The Impact of Media Concentration on Professional ... - OSCE

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Several newspapers <strong>of</strong>fer their readers nothing more thanmainstream material from news agencies. Special interest sectionslike reporting on the media disappear all together. Fastnews and yellow press tabloid style high society reports fill thepages. Political propaganda and public relations material arepublished without any filters or critical comment. Much <strong>of</strong> thismaterial is done by freelancers who have switched from journalismto public relations and who do work as spokespersons,in advertising or PR agencies or at communications centers <strong>of</strong>political parties, associations and institutions.But even if big publishing houses like Springer andHoltzbrinck are allowed to incorporate smaller titles thanks torelaxed anti-trust regulations, the negligence <strong>of</strong> the essentialwatchdog role <strong>of</strong> the media will probably not disappear. Thisis especially true as publishers are not willing to agree on anymodel to safeguard editorial independence. All kinds <strong>of</strong> director indirect State subsidies, like in almost a dozen other Europeancountries, are refused by the publishers as well. <strong>The</strong>question remains on how media pluralism can be guaranteedin times <strong>of</strong> growing ownership concentration!Especially damaging is a specific German rule whichallows publishers to realize the second and third part <strong>of</strong> theirsurvival strategy. <strong>The</strong> rights <strong>of</strong> the works councils to co-decideon economic questions are very limited. Industrial representatives<strong>of</strong> the employees <strong>of</strong> the media sector are at the sametime confronted with budgetary cuts for staff, salaries and feesworth millions <strong>of</strong> Euro and investments in new titles or theacquisition <strong>of</strong> whole publishing enterprises in EU CandidateStates in Central and Eastern Europe. German publishinghouses like WAZ care less about Freedom <strong>of</strong> the Press andjournalistic diversity than about pr<strong>of</strong>its.In conclusion: the crisis is threatening media pluralism andjournalistic pr<strong>of</strong>essionalism in the apparent German “paradise”.100 THE IMPACT OF MEDIA CONCENTRATION ON PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM
5.1.2 Survey ResultsBacked by traditionally strong labour unions, German workersenjoy what is probably the most elaborated model <strong>of</strong> works councils.On a number <strong>of</strong> entrepreneurial decisions this “Betriebsrat”has to be consulted by the management. Even though in mostcases the works council has no rights to decisional participation,the long standing German tradition <strong>of</strong> largely co-operative relationsbetween both owners and Betriebsrat guarantee the workforce an important degree <strong>of</strong> influence. This makes for a widespreadfeeling <strong>of</strong> the workforce being adequately represented.<strong>The</strong> Betriebsrat scheme is also applied to the majority <strong>of</strong> dailynewspapers. (Fig. 1)Is there a works council at your newpaper? Fig. 1Yes 93No0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100<strong>The</strong> most extensive interpretation <strong>of</strong> this model can be found atthe Hamburg based media group “Der Spiegel”, where theemployees actually own 49 per cent <strong>of</strong> the company. <strong>The</strong> Spiegelmodel remains, however, an exception on the German medialandscape and has over the years been repeatedly modified inorder to facilitate entrepreneurial decision making processes.<strong>The</strong> returned questionnaires suggest that German journaliststill feel in-line on organized representation with workersand employees <strong>of</strong> other industrial sectors. On average Germanjournalists seem to be quite satisfied with the effectiveness <strong>of</strong>their work councils. (Fig. 2)Trade unions do, however, sense a creeping and pr<strong>of</strong>oundclimate change in their relations to their industrialist counterparts.Economic stagnation has hit Germany hard for the lastthree consecutive years. After almost a decade <strong>of</strong> fruitless debateCOUNTRY REPORTS – GERMANY 101
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REPRESENTATIVE ON FREEDOM OF THE ME
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ContentsPrefaceby Freimut Duve 9Int
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6. Conclusions 187AnnexQuestionnair
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advertisement is very insecure, mak
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industrial lobbying groups still di
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1. The Imp
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sidents” had been imprisoned. “
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determined Freedom of</stro
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co-operate fully with the OSCE Repr
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Such independence, however, comes a
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and mirror of the
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30 million rely exclusively on info
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Unchecked, concentration will reduc
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protected, a certain level
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indication of the
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time, as the concept of</st
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It appears, however, that this posi
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1.7 New Threats on the Horizon1.7.1
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owns or controls not only the three
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Target countries sometimes interpre
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independence proposed by the OSCE R
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groups to grow. And there is the in
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Page 51 and 52: Directly or indirectly Mr. Silvio B
Page 53 and 54: Yet this simple notion appears to b
Page 55 and 56: newspaper firms. Using the argument
Page 57 and 58: a contribution to democratization a
Page 59: tation of this for
Page 62 and 63: This limitation in no way indicates
Page 64 and 65: press is ridiculous. Journalists co
Page 66 and 67: But these progressive aspects <stro
Page 68 and 69: Nevertheless, the loss of</
Page 70 and 71: may well be true for journalists fr
Page 72 and 73: Is there a works council at your ne
Page 74 and 75: will go to television, this being t
Page 76 and 77: Economic revenue (%) Fig. 61234510,
Page 78 and 79: Good relations with the business co
Page 80 and 81: Further, how can a newspaper, whose
Page 82 and 83: Service for civil society (%) Fig.
Page 84 and 85: The Norwegian medi
Page 86 and 87: Have you ever been put under pressu
Page 88 and 89: Do you feel threatened in your posi
Page 91 and 92: 4. Number of Title
Page 93 and 94: 5. Country Reports5.1 Germany5.1.1
Page 95 and 96: Süddeutsche Zeitung (463,000), Lei
Page 97 and 98: publisher, the Axel Springer Verlag
Page 99: A three directional strategy is wha
Page 103 and 104: Cross-ownership has also increased
Page 109 and 110: Understandably all German journalis
Page 111 and 112: Do you feel threatened in your posi
Page 113 and 114: As also seen in Germany, the data p
Page 115 and 116: 5.2.2 Survey ResultsFinland compete
Page 117 and 118: Newspaper chains were the logical r
Page 119 and 120: 5.3 United Kingdom5.3.1 Country Rep
Page 121 and 122: • Daily Mail and General Trust: D
Page 123 and 124: Is there a works council at your ne
Page 129 and 130: Do you feel free to voice and write
Page 131: Do you feel threatened in your posi
Page 134 and 135: Newspaper reach (%)All Adults 30.1M
Page 136 and 137: As regards ownership concentration,
Page 138 and 139: Financial BackgroundDespite the pre
Page 140 and 141: 5.4.2 Survey resultsIf Finnish jour
Page 142 and 143: of those mini-comp
Page 144 and 145: for example, is very clear on this
Page 146 and 147: Newspaper reach (%)All Adults 40.1M
Page 148 and 149: 5.5.2 Survey ResultsAn anonymous It
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portfolio. In addition, as democrat
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Mr. Berlusconi’s TV advertisement
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5.6 Lithuania5.6.1 Country ReportCa
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is quite remarkable. The</s
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Lithuania is a small country with a
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Another tendency is that newspapers
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Only in 2003, the daily newspaper L
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Newspaper reach (%)All Adults 31.7M
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October 22 2003 was an historic dat
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5.7.2 Survey ResultsSince the end <
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y a mostly anonymous to the general
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On a daily, practical basis there
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Newspaper reach (%)All Adults 15Sou
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so-called “human interest” stor
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indicated that Rodipet applies a di
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5.8.2 Survey ResultsAlthough a smal
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12345Objectivity (%) Fig. 57,114,32
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Strengthening of d
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Do you feel threatened in your posi
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emerging CEE countries with regard
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- Create in all OSCE participating
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Organization for Security and Co-op
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1. In which country are you working
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17. Who defines the editorial line
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29. How would you describe the situ
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- This common code of</stro
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Personal and business interestsIt i
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Orkla Media’s
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www.osce.org/fomJohannes von Dohnan
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