About us
PCMS is an international group of media professionals with long experience of television, radio, print and online journalism and communication.
Our aim is to promote journalistic excellence by working with colleagues to raise and extend their skills through intensive workshops and courses, mentoring schemes and conferences.
Our mission is to support the development of fair, inclusive, transparent and informed societies through quality reporting. The role of media as society watchdog, anchoring and deepening democracy, lends our work a broader social impact. Through encouraging news media development, by providing training and opportunities for professional dialogue across borders, we leverage our unique experience to drive systemic change.
PCMS Chair, Frank Williams,
began his career with BBC World Service in London. After making programs for listeners in the Soviet Union for both the BBC and Radio Liberty, he worked on broadcast journalism training for the BBC in Russia, Georgia, Uzbekistan and Romania. Most recently Frank has been involved in developing projects to support editors and reporters for independent media in the Caucasus and Belarus.
Frank is sharing his experience in sessions with newcomers to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in support of RFE’s mission to provide high-quality, uncensored, independent journalism to countries where media freedom is either non-existent or severely restricted. Discussion centres on why the traditional values of news journalism – reliability, accuracy, objectivity and fairness – are still vital in winning the trust of audiences today.
Deputy Chair, Ondrej Soukup,
is a seasoned reporter and analyst on Eastern Europe for Czech business newspaper Hospodařské noviny, focused mainly on Russia and Ukraine. He has also worked as a project manager in the region for the Czech humanitarian aid organization People in Need (Člověk v tísni).
PCMS Treasurer, Renata Kankova,
has many years’ experience of financial reporting for Czech NGOs. Her expertise in budgeting and tax reporting has benefitted a great many development projects, on both a local and international scale.
Committee member, Adriana Dergam,
has played diverse roles in media, the voluntary, public and academic sectors as well as managerial positions in business. With her rich international background and experience, Adriana supports the development and delivery of projects focused on communication, sustainability and innovation.
Adriana is leading the PCMS contribution to a project launched in January 2022 to support the promotion of human rights in the digital era. The project is aimed at improving people’s awareness in the Czech Republic of the impact of new technologies on their rights.