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

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Since the end <strong>of</strong> communism, the development <strong>of</strong> freedom <strong>of</strong>the media and the pr<strong>of</strong>essional independence <strong>of</strong> journalistshas been at the centre <strong>of</strong> interest in many Eastern and South-Eastern European countries. <strong>The</strong> list <strong>of</strong> incidents <strong>of</strong> censorshipand <strong>of</strong>ten, open aggression against pr<strong>of</strong>essional writers is endless.But even though these cases are by no means excusablethey were, in a certain way, to be expected. Democracy is acontinuous learning process. <strong>The</strong>re is no painless transitionfrom decennial dictatorial repression to an open and democraticsociety.In a much more subtle way censorship is also raising itsugly head in democratic Western European societies again. Asa consequence <strong>of</strong> discreet threats to their livelihood many pr<strong>of</strong>essionaljournalists no longer set the agenda for public debatebut follow the agenda set by governments. All this does notseem to speak in favour <strong>of</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essional journalism. Yet journalistsare not so much perpetrators but victims <strong>of</strong> developments.Lower journalistic quality reflects less a loss <strong>of</strong> ethics <strong>of</strong>pr<strong>of</strong>essional journalists than the fact that editors and publishersare in cahoots with politicians and industrialists. Servingmainly their own industrial and all too <strong>of</strong>ten political intereststhey tend to forget the role <strong>of</strong> the media as vigilant observer <strong>of</strong>those elected to serve society. Pr<strong>of</strong>essional journalists may havesuccumbed too easily to such pressure, but, as Franco Abruzzo,the President <strong>of</strong> the Regional Association <strong>of</strong> Journalists inMilan/Italy put it so bluntly during an interview for this survey:“Somehow pr<strong>of</strong>essional journalists have to survive, too!”“Journalistic Darwinism” is the term so aptly created bythe young editor-in-chief <strong>of</strong> a well renowned Swiss weeklynewspaper. His crude conviction: better journalistic work canbe achieved by keeping pr<strong>of</strong>essional staff writers in constantfear <strong>of</strong> being dismissed. Within two years content and presen-58 THE IMPACT OF MEDIA CONCENTRATION ON PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM
tation <strong>of</strong> this formerly liberal paper have changed by 180degrees. About two-thirds <strong>of</strong> the pr<strong>of</strong>essional writing staff havebeen replaced with less independent-minded employees. <strong>The</strong>remaining journalists have “voluntarily” adopted the strongneo conservative beliefs <strong>of</strong> the editor-in-chief and the publishers.Even though the title remains in existence, Switzerland haslost one <strong>of</strong> its long standing jewels <strong>of</strong> journalistic independenceand pluralism.Publishers and editors-in-chief are not reacting to politicalpressure alone. Through the power to decide on where to placetheir advertising campaigns, industry is holding the media ona very short financial leash. Full time journalists are replacedby cheaper and, because <strong>of</strong> their economic predicament, moreaccommodating freelancing writers. Instead <strong>of</strong> well researchedand written articles, features or background analysis newspapersare filled with dispatches from news agencies.<strong>The</strong> immediate effect <strong>of</strong> such measures may be a drasticreduction in costs and hence budgetary improvements <strong>of</strong>media companies. In the long run, however, the classification<strong>of</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essional journalists as cost factors alone will provecounter-productive. <strong>The</strong> success <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Media</strong> in general and<strong>of</strong> newspapers in particular depends on their level <strong>of</strong> credibility.Renouncing to a pronounced individual pr<strong>of</strong>ile <strong>of</strong> individualmedia outlets by reducing positions <strong>of</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essional journalistsmeans gradually succumbing to this creeping process <strong>of</strong> mediacontent homologation. Content quality and with it the level<strong>of</strong> credibility will inevitably suffer.Only the work <strong>of</strong> independent pr<strong>of</strong>essional journalists canguarantee public debate and social cohesion, which are amongthe most important duties <strong>of</strong> the media in a democratic regime.Without credibility pr<strong>of</strong>essional journalism is doomed.JOHANNES VON DOHNANYI 59
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REPRESENTATIVE ON FREEDOM OF THE ME
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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 and 54: Yet this simple notion appears to b
Page 55 and 56: newspaper firms. Using the argument
Page 57: a contribution to democratization a
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
Page 146 and 147:
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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
Page 156 and 157:
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
Page 186 and 187:
Page 188 and 189:
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
Page 201 and 202:
- 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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