Janek (Jan) Rubeš (born 24 December 1987) is a
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus
*Czech (surnam ...
reporter, documentarist,
vlog
A vlog (), also known as a video blog or video log, is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in one ta ...
ger and director. He is mainly known for the
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel ''Honest Guide'', which he runs with his cameraman Honza Mikulka. The channel provides tips for tourists, including tips on how to avoid
tourist trap
A tourist trap is an establishment (or group of establishments) created or re-purposed with the aim of attracting tourists and their money. Tourist traps typically provide overpriced services, entertainment, food, souvenirs, and other product ...
s and scams in many cities, mainly
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
.
In 2016 the Czech edition of
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
featured Rubeš in their ''30 under 30'' list'': 30 of the most talented Czechs under 30 years old''. In 2019, he won the ' (''Journalist Quail'', awarded to young journalists under the award of
Karel Havlíček Borovský
Karel Havlíček Borovský (; 31 October 1821 – 29 July 1856) was a Czech writer, poet, critic, politician, journalist, and publisher.
Early life and education
He lived and studied at the gymnasium in Německý Brod (today Havlíčkův Brod, ...
) for his investigative and brave journalism. The British newspaper
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
named him and Honza Mikulka "the patron saints of Prague tourism".
Early life
Rubeš studied at
The Film Academy of Miroslav Ondricek in
Písek
Písek (; ) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 31,000 inhabitants. The town is known for the oldest bridge in the country. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument z ...
and also at
Tomáš Baťa University in
Zlín
Zlín (in 1949–1989 Gottwaldov; ; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 75,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Zlín Region and it lies on the Dřevnice River. It is known as an industrial centre. The development of the modern city ...
. His father, Jan Rubeš, is known for his work in television production. His parents are divorced.
Career
In 2006, Rubeš filmed viral videos as part of a duo called ''Noisebrothers'' with Jindra Malík. Since 2006, he has been engaged with Czech internet television
Stream.cz, for which he has created a number of successful programs over the years, including ''How to Do It'', ''NBN'', ''Life in Luxury'', ''City of Scams?'', and ''Prague vs. Crooks''. In ''Prague vs. Crooks'' (2015), he documented Prague as a city of
organized crime
Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...
. For example, he captured taxi drivers scamming tourists by charging them many times the normal price. He was also a cameraman for a series about architecture ''Gebrian versus'' and for ''Jídlo s.r.o.''.
In 2018, he left Stream.cz and joined the newly emerging Czech news channel
Seznam Zprávy
Seznam.cz (or Seznam, ''list'' in Czech) is a web portal and search engine in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1996 by Ivo Lukačovič in Prague as the first web portal in the Czech Republic. Seznam started with a search engine and an internet v ...
, which is under ownership of the Czech internet portal and company
Seznam.cz
Seznam.cz (or Seznam, ''list'' in Czech) is a web portal and search engine in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1996 by Ivo Lukačovič in Prague as the first web portal in the Czech Republic. Seznam started with a search engine and an internet ...
. Between 2018 and 2019, he hosted the talkshow ''
V centru'' (translated as ''In The Centre'') of which he was the writer.
Honest Guide
Since 2016, he has published his most popular series ''Honest Guide'' with his cameraman friend Honza Mikulka on YouTube. It is filmed in English. The channel provides tips for tourists, including tips on how to avoid tourist traps and scams in many cities, mainly
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
. They have also filmed in multiple cities in the Czech Republic (such as
Český Krumlov
Český Krumlov (; , ''Böhmisch Krumau'') is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 13,000 inhabitants. It is known as a tourist centre, which is among the most visited places in the country. The historic centre ...
,
Pardubice
Pardubice (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 92,000 inhabitants. It is the capital city of the Pardubice Region and lies on the Elbe River. The historic centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Repub ...
, and
Brno
Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...
) and abroad (
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
,
Kyiv
Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
,
Tampere
Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...
, and
Innsbruck
Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...
). As of February 2023, the YouTube channel has more than 1 Million subscribers and more than 117.8 million views. Many of the videos from the Honest Guide channel were deleted in March 2021 due to a
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...
dispute. Janek Rubeš and Honza Mikulka were employed by TV Seznam until the end of 2020 and they shot the same videos from the Honest Guide for their employer. The videos for TV Seznam were in Czech, but the content was the same. On 2 October 2020, Rubeš and Mikulka created a new channel called ''Kluci z Prahy'' which is the same format as ''Honest Guide'', but in Czech.
References
External links
*
Rubeš articlesat Seznam Zprávy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubes, Janek
1987 births
Journalists from Prague
Living people
Czech YouTubers
Tourism in Prague
Tour guides of Europe
21st-century Czech people