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

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During the last decade <strong>of</strong> the twentieth century legislators inmost European countries have, however, adopted legal normsnot only to curb the transmission <strong>of</strong> non-European contents,but also to regulate media industry’s temptations, European andnon-European, to crossownership into other sectors <strong>of</strong> themedia market as well.Due to the need to tackle the radical changes in the electronicmedia sector, developments in the print media marketshave long been neglected.Whereas in Western Europe the decade long evolution <strong>of</strong>legislation concerning media concentration basically followedthe technological developments, Central and Eastern Europeancountries have had a rough time catching up with Europeanmedia law standards since the collapse <strong>of</strong> the former regimes.As a result <strong>of</strong> the liberalization <strong>of</strong> the electronic media markets,legislators both on national and international levels haveconcentrated mainly on regulating this extremely dynamic sector.Consequently the evolution <strong>of</strong> legislation concerning theprint media market has not been at the forefront <strong>of</strong> interest.This situation is changing rapidly. All over Europe newmedia laws are being drawn up. Most <strong>of</strong> these proposed draftsconsider what the British Government describes as “a lightertouch approach” for market share ceilings, mergers and crossownership.1.6 <strong>The</strong> European Union and <strong>Media</strong> <strong>Concentration</strong><strong>The</strong> concept <strong>of</strong> diversity <strong>of</strong> content as the key to media pluralismis recognized by both the Council <strong>of</strong> Europe and theEuropean Union and its Member States.While most <strong>of</strong> the Council <strong>of</strong> Europe’s decisions arealways only political guidelines based on principle, the EuropeanUnion’s directives, once ratified by national parliaments,are law to its members.36 THE IMPACT OF MEDIA CONCENTRATION ON PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM
It appears, however, that this position <strong>of</strong> the EU has little cloutwhen it comes to practical political considerations. A veritableconflict <strong>of</strong> interest between the EU and national governments<strong>of</strong> EU Member States remains unresolved.Brussels had already in 1992 defined the media sector aspart <strong>of</strong> the EU’s service industry and therefore subject to controlfrom European concentration controlling bodies and therules <strong>of</strong> the Single European Market. 33National regulations intended to guarantee media pluralismare regarded by the Commission as an obstruction on theway to a single European media market. On various occasionsthe Commission has tried in vain to introduce EU wide rules.<strong>The</strong> need to harmonize European media concentrationlaws is due to the growing pressure from media groups, advertisementlobbies and the administration <strong>of</strong> the United States<strong>of</strong> America to lift entry barriers to the European TV broadcastingmarkets.<strong>The</strong> EU’s basic media concept is to safeguard cultural diversityas an integral part <strong>of</strong> European identity. It was for this reasonthat as long ago as 1989 the “Television without Frontiers”directive (TWF) was introduced. It required broadcasters totransmit at least 50 per cent <strong>of</strong> European originated programmeson their channels. Since then the US television and movie industrieshave never stopped rallying against this quota provision.<strong>The</strong> aim <strong>of</strong> the US has always been to have mass mediadeclared a normal commercial activity and therefore subject tothe free trade agreements <strong>of</strong> the General Agreement on Tariffsand Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).If these attempts succeed, the cultural diversity inducedquota regulation benefiting European originated programmes33 EU Commission, “Pluralism and media concentration in the single market”, <strong>The</strong>Green Paper (23 December 1992).JOHANNES VON DOHNANYI 37
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 and 32: protected, a certain level
Page 33 and 34: indication of the
Page 35: time, as the concept of</st
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
Page 91 and 92:
4. Number of Title
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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 and 100:
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,
Page 107 and 108:
Service for civil society (%) Fig.
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:
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:
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
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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
Page 162 and 163:
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 <
Page 170 and 171:
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
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1. In which country are you working
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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
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Orkla Media’s
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www.osce.org/fomJohannes von Dohnan
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