Jakub Patočka is a journalist, a civic activist and politician. He studied Sociology at Masaryk University in Brno. Between 1999 and 2008, he served as the Editor-in-Chief of Literární noviny. In 2009, he founded online medium Deník Referendum, which he has been publishing and managing ever since. He has also published his commentaries in Lidové noviny, Mladá fronta DNES, Social Europe Journal, and the British daily The Guardian. He co-authored the “Žlutý baron” book of analyses and reports on the relationship between business and political activities of Andrej Babiš; it became one of the best-selling books in the Czech Republic in 2017. Between 2003 and 2005, he was a member of the Green Party extended leadership, and since 2013, he is a  member of the CSSD party. He is also a member of the Board of the Brussels-based think tank Corporate Europe Observatory.