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

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specifically the Freedom <strong>of</strong> Information nor a federal medialaw does not indent this success story. Access to the journalisticpr<strong>of</strong>ession is free. <strong>The</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> minimum standards for botheducation and training <strong>of</strong> journalists is not helpful, however,for increased journalistic quality.Industrial agreements for almost every area <strong>of</strong> life andwork <strong>of</strong>fer German newspaper journalists rather a comfortablelevel <strong>of</strong> security. Those agreements cover training as wellas freelancing work and additional pension funds. Fix workinghours, vacation, additional remuneration for holidays andChristmas as thirteenth and fourteenth monthly salary and anagreed salary increase after the third working year all guaranteea high standard for all those working to maintain the Freedom<strong>of</strong> the Press. <strong>The</strong> press card recognized by all interiorministers <strong>of</strong> the Federation <strong>of</strong>fers help not only while exercisingthe pr<strong>of</strong>ession.Smaller German publishing houses are protected by specialcompetition rules against hostile take overs thus safeguardingpluralism against high levels <strong>of</strong> concentration. <strong>The</strong>Federal Anti-Cartel Authority which is attached to the Ministry<strong>of</strong> Economy, handles existing rules in a restrictive manner.Being economically strong because <strong>of</strong> their importancefor the advertisement industry, newspapers, with the exception<strong>of</strong> a fifty per cent reduction on VAT, neither need, norreceive direct or indirect State subsidies.But since the economic crisis engulfed the advertisementindustry in 2000, Germany’s print media paradise is lost. <strong>The</strong>opinion is mounting that the German print media industry isnot just suffering from recession, but is facing a deep structuralcrisis. And as always, mistakes made during times <strong>of</strong> peace areout for vengeance in times <strong>of</strong> war. Some research studies accusepublishers <strong>of</strong> not having pre-empted the move <strong>of</strong> classified adsto the internet and thus the loss <strong>of</strong> an important part <strong>of</strong> revenue.Credible models for the multiple use <strong>of</strong> content have not beendeveloped. Companies have not been economically optimized.Content has not been improved and the attachment <strong>of</strong> readersto their papers has in some cases been neglected.98 THE IMPACT OF MEDIA CONCENTRATION ON PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM
A three directional strategy is what most publishers now seeas the way out. Firstly, they want anti-trust regulations to berelaxed in order to ease buy outs. Secondly, they want to savemassively on writing and administrative staff as well as onfees. Thirdly, German publishing houses are expanding intoEastern European markets hoping for higher return on capitalthen on the national market. <strong>The</strong>se activities are followedfeverishly, while important home work like optimizing internalstructures, pr<strong>of</strong>iling <strong>of</strong> products, new strategies for websitesand others are neglected.What will this three pronged strategy do to media concentrationand pr<strong>of</strong>essional journalism in Germany? Accordingto first signs nothing good will come out <strong>of</strong> it. Severalwaves <strong>of</strong> dismissals in a dozen publishing houses have pushedthe numbers <strong>of</strong> jobless journalists to a new record high <strong>of</strong>roughly 10,000. While in the past dismissed journalists stillhad a chance to continue their pr<strong>of</strong>ession – even though withnotably less income, 60 hours per week and no vacation –today this is hardly possible. Contemporary to job cuts publishersdecided to reduce editorial budgets.Consequently ever fewer full time “editorial managers”and ever fewer “editorial soldiers <strong>of</strong> fortune” have to fill theeditorial part <strong>of</strong> the newspapers. Quality no longer is an issue.Time consuming researches and personal intensive backgroundreporting are written <strong>of</strong>f. Local editions are “chained”together or are stopped all together. Reporting from “on location”has been reduced drastically. At the publishing houseSpringer one editor-in-chief together with his editorial staffwill do two and maybe even three newspapers. Other publishinghouses, which are following this experiment withgreat interest, are planning similar strategies. Most nationalnewspapers have discontinued their special reporting pagesfrom the capital Berlin. Others have closed their editorial partdirected to youth or other special groups. With print figuresshrinking and hence lower sales revenues, advertising clientsand their budgets grow in importance.COUNTRY REPORTS – GERMANY 99
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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
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time, as the concept of</st
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It appears, however, that this posi
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1.7 New Threats on the Horizon1.7.1
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owns or controls not only the three
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Target countries sometimes interpre
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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
Page 93 and 94: 5. Country Reports5.1 Germany5.1.1
Page 95 and 96: Süddeutsche Zeitung (463,000), Lei
Page 97: publisher, the Axel Springer Verlag
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
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: 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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