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

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y a mostly anonymous to the general public, yet intellectuallychallenging group <strong>of</strong> in spe journalists or those oneswho only worked for underground publications. <strong>The</strong>ylacked the experience <strong>of</strong> their, mostly older, colleagues orrivals, but they were enthusiastic.Nowadays, the two groups are mixed together. As theownerships <strong>of</strong> previously state run papers change and theybecome partly foreign owned publications and also, as theindependently founded titles are being sold to the biggermedia players, a journalist is supposed to be loyal to the currentpublishing management. That, in itself, may not meanthat their personal journalistic ethics are being directly jeopardized.Alas, the times <strong>of</strong> wholehearted identification andthe feeling <strong>of</strong> being a representation <strong>of</strong> “my” paper are beingconsequently blown with the wind <strong>of</strong> corporate movements.As it happens, the owners change and so does themanaging staff.A journalist has to be flexible with his or her writing,work-style and possibly business and political sympathies.My point is that, shouldn’t a journalist be loyal to himself asa matter <strong>of</strong> principle? And, if so, how should he maintain thisloyalty, if his current “owner” has different expectationstowards his writing than the previous one?<strong>The</strong> second issue is actually related to the former oneand it’s freelancing. In my current position, I communicatewith journalists from countries all over the world on a dailybasis. I deal with individual authors as well as with huge syndicates,selling various content. And from this I can see howfar we, Polish journalists, are from the Western standards. Itis unthinkable for a serious political commentator here to sella column to two competing daily papers!In spite <strong>of</strong> the loyalty crisis, the names are being stilllinked with the newspapers. However, it is common to draga name from a competitor paper by paying him head overheels, but since then, the name may only appear under thenew banner! What’s more, it happens every so <strong>of</strong>ten, that one170 THE IMPACT OF MEDIA CONCENTRATION ON PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM
may spot a name in an opinion weekly today, and in amonth’s time the very same name appears in a masthead<strong>of</strong> a tabloid daily.Why is it not possible to publish in a weekly anymore?Given that the both do not belong to the same publisher, obviously.<strong>The</strong> answer lies in the contracts we’re signing with thepapers. <strong>The</strong> standard ones contain a special clause which bansan author from writing something that would run in a competitor’spublication without a prior consent from the chiefeditors.<strong>The</strong> same applies to TV and radio station employees.Thus, it is up to the boss to declare who the competition isand whether you may or may not write for them.Basically, there is nothing wrong in <strong>of</strong>fering such a clausein the contract in exchange for something as important, forexample, as a free selection <strong>of</strong> topics. In practice, it is not thatsimple. <strong>The</strong>re may be materials never published or goalsnever achieved, there may be pr<strong>of</strong>essional frustration. And ajournalist can’t take a moved-out text and publish it elsewhere.Does it deprive the mother-publication <strong>of</strong> any value?If a piece is unwanted in my paper, is it a sin to wish to publishit in another?I am full <strong>of</strong> respect for those scarce ones who decidedto go and start a one-person enterprise. <strong>The</strong>y really tooktheir career in their own hands. <strong>The</strong>y are able to sell their“products” to anyone. <strong>The</strong> only trouble is that if one <strong>of</strong>those anyones discovered that the author sold his materialto a competitor, there’s a great possibility that the authorwould have to make a 0-1 choice in which publication torun his texts. It is one or the other, never both. Thus, there’sno real freelancing in Poland. On a deeper level, I think itmeans that many <strong>of</strong> us are not able to follow our passionsand interests, as they may not go along the current needs<strong>of</strong> our employer. It may also mean that many talents arestill hidden underneath the news-<strong>of</strong>-the-day features, neverto be revealed.COUNTRY REPORTS – POLAND 171
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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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areas of Central a
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Directly or indirectly Mr. Silvio B
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Yet this simple notion appears to b
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newspaper firms. Using the argument
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a contribution to democratization a
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tation of this for
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This limitation in no way indicates
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press is ridiculous. Journalists co
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But these progressive aspects <stro
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Nevertheless, the loss of</
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may well be true for journalists fr
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Is there a works council at your ne
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will go to television, this being t
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Economic revenue (%) Fig. 61234510,
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Good relations with the business co
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Further, how can a newspaper, whose
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Service for civil society (%) Fig.
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The Norwegian medi
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Have you ever been put under pressu
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Do you feel threatened in your posi
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4. Number of Title
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5. Country Reports5.1 Germany5.1.1
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Süddeutsche Zeitung (463,000), Lei
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publisher, the Axel Springer Verlag
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A three directional strategy is wha
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5.1.2 Survey ResultsBacked by tradi
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Cross-ownership has also increased
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Economic revenue (%) Fig. 61234515,
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Service for civil society (%) Fig.
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Understandably all German journalis
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Do you feel threatened in your posi
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As also seen in Germany, the data p
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5.2.2 Survey ResultsFinland compete
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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 125 and 126: Economic revenue (%) Fig. 61234510,
Page 127 and 128: Service for civil society (%) Fig.
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 148 and 149: 5.5.2 Survey ResultsAn anonymous It
Page 150 and 151: portfolio. In addition, as democrat
Page 152 and 153: Mr. Berlusconi’s TV advertisement
Page 154 and 155: 5.6 Lithuania5.6.1 Country ReportCa
Page 156 and 157: is quite remarkable. The</s
Page 158 and 159: Lithuania is a small country with a
Page 160 and 161: Another tendency is that newspapers
Page 162 and 163: Only in 2003, the daily newspaper L
Page 166 and 167: October 22 2003 was an historic dat
Page 168 and 169: 5.7.2 Survey ResultsSince the end <
Page 172 and 173: On a daily, practical basis there
Page 174 and 175: Newspaper reach (%)All Adults 15Sou
Page 176 and 177: so-called “human interest” stor
Page 178 and 179: indicated that Rodipet applies a di
Page 180 and 181: 5.8.2 Survey ResultsAlthough a smal
Page 182 and 183: 12345Objectivity (%) Fig. 57,114,32
Page 184 and 185: Strengthening of d
Page 186 and 187: Do you feel threatened in your posi
Page 188 and 189: emerging CEE countries with regard
Page 190 and 191: - Create in all OSCE participating
Page 193 and 194: Organization for Security and Co-op
Page 195 and 196: 1. In which country are you working
Page 197 and 198: 17. Who defines the editorial line
Page 199 and 200: 29. How would you describe the situ
Page 201 and 202: - This common code of</stro
Page 203 and 204: Personal and business interestsIt i
Page 205: Orkla Media’s
Page 208: www.osce.org/fomJohannes von Dohnan
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