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

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Uncontrolled concentration processes in the media sector are athreat to the nerve centres <strong>of</strong> democratic societies. In case <strong>of</strong> theEuropean Union the threat is double. <strong>Concentration</strong> endangersthe very cultural diversity which is at the heart <strong>of</strong> the EU, too.“<strong>Media</strong> concentration is a serious problem across the continent.A specific issue in the new democracies is that a small number<strong>of</strong> companies now predominantly own the printed press. At thenational level some <strong>of</strong> the press markets are highly concentrated.”31 <strong>The</strong> Federation <strong>of</strong> European Journalists warns thatwith concentration “comes increasing concern for the impacton media quality, pluralism and diversity”. 32As ever fewer media concerns control ever bigger marketshares, an increasing number <strong>of</strong> daily newspapers are loosingtheir independence by being bought <strong>of</strong>f by bigger competitors.<strong>The</strong>se titles either disappear altogether or become downgradedto regional or local supplements <strong>of</strong> financially sound dailies.Free and independent media need a sound financial basis inorder to guarantee editorial and journalistic independence.Only then can they withstand direct or indirect pressure on thecontent by advertising companies or through the allocation <strong>of</strong>state subsidies.<strong>The</strong> case <strong>of</strong> the Federal Republic <strong>of</strong> Germany can be takenas exemplary: Even in Europe’s richest economy the number<strong>of</strong> daily newspapers dropped from 391 titles in 1998 to 374titles in 2002 (- 4.35%). Over the same period <strong>of</strong> time, totalcirculation <strong>of</strong> daily newspapers in Germany diminished by7.10 per cent. Renowned papers with long standing traditionslike Die Welt, the Frankfurter Rundschau or the Berliner Tagesspiegelare threatened with closure. Important newspapers like theSueddeutsche Zeitung or the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung hadto reduce their journalistic workforce drastically. Roughly1,500 journalists are reported jobless in Berlin alone: A clear32 THE IMPACT OF MEDIA CONCENTRATION ON PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM
indication <strong>of</strong> the economic and financial strains that the Germandaily newspaper market has been suffering from for years.If economic constraints have such an impact on a rich anddemocratically vibrant media environment like the Germanmarket, consequences for smaller and emerging media marketsin CEE countries are even more dramatic. More than ten yearsafter the collapse <strong>of</strong> the former regimes the financial situation<strong>of</strong> newspapers as well as the revenue from advertisementremains very insecure, making journalists and media extremelyvulnerable to all kinds <strong>of</strong> influences from the outside.Foreign media investment in CEE countries might help tostabilize the financial situation, thus helping to retain or tocreate the basic conditions for editorial independence andinvestigative journalism. Principles for Guaranteeing EditorialIndependence, as proposed by the OSCE Representative onFreedom <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Media</strong>, could be an additional means to achievethis target.However, media concentration always implies a threat topluralism and diversity <strong>of</strong> opinion. Horizontal concentration, e.g.ownership <strong>of</strong> a large number <strong>of</strong> regional newspapers, might leadto unified papers with local supplements only. Vertical concentration,e.g. the ownership <strong>of</strong> newspapers, printing houses anddistribution channels, might prevent market access for smalleror new media companies.1.5 Legislation on <strong>Media</strong> <strong>Concentration</strong>In the early stages <strong>of</strong> media legislation the basic right to freedom<strong>of</strong> expression was interpreted mainly as a right to a freeprint media system. As radio and television broadcasts wereconsidered to be <strong>of</strong> strategic importance to the State, frequency31 Council <strong>of</strong> Europe, 1. “Report by the General Rapporteur on the <strong>Media</strong>” (Strasbourg,5 December 2002).32 European Federation <strong>of</strong> Journalists, European <strong>Media</strong> Ownership: Threats on theLandscape (Brussels 2002).JOHANNES VON DOHNANYI 33
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 26: and mirror of the
Page 27 and 28: 30 million rely exclusively on info
Page 29 and 30: Unchecked, concentration will reduc
Page 31: protected, a certain level
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
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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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Understandably all German journalis
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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
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5.3 United Kingdom5.3.1 Country Rep
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• Daily Mail and General Trust: D
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Is there a works council at your ne
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Economic revenue (%) Fig. 61234510,
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Do you feel free to voice and write
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Newspaper reach (%)All Adults 30.1M
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As regards ownership concentration,
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Financial BackgroundDespite the pre
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5.4.2 Survey resultsIf Finnish jour
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of those mini-comp
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for example, is very clear on this
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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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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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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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