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

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Further, how can a newspaper, whose editor-in-chief is boundby political loyalty and who works hard to keep good relationswith the business community, pretend to be credibly independentin its reporting on either political or industrial issues?It simply seems to happen without any bad intent. “Oldboy” networks are created at school or university. One <strong>of</strong> thefriends later goes into politics, another one runs a successfulbusiness, and their common friend has emerged from the journalistictreadmill as editor-in-chief <strong>of</strong> an important newspaper.<strong>The</strong>re is, after all, nothing wrong with old friends gettingtogether, right?But there is a fine line <strong>of</strong> distinction between just meetingold friends and being “only a weenie little bit” at their disposal.It needs strong character and pr<strong>of</strong>essional ethics for a journalistto sit regularly at the tables <strong>of</strong> the powers-that-be withoutgetting seduced by the illusion <strong>of</strong> being one <strong>of</strong> the hosts!This is a particularly demanding task in times when newspapershave to fight for their economic survival. Without a reliablesubstitute to advertisement revenues daily newspaper editorshave little alternative than to bow to the growing pressurefrom politics and industry. “<strong>The</strong> boss <strong>of</strong> a prosperous quarryingfirm threatened my own small local publication with legalaction over criticism over environmental impact on the village”,reported one British journalist. “We are editing our contentaccording to the wishes <strong>of</strong> our advertisers”, reads one commentfrom Germany. “Our publishers use the papers as a politicalinstrument”, is the complaint <strong>of</strong> an Italian journalist.Talking to Western European journalists, one gets the clearimpression that the fine line <strong>of</strong> distinction between just beingfriends and respecting the paper’s editorial independence isconstantly violated by both sides. Journalists become politicians.Politicians write for newspapers. Both are in close relationwith big business.80 THE IMPACT OF MEDIA CONCENTRATION ON PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM
Cross-media ownership can be regulated by law. But it is thecreeping virus <strong>of</strong> cross sector counselling behind the scenesthat puts the credibility <strong>of</strong> Western European media in general,and daily newspapers in particular, at risk.It is no wonder that Western European media consumersare getting increasingly sceptical about the quality and correctness<strong>of</strong> the information they are presented with.Distrust <strong>of</strong> the honesty <strong>of</strong> information published by the mediahas been normality for consumers in Central and Eastern Europeancountries for half a century. More than a decade after thecollapse <strong>of</strong> the old regimes, daily newspapers have still notmanaged to bridge this credibility gap completely.In many cases this has to do with the journalists’ ownunderstanding <strong>of</strong> their socio-political role. Being the elder generationeducated to be “faithful soldiers <strong>of</strong> the party”, they sometimesfind it difficult to exercise their pr<strong>of</strong>essional duty as watchdogsover political and industrial power holders. <strong>The</strong> youngergeneration <strong>of</strong> journalists <strong>of</strong>ten lack the training necessary to honetheir pr<strong>of</strong>essional skills and ethics. <strong>The</strong> latter, unfortunately, hasnot so far been on top <strong>of</strong> the agenda <strong>of</strong> foreign investors.If possible, the Central and Eastern European power networkingis even more complex than in Western Europe. Not onlyis it understandably difficult to accept new rules <strong>of</strong> a hithertounknown game called democracy over night, but old and newelites are still fighting for positions in the emerging political order.This keeps pr<strong>of</strong>essional journalism in these countries in limbo.Be it a close relative <strong>of</strong> a high ranking Romanian politician whogets hold <strong>of</strong> one <strong>of</strong> the biggest national dailies; or the polish filmproducer who asked for US$ 17.5 million in exchange for himlobbying for a new media law, which would have allowed forlower barriers to cross-ownership – scandals like these are stillhappening all over Central and Eastern Europe.GENERAL SURVEY RESULTS 81
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REPRESENTATIVE ON FREEDOM OF THE ME
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ContentsPrefaceby Freimut Duve 9Int
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6. Conclusions 187AnnexQuestionnair
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advertisement is very insecure, mak
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industrial lobbying groups still di
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1. The Imp
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sidents” had been imprisoned. “
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determined Freedom of</stro
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co-operate fully with the OSCE Repr
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Such independence, however, comes a
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and mirror of the
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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 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 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 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 129 and 130: Do you feel free to voice and write
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Do you feel threatened in your posi
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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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Do you feel threatened in your posi
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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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