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

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Have you ever been put under pressure by your editor not towrite about certain events or subjects? Fig. 16Yes 25No 750 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100It is probably no coincidence that this figure roughly comparesto the number <strong>of</strong> journalists who admitted the editorial line<strong>of</strong> their paper is influenced by advertisement.During individual interviews conducted for this survey, journalistsdescribed in detail their impression <strong>of</strong> this pressure notto investigate into certain areas as increasing proportionally tothe growing economic difficulties <strong>of</strong> their newspaper.Following this line <strong>of</strong> thought the number <strong>of</strong> cases wherejournalists are prohibited to work on certain issues is boundto increase. And every additional such case means a little lessfreedom <strong>of</strong> the media.It has to be understood that the notion <strong>of</strong> a completely freeand independent media has at all times been more <strong>of</strong> a theoreticalprinciple than editorial reality. <strong>The</strong>re have always beenjournalists who encountered editorial difficulties when workingon subjects put <strong>of</strong>f-limits by either the publisher or the editor.While such pr<strong>of</strong>essional impediments are not acceptable in principle,they are a fact <strong>of</strong> life for every journalist. In a free marketsystem no journalist is forced to work for a publisher or editorwho violates basic ethical standards <strong>of</strong> the pr<strong>of</strong>ession.But that notion <strong>of</strong> a free and open labour market for journalistsis theory, too. Practically, journalists have no choice intimes <strong>of</strong> economic downturn than to accept the editorial dictate.When publishing houses have to compete for fewer advertisements,generated by a slumping industry, editorial dissentis less likely to be tolerated. Diminished advertisement revenuesforce publishers into cost cutting operations. Once staff86 THE IMPACT OF MEDIA CONCENTRATION ON PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM
eduction is on the table, the first to go will be the editorial “dissidents”.During times <strong>of</strong> economic recession the chances forjournalists to change to another employer are practically nil.Growing editorial pressure makes for more competitionamong journalists. That in itself does not mean negativeeffects on the quality <strong>of</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essional journalism. On the contrary,journalists who feel compelled to look more actively forstories able to generate wide public interest are definitely betteringtheir position as an asset to their editor.Competition among journalists will, however, become detrimentalonce it is combined with pressure from inside or outsidethe editorial environment as described above. If increased competitionis meant to create a more homologated and less courageouseditorial staff, the very notion <strong>of</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essional journalismas an independent and critical observer <strong>of</strong> society is at risk.During this survey journalists and unionists <strong>of</strong> several countriesasked for the OSCE Representative on Freedom <strong>of</strong> the<strong>Media</strong> to develop general guidelines to prevent competitionenhancing measures to be used as career blocking instrumentsagainst individual journalists.How would you describe the situation among the writing staff<strong>of</strong> your paper? (%) Fig. 17RelaxedCompetitiveIncreasingly competitiveHighly competitive11,2Extremely competitive3,419,827,637,90 10 20 30 40 50GENERAL SURVEY RESULTS 87
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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
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Unchecked, concentration will reduc
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protected, a certain level
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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 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 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
Page 131: Do you feel threatened in your posi
Page 134 and 135: 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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Newspaper reach (%)All Adults 40.1M
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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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Newspaper reach (%)All Adults 31.7M
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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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