are each cited in two dispatches. Overall, the opinions of center-leaning journalists seem to prevail.

The US diplomats appear to have more time for sociologists than journalists, according to Czech Position’s research. The names of the directors of two of the biggest local opinion polling agencies, Jan Hartl of the STEM agency and Jan Herzmann of Factum Invenio, are cited seven times in total. After Dvořáková, Hartl is the second most sought after source of information for the US embassy (or at least publicly cited).

An overview of all the opinions sought by the US embassy reveal a clear preference to source those with centrist opinions

An overview of all the opinions sought by the US embassy in Prague reveal a clear preference to source those with centrist opinions. According to Czech Position’s assessment, nine commentators cited come from the center of the political spectrum, six from the center-left and left and five from the center-right and right.

Frequently, however, the leaked US diplomatic dispatches do not give a clear source of their information or comment, merely referring to “another expert” or “another analyst” and the like. That means that the table below does not represent all the opinions sought by or divulged to local US diplomats.

Name	Profession as identified in US Embassy diplomatic cables	Political affiliation	Number of citations	Name of the cable
Political scientists
Vladimíra Dvořáková	political analyst,  chairperson accreditation commission	center-left	9x	Corruptionism In The Czech Republic, How To Succeed In Law School Without Really Trying, Unreformed Communists Court Social Democrats, Top 09: The Czech Republic's Newest Political Party, Czech Government; First 100 Days - No Honeymoon, Uncertain Prospects, Aging Czech Social Democrats Re-elect A Weakened Paroubek, Miss Chance For Change, Conservative Government Takes Power In Prague - But For How Long?, Czech Politics: CSSD Dumps ODS At The Altar And Proposes To Kdu-csl, But Far From Clear Marriage Will Take Place, Czech Elections: ODS, The Wobbly Front Runner
Jiří Pehe	Political scientist, author, analyst	center-left	4x	Czech Elections: ODS, The Wobbly Front Runner, Czech Republic: Communist Party Already De Facto Junior Partner Of The Ruling Social Democrats?, 16 Years After The End Of Communist Rule, Czechs Still Debating Propriety Of Communist Party, But Fewer And Fewer Object.,  Czech Elections - Too Early And Too Close To Call, But Few Threats To U.s. Interests
Bohumil Doležal	political scientist, commentator	right-leaning	2x	Czech Elections: ODS, The Wobbly Front Runner, Czech Republic: Communist Party Already De Facto Junior Partner Of The Ruling Social Democrats?
Zdeněk Zbořil	Charles University/expert on extremism	left-leaning	2x	Czech Court Bans Extreme-right Workers Party, Czech Republic: Anarchist Riots Overshadow Planned Neo-nazi Marches, Thousands Peacefully Demonstrate Against Fascism
Miroslav Mareš	Masaryk University, expert on extremism	right-leaning	1x	Czech Court Bans Extreme-right Workers Party
Ivo Šlosarčík	Expert on the Lisabon Treaty, Charles University	centrist	1x	What Lisbon Reminds Us About President Klaus
Journalists
Alexandr Mitrofanov	Právo, political commentator	left-leaning	2x	Two Tracks Underway To Resolve Czech Election Turmoil, Aging Czech Social Democrats Re-elect A Weakened Paroubek, Miss Chance For Change
Jiří Leschtina	Hospodářské  noviny, commentator	centrist	2x	Czech Court Bans Extreme-right Workers Party, Czech Election Turmoil: What Caused This Mess?
Petr Kamberský	Hospodářské noviny (now Lidové noviny)	center-right	1x	Two Tracks Underway To Resolve Czech Election Turmoil
Lenka Zlámalová	Hospodářské noviny (now Lidové noviny)	center-right	1x	Czech Republic: Privitazation Of Aero Vodochody Planned Before General Elections In June 2006
Jindřich Šídlo	political analyst on ČT (today a commentator Hospodářský noviny)	centrist	1x	No Surprises As Two Smaller Parties Elect Leaders
Erik Tabery	Respekt editor (today editor in chief)	centrist	1x	Czech Election Turmoil: What Caused This Mess?
Daniel Kaiser	Lidové noviny	center-right	1x	Czech Court Bans Extreme-right Workers Party
Peter Uhl	Právo	left-leaning	1x	Czech Court Bans Extreme-right Workers Party
Martin Komárek	MF Dnes	centrist	1x	Czech Court Bans Extreme-right Workers Party
Sociologists
Jan Hartl	political analyst, head of STEM	center-left	5x	Corruptionism In The Czech Republic, 20 Years After The Velvet Revolution: Politics Not So Plush, Embassy Prague Sponsors Discussion On Extremism, Czech Government; First 100 Days - No Honeymoon, Uncertain Prospects, Czech Elections: ODS, The Wobbly Front Runner
Jan Herzmann	analyst, head of Factum Invenio	centrist	2x	Czech Government; First 100 Days - No Honeymoon, Uncertain Prospects, Czech Elections: ODS, The Wobbly Front Runner
Ivan Gabal	sociologist, consultant	centrist	1x	Czech Public Debate On Missile Defense, Czech Elections: ODS, The Wobbly Front Runner
Karel Čada	sociologist	centrist	1x	Embassy Prague Sponsors Discussion On Extremism
Jiřina Šiklová	sociologist	centrist	1x	Embassy Prague Sponsors Discussion On Extremism