Czech Education Minister's new press spokesperson to be Romani journalist Jarmila Balážová

TÝDEN.cz reports that Jarmila Balážová, who until recently worked as press spokesperson for Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier, is changing positions and will become press spokesperson for Czech Minister of Education, Youth and Sport Kateřina Valachová in November.

Balážová graduated in journalism from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University in Prague, majoring in film and television, and wrote her thesis on "Romani Media after 1989". During the 1990s she established and led Roma programming at public broadcaster Czech Radio.

She has been an external correspondent for public broadcaster Czech Television, where she later worked as a dramaturg for children’s programming. In 2002 she moderated the "Áčko" program for TV Nova, the country’s most-watched commercial broadcaster.

Since 2002 she has been working for Czech Radio 6. In 2003 she co-founded of the ROMEA association, of which she is chair, and became the Editor-in-Chief of the magazine Romano voďi.

In 2007 she won the Karel Havlíček Borovský Prize for her journalistic work. Since the 1990s she has also worked as an expert on Romani issues, has been a member of a broad range of commissions, and served as the Vice-Chair of the Czech Government Council on National Minorities.