news media cee business political pressures

8/6/2019 News Media CEE Business Political Pressures

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News media in Central and Eastern Europe:economic and political pressures

Vclav ttkaSenior Research Fellow

Media and Democracy in Central and Eastern EuropeUniversity of Oxford

Presentation for the Colloquium of Czech and British Journalists:Media and Democracy Political and Corporate Pressures

Prague 11 April 2011


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Media and Democracy in Central andEastern Europe (2009-2013)

10 new EU post-communistmember states

Focusing at news media:broadcast, print, online

Investigating therelationship between

quality of democracy andquality of media incountries of CEE

http://mde.politics.ox.ac.uk
http://mde.politics.ox.ac.uk/http://mde.politics.ox.ac.uk/


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Press Freedom Index (Reporters without Borders)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Bulgaria

Slovakia

Latvia

Lithuania

Poland

Slovenia

Romania

Hungary

Czech Rep.

Estonia


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Freedom of the Press Index (Freedom House)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Bulgaria

Slovakia

LatviaLithuania

Poland

Slovenia

Romania

HungaryEstonia

Czech Rep.


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Press Freedom Index (Reporters without Borders)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

avg. CEE

avg. SE

avg. NWE


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Freedom of the Press Index (Freedom House)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

avg.CEE

avg. SE

avg. WE


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Real GDP growth rate 2009(source: Eurostat)

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5


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Total advertising expenditures: change (%) 2009/2008(source: WAN, 2010; own calculation)

-50

-40

-30

-20

-10

0

10

20


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Advertising expenditures in newspapers : change (%) 2009/2008(source: WAN, 2010; own calculation)

-70

-60

-50

-40

-30

-20

-10

0


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Average circulation per issue (total dailies): change (%) 2009/2008(source: WAN, 2010)

-40

-30

-20

-10

0

10

20

30


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Advertising revenues of paid-for dailies: change (%) 2009/2008(source: WAN, 2010)

-50

-40

-30

-20

-10

0

10

20

30


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Trends & consequences:

Because of weakening economic base, newsmedia in CEE are becoming more vulnerable topolitical + economic pressures

Journalistic autonomy is further jeopardised bychanging patterns of media ownership, with

established foreign corporations leaving the CEEregion and local media owners (moguls /oligarchs) pursuing other-than-business interests


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Political-economic pressures:state / party advertising

Romania : political parties the biggest advertiser in 2008(election year), with 8.4 % of all advertising expenditures

Czech Republic : Social Democratic Party single biggestnewspaper advertiser in 2009

Lithuania : Ministry of Agriculture the biggest advertiser in2009; government institutions accounting for 16.4 % of adsexpenditures

Hungary : government institutions + state-owned companiesaccount for over 25 % of total ads spent in 2009

Problem: state advertising through EU-funds (Czech Rep.,Lithuania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland...)

Slovaks TV station TA3: the campaign promoting the EUstructural funds made up to 20% of the stations ads revenues in2008


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From transnationals to locals :de-globalization of CEE media markets?

2006, Orkla Media (-> Mecom ) sold its stakes in Lithuanian press (->Hermis Capital )

2007-2008, Handelsblatt Verlag left Bulgaria (-> Economedia / IvoProkopiev ), Czech Republic and Slovakia (-> Economia / Zden kBakala )

2009, Bonnier left Latvia, having sold Diena Group (-> RowlandFamily -> Viesturs Koziols ), and in 2010 they left Croatia

2009, Northcliffe International left Slovakia, having sold Pravda (->J&T)

2009-2010, News Corporation pulled out of free-TV business in

Poland ( TV Puls), Latvia ( LNT + TV5 -> Andrejs Ekis ), Bulgaria ( bNT ->CME) and Serbia 2010, Ringier sold its shares in two newspapers in Romania (->

Bobby Paunescu ) 2010, WAZ left Romania (Medien Holding -> Dan Adamescu ),

Bulgaria (Newspaper Group Bulgaria - > BG Privatinvest) and Serbia


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The close intertwining of oligarchs and political power is poisoning the market /.../ Oligarchs inthe Balkans are more and more buying [the

media] for themselves in order to exert political influence, not in order to win money. We cannot stand up to such market- destroying competition.

Bodo Hombach, CEO of the WAZ Media Group(novinite.com, 2 August 2010)

P i il di b i ( di P i il h b i (i d /


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Primarily media business ( media moguls )

Primarily other business sectors (industry tycoons / oligarchs )

Bulgaria Irena Krasteva (print, TV, publishing)Krassimir Gergev (advertising, radio,cable TV)

Sasho Donchev (print media, gas)

CzechRep.

Jaromr Soukup (advertising, PR,market research)

Zden k Bakala (print media, coal)Petr Kellner (print media, investments, real estate, insurance)Sebastian Pawlowski (print media, real estate)

Estonia Hans Luik (print, online media)

Hungary Gbor Szles (print media, TV, television sets +bus production)

Latvia Andrejs is (TV, film production) Aivars Lembergs (print media, oil)Viesturs Koziols (print media, real estates)

Lithuania Bronislovas Lubys (print media , oil etc.)Darius Mockus (TV, online media, financial investments)

Poland Jan Wejchert (2009; TV, cinemas) Zygmunt Solorz- ak (TV, pension funds, banking, energy)

Romania Dan Voiculescu (TV, radio, newspapers, energy, trade, services)

Sorin Ovidiu Vntu (TV, radio, print, real estates, banking)Dan Costache Patriciu (print media, petroleum)Ioan & Viorel Micula (food, beverages, estates, print media,radio, TV)

Slovakia Ivan Kmotrk (TV, printing plants,distribution, advertising)

Patrik Tk & Ivan Jakabovi (TV, print media, real estates,banking, investments, insurance)

Slovenia


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CEE businesstycoons /media owners


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Media autonomy: normative model of systemic separation

Media

BusinessPolitics


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Media instrumentalization: intertwinementof business and political interests

Media

BusinessPolitics

Political parallelism

Business parallelism

Berlusconization


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Types of editorial interferences Classical business PR

You need to have a product which appears to be the most credible one, and only through this product you can once in a while leak information which is useful for your business. It is clear that the one who owns such a medium will use thisopportunity once in a while. (editor of a commercial TV, Czech Republic)

Cover-up of corruption scandals / criminal charges against the owners Lembergs (Latvia) , Voiculescu, Patriciu (Romania)

Promoting/suppressing business allies/competitors TA3: circulating list of people/companies who can/cannot be interviewed Diena (Viestrus Koziols ): Diena should be independent, but when we write about

businessmen we must also keep in mind that they could be our advertisers ( NeliaLocmele, former editor-in-chief of Diena)

Attacking political opponents / protection of political allies Antena TV (Voiculescu) attacking incumbent president Basescu during elections TV JOJ (owned by J&T) suspended a journalist preparing a critical report about

financing of the party SMER

Common problem: low transparency of ownership relations


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Concluding remarks

Between a rock and a hard place? media driven by economic interests - > more

vulnerable under the conditions of a small marketand/or in times of recession (if not backed by strongforeign investors)

x media driven by other-than-economic interests - > risk

of political and business instrumentalization

Looking out for moguls philanthropists? Le Monde : Pierre Berge, Xavier Niel and Matthew

Pigasse (2010) The Independent : Alexander Lebedev (2010)


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Thank you!

[email protected]

http://mde.politics.ox.ac.uk
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news media cee business political pressures

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