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

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Daily newspapers have been hardest hit. By losing most <strong>of</strong> thequalified and small advertisements to the internet, in only a fewyears dailies have experienced a loss <strong>of</strong> revenue <strong>of</strong> up to 60 percent. 19 This trend seems to be definite. No substitute for lostincome through advertisement is in sight. 20 Consequently printmedia in general and daily newspapers in particular are comingincreasingly under economic pressure.This development is particularly serious as quality dailynewspapers are considered to be <strong>of</strong> outstanding social relevance.Even the best televised programme can not substitutethe depth <strong>of</strong> information and debate delivered by a qualitydaily newspaper. According to research studies conducted bythe German media expert Pr<strong>of</strong>. Dr. Axel Zerdick, the extensiveusage <strong>of</strong> television as the prime source for information eventends to reinforce negative political stereotypes and diminishestrust in politics.Newspapers on the other hand, have not been correlatedwith similar negative effects. On the contrary, newspapers areconsidered best equipped to create a better and deeper understanding<strong>of</strong> politics and society at large. “<strong>The</strong> reading <strong>of</strong> newspaperssignificantly betters political competence”. 21Former French Prime Minister Michel Rocard is convincedthat “<strong>The</strong> written press alone can give readers the correct version<strong>of</strong> events and can balance out the instantaneous informationthat <strong>of</strong>ten deforms our opinions and ideas”. 22Joe Groebel, Director General <strong>of</strong> the European Institute forthe <strong>Media</strong>, adds to this analysis: “Society is increasingly basedon information, and it is a given fact that newspapers are themost important glue to society. <strong>The</strong>y have specific responsibilities,and they also have power. We just have to address the idea<strong>of</strong> concentration and possible monopolies.” 23In this context the usage <strong>of</strong> different media in Europeancountries makes interesting reading. Of the 58 million Italians,26 THE IMPACT OF MEDIA CONCENTRATION ON PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM
30 million rely exclusively on information from television. <strong>The</strong>total circulation <strong>of</strong> daily newspapers does not reach six millioncopies, with a sports daily being the biggest selling newspaperin the country. Compared to these figures, Germany with a population<strong>of</strong> roughly 80 million features a daily circulation <strong>of</strong> ca.24 million copies. Only Japan and Norway beat Finland whenit comes to newspaper consumption. Four out <strong>of</strong> five Finns subscribeto at least one daily newspaper!<strong>The</strong> European Court <strong>of</strong> Human Rights has ruled that “withoutplurality <strong>of</strong> voices and opinions in the media, the media cannotplay their contributory role in democracy”. 24 According toa report commissioned by the Council <strong>of</strong> Europe “Pluralism is(thus) a basic general rule <strong>of</strong> European media policy”. 25To guarantee the widest possible choice <strong>of</strong> information andopinion to the individual citizen it needs not only pluralism unddiversity, but a competitive media market as well. Consideringits relevance for the high end <strong>of</strong> the quality information sector,this is particularly valid for the daily newspaper market.To be independent, daily newspapers can not be owned orcontrolled by the state or any power center within society. <strong>The</strong>yhave to be in private hands. As such, newspaper enterprises aresubjected to the rules <strong>of</strong> any market economy.19 Michael Rutz, editor-in-chief <strong>of</strong> the German weekly newspaper Rheinischer Merkurin a speech on Freedom and Pluralism <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Media</strong>, (Berlin, 30 May 2003).20 Pr<strong>of</strong>. Axel Zerdick, Thomas Simeon, Publizistik- und kommunikationswissenschaftlicheUeberlegungen zur Mediensituation in Berlin (Berlin, February 2003).21 Pr<strong>of</strong>. Axel Zerdick, Thomas Simeon, Publizistik- und kommunikationswissenschaftlicheUeberlegungen zur Mediensituation in Berlin (Berlin, February 2003).22 New Strategies for Pr<strong>of</strong>it Growth: 55th World Newspaper Congress (Brugge, 2002).23 New Strategies for Pr<strong>of</strong>it Growth: 55th World Newspaper Congress (Brugge, 2002).24 Peter A. Bruck a.o., <strong>Media</strong> Diversity in Europe: Report to the Council <strong>of</strong> Europe(Strasbourg, Dec 2002).25 Peter A. Bruck a.o., <strong>Media</strong> Diversity in Europe: Report to the Council <strong>of</strong> Europe(Strasbourg, Dec 2002).JOHANNES VON DOHNANYI 27
Page 3 and 4: REPRESENTATIVE ON FREEDOM OF THE ME
Page 5 and 6: ContentsPrefaceby Freimut Duve 9Int
Page 7: 6. Conclusions 187AnnexQuestionnair
Page 10 and 11: advertisement is very insecure, mak
Page 12 and 13: industrial lobbying groups still di
Page 15 and 16: 1. The Imp
Page 17 and 18: sidents” had been imprisoned. “
Page 19 and 20: determined Freedom of</stro
Page 21 and 22: co-operate fully with the OSCE Repr
Page 23 and 24: Such independence, however, comes a
Page 25: and mirror of the
Page 29 and 30: Unchecked, concentration will reduc
Page 31 and 32: protected, a certain level
Page 33 and 34: indication of the
Page 35 and 36: time, as the concept of</st
Page 37 and 38: It appears, however, that this posi
Page 39 and 40: 1.7 New Threats on the Horizon1.7.1
Page 41 and 42: owns or controls not only the three
Page 43 and 44: Target countries sometimes interpre
Page 45 and 46: independence proposed by the OSCE R
Page 47 and 48: groups to grow. And there is the in
Page 49 and 50: areas of Central a
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
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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
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A three directional strategy is wha
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5.1.2 Survey ResultsBacked by tradi
Page 103 and 104:
Cross-ownership has also increased
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
Page 109 and 110:
Understandably all German journalis
Page 111 and 112:
Page 113 and 114:
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
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• Daily Mail and General Trust: D
Page 123 and 124:
Is there a works council at your ne
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
Page 129 and 130:
Do you feel free to voice and write
Page 131:
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:
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
Page 158 and 159:
Lithuania is a small country with a
Page 160 and 161:
Another tendency is that newspapers
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Only in 2003, the daily newspaper L
Page 164 and 165:
Page 166 and 167:
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
Page 180 and 181:
5.8.2 Survey ResultsAlthough a smal
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12345Objectivity (%) Fig. 57,114,32
Page 184 and 185:
Strengthening of d
Page 186 and 187:
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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