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

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One <strong>of</strong> the worrying conclusions <strong>of</strong> the Swedish report was thatthe modern information era is characterized by “an ever fasterconvergence <strong>of</strong> print media, electronic media and digital communicationwith at the same time a growing fractioning <strong>of</strong> themedia consumers. Traditional media are increasingly seen aspart <strong>of</strong> the power elites.” 60Which, following the line <strong>of</strong> thought <strong>of</strong> the Swedishresearchers, could lead to a dangerous development: Not only“Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), IndependenceMovements, Lobbying Groups, Activists and Terrorists” couldturn against the established media, but parts <strong>of</strong> the ordinarycitizens as well, “whose opinions would then become less predictable”.61Publishers, editors and journalists on the other hand, arebecoming less concerned with being seen as being too close toindividual politicians or political parties. <strong>The</strong>ir role in societybecomes totally confused when they operate as “private counsellors”to politicians or even as active political players.<strong>The</strong> same problematic applies when investments fromoutside the media market into media firms change the quality<strong>of</strong> relations between industry and journalism. Journalists retaintheir credibility only as long as they are seen as neutral and ascritical observers. <strong>The</strong>y should never be put in a position <strong>of</strong>,nor should they be allowed to act as, industrial product promotersin disguise.Pr<strong>of</strong>essional journalism is facing new and disturbing challengesnot only from the outside. <strong>The</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>ession, which theEuropean Court on Human Rights considers <strong>of</strong> the highestimportance for the functioning <strong>of</strong> democracy, is facing difficultiesalso from within. Again, it’s the daily newspaper sectorwhich has been hit hardest.<strong>The</strong> loss <strong>of</strong> advertisement revenue due to the appearance<strong>of</strong> the internet has resulted in a dramatic power shift within54 THE IMPACT OF MEDIA CONCENTRATION ON PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM
newspaper firms. Using the argument <strong>of</strong> having to restructuredue to the financial crisis, management is setting new rules forjournalism. Investigative journalism is being reduced to thebones. News agency dispatches are filling columns which, notvery long ago, were used to publish articles written by pr<strong>of</strong>essionalstaff members. In times <strong>of</strong> dire straits the journalisticquest for quality content has become almost optional.Newspaper management is using the economic consequences<strong>of</strong> normal market contractions to rein in critical writersand commentators. Direct or indirect pressure is put onjournalists not to report negatively or even critically on events,institutions or people who might be important to publishersor editors and their friends from politics and industry.Such pressure <strong>of</strong>ten leads to “politically correct” reportingby journalists – a euphemistic description <strong>of</strong> self-censorship. Itmay, however, lead to direct censorship. According to the GermanSociologist Roland Seim censorship is nothing but “knowinglytaking influence on public opinion by withholding informationfrom the public or presenting it in a distorted way”. 62It appears, therefore, essential to protect daily newspapers intheir role as watchdogs over the proper function <strong>of</strong> democracyand a vital instrument <strong>of</strong> social cohesion from undue economicdependencies and outside pressure.One model to guarantee editorial independence could beto organize daily newspapers as public service entities. “Shouldall other roads (to a durably sound economic base for print59 Office for Psychological Defense, “Kampen om det kommunikative rummet”60 Office for Psychological Defense, “Kampen om det kommunikative rummet”61 Office for Psychological Defense, “Kampen om det kommunikative rummet”62 Roland Seim, Zwischen Medienfreiheit und Zensureingriffen (Telos Verlag,Muenster 1998).JOHANNES VON DOHNANYI 55
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 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: Yet this simple notion appears to b
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 and 100: A three directional strategy is wha
Page 101 and 102: 5.1.2 Survey ResultsBacked by tradi
Page 103 and 104: Cross-ownership has also increased
Page 105 and 106:
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:
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 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
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
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 164 and 165:
Page 166 and 167:
October 22 2003 was an historic dat
Page 168 and 169:
5.7.2 Survey ResultsSince the end <
Page 170 and 171:
y a mostly anonymous to the general
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:
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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