Media In High Contrast, Very Black And White, No Grain Or Gain

Michael Hedges April 25, 2016 - Follow on Twitter

Armed only with their digital devices, pens long ago disappearing, media workers seem less equipped to fend off the onslaught of paranoia, polarization and propaganda. Complicit authorities keep inventing new and creative ways to sideline even basic news, lest the public know too much. Where media freedom is respected, however, folks seem to get along quite well, even happier. Perhaps that’s the point.

A bleak picture glared back from the Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF) 2016 Press Freedom Index. In no region on the planet, apart from Northern Europe generally, are those reporting the days events reasonably assured of freedom to pursue that task unhindered, let alone safely, and find their work published through traditional or new digital outlets without fear of retribution. Hostility toward media freedom, says RSF, has risen dramatically.

Poland’s RSF ranking globally fell to 47th from a quite respectable 18th year on year. Only Tajikistan and Brunei, already at the worrying end of the list, fell further; Tajikistan to 150th from 116th and Brunei to 155th from 121st. The precipitous decline in Poland’s ranking in the RSF 2016 Index is no surprise; populist, conspiracy laden politicians deeply attached to religious orthodoxy placed public radio and television under direct State control and made clear that private sector news outlets are next in their sights.

The RSF report explained: “Shortly after winning the 2015 elections, the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party passed a media law empowering the government to appoint and dismiss the heads of the state radio and TV broadcast media. It took effect in January 2016. Under a second law being prepared, the contracts of all the employees of these media would be terminated. Alarmed to see a European Union member violate fundamental EU values, the European Commission launched a procedure designed to ensure respect for the rule of law in Poland.” (See more about media in Poland here)

Journalism advocates in Poland presented a mixed view of the drop in RSF Index ranking. “I don’t see anything changing for the worse… that would explain such a significant decrease in the press freedom rankings for Poland,” said Polish Journalists Association (SDP) head of monitoring Wiktor Swietlik, quoted by wirtualnemedia.pl (April 20). “I find it hard not to recognize the liberal-leftist narrative, which tends to portray the worst view of the situation in this country since conservatives took power.” Mr. Swietlik faults the “celebrity journalism” of “foreign” news media and conservative media’s “lack of external communications skills.”

From the Journalists’ Association of the Republic of Poland (SDRP) came the opposite view. The drop in Poland’s RSF ranking “is only a slice of the overall current perception of our country abroad,” said SDRP vice president Jan Ordynski. The RSF ranking was “affected (by) what happened with public media at the beginning of the new year and the purges, which continue today. I fear that Poland’s position in the next (RSF) report will be much lower, particularly with the government’s announcement on the so-called re-polanization of private media, which could mean a desire for compliance from (owners of) radio stations, television and newspapers that those in power do not control.”

Two Eastern European countries, defined by the United Nations, rank above Poland: Slovakia (12th) and the Czech Republic (21st). Romania ranked nearest to Poland: 49th. Hungary, role model for Poland’s ruling PiS party leaders, placed 67th followed closely by Moldova at 76th. After that it’s Ukraine at 107th, Bulgaria 113th, Russia 148th and Belarus 157th. Ukraine’s ranking was most improved, rising 22 places. Rankings for the Czech Republic and Bulgaria were noticably lower. The rest were either up a bit or down a bit, except for Belarus, which was, as usual, just the same.

The RSF report did not illuminate the one year drop to 21st from 13th for news media in the Czech Republic. Proximity of politicians to media owners always raises the attention of RSF investigators. “Not happy” in that regard is Charles University dean and media studies professor Jan Jirak, quoted by Czech public radio Cesky Rozhlas (April 20). “We are not naive. The interconnection of politics and business to media always concerns.” Czech Finance Minister Andrej Babis is principal owner of major publisher Mafra, which he bought, he said in 2013, to prevent “lies” from being written about him.

Slovakia now ranks between Austria (11th) and Belgium (13th). The chief criticism in the RSF 2016 report is defamation laws, which seems tame considering bigger issues in the neighborhood. RSF ranked Slovakia 20th in 2014 and 44th in 2009.

Slightly beneath Poland in the 2016 RSF press freedom rankings is Romania, 49th in the world, up from 52nd year on year. Romania’s news media contends with several issues: “excessive politicization of the media, corrupt financing mechanisms, editorial policies subordinated to owner interests and intelligence agency infiltration of staff,” explained the RSF report. None of this is exclusive to Romania: media in Eastern Europe remains prisoner of its past.

Corruption, and reporting about it, is never far from the surface in Romania. No single issue out-weighed corruption and perception of it as the center-right government resigned last November after massive street protests over suspected official malfeasance contributing to a massive Bucharest nightclub fire that killed 64 persons. None of this has been ignored by news outlets, considered large for the size of Romania’s economy, though most regurgitate press releases of various factions, usually with tabloid headlines. Several of Romania’s most colorful present or former media proprietors, six at latest count, have been investigated in recent years for money laundering, tax evasion and dark deeds of one sort or another. Two of them, unnamed, hired Israeli agents to “intimidate” well-regarded anti-corruption prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi, reported by hotnews.ro (April 11).

Romania’s public sector media is nearly out of business. Long considered a political football, Televiziunea Romana (TVR) is hopelessly indebted, €115 million accumulated over the last decade. Last years losses totalled about €5 million, mostly on debt service, and the administrative board was fired last September. The new government is holding TVR to a strict austerity plan and has no interest in either raising the household license fee, currently €11 annually, or lifting constraints on advertising revenues, certain to upset private sector media operators. For the first time ever the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) suspended TVR’s membership last week for non-payment of fees, effectively ending participation of Romania’s Eurovision Song Contest entry. By contrast, public radio broadcaster SRR is not in debt and, so far, has avoided cataclysmic predictions. (See more about media in Romania here)

Is there any good news for Romania’s news media? Yes; springing forth have been several online news portals, more or less independent. Then too, perhaps related, Romania has the highest per capita Facebook users in Europe.

In Hungarian media the RSF 2016 index received scant attention. Ranking 67th is, at least, better than Bosnia Herzegovina (68th), noted government-friendly vg.hu (April 20). Nearly all Hungarian news media is government-friendly. Prime Minister Viktor Orban “is Hungary’s press magnate,” said the RSF report. Media outlets have been scooped up by supporters of PM Orban’s Fidesz party, including once-critical online news portals. (See more about media in Hungary here)

A new Fidesz-sponsored legislative proposal seems aimed, again, at TV operator RTL Klub, owned by RTL Group, reported independent daily Nepszbadsag (March 18). If approved media owners would no longer be allowed to operate sales houses. RTL Group sells ad time through sales house R-Time for its five channels and several other cable channels. Two years ago the Hungarian government changed tax laws to impose a progressive advertising revenue tax, clearly aimed at RTL. But the RTL/Bertelsmann lawyers complained to the European Commission, the Hungarian government forced to drop the tax.

Scale has long challenged media in Moldova, ranking 76th, down from 72nd one year on. Economics makes Moldova’s media sector dependent on neighboring Romania, either directly or indirectly, or less than transparent favors from oligarchs, local and foreign. The RSF 2016 report notes the “extreme polarization” within the media sector, reflective of the society as a whole, push and pull between a pro-European Romanian-speaking majority and the pro-Russian Trans-Dniester slice of eastern Moldova bordering Ukraine.

The big news story in Moldova last year was the “disappearance” of US$ 1 billion from three banks. Massive street protests were followed by resignations, followed by recriminations, all spun by pro-European and pro-Russian media outlets. At least Moldova ranked ahead of Italy (77th), noted Moldovan public TV (April 20). Protesters again gathered this past weekend in the capital Chisinau calling for yet another change in government.

Improvement in press freedom indicators in Ukraine, 107th from 129th year on year, “reflects the overall improvement in the situation after the new government and, in particular, recent media reform,” said RSF Ukraine representative Oksana Romaniuk, quoted by Media Sapiens (April 20). “However, 107th place is still not so great. Problems remain yet for independent media, pressure from oligarchs in the media sector, the ‘information war’ with Russia and the question of impunity for attacks on journalists.” Asked who initiates the violence toward media workers, Ms Romaniuk said “ordinary citizens and representatives of local government,” quoted by NGO Hromadske Radio (April 20).

Ukraine’s government has been painfully and conspicuously slow at rooting out corruption. Laws recently enacted to force disclosure of financial interests in and control over media outlets have been plagued by enforcement inertia. More attention has been paid, if selectively, to closing down pro-Russian media. Still, the media sector is vastly different from the days of the previous regime. RSF’s investigation in Ukraine exempted the Crimea, seized by the Russian Federation in 2014, and the contended Donetsk and Luhansk regions, occupied by ‘little green men’. Seven journalists in the Crimea suspected of collaborating with RFE/RL were arrested by Russian security services last week.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has criticized Ukrainian authorities for booting Russian TV channels off cable and satellite networks, removing Russian TV crews and, most recently, banning Russian films produced since the seizure of Crimea. “Even under the state of hostilities democratic countries have a responsibility to carefully address the potentially problematic content, for example through the use of appropriate judicial mechanisms, in order to avoid overbroad steps and introduction of censorship-like provisions,” said media freedom representative Dunja Mijatovic in a statement (April 22). “Ukraine’s current significant progress in the area of media freedom should be preserved and enhanced, not undermined.”

Corruption continues to plague Bulgaria’s media sector, and others as well. The 2016 RSF index ranked Bulgaria 113th, down from 106th year on year, and the worst standing in the European Union (EU). “Politicians and interest groups control most of the media,” noted the RSF report. Ownership transparency remains a problem for the RSF ranking, attacks on journalists another.

“Ostensibly, there exists media diversity (in Bulgaria) but no real transparency of ownership.,” explained RSF Germany (ROG) executive director Christian Mihr, quoted by Deutsche Welle (April 20). “The true owners of the media can be uncovered using, for example, a common and transparent registry. We pay attention to this problem… because without functioning media to lead a real debate democracy can not develop. And Bulgaria as a relatively new EU member has a problem with democracy.” (See more about media in Bulgaria here)

There’s another problem, he said, perhaps more unspeakable. “We did not seem to notice Bulgaria. And maybe just lack of attention from the international community is the reason for the slide in the ranking.”

Every media freedom watcher notices Mother Russia. “Leading independent news outlets have either been brought under control or throttled out of existence,” noted the RSF 2016 report. “While TV channels continue to inundate viewers with propaganda, the climate has become very oppressive for those who question the new patriotic and neo-conservative discourse or just try to maintain quality journalism.” The RSF ranking for Russia actually improved, statistically at least, to 148th from 152nd year on year.

Speaking to an online journalism conference at the Knight Center for Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin (April 16), former independent news portal lenta.ru editor-in-chief Galina Timchenko talked about “apathy” within Russian media. “Nobody wants to take part.” Ms Timchenko was dismissed from lenta.ru two years ago, staff walking out thereafter, and has since founded Russian-language news portal Meduza in Latvia. News outlets not under the thumb in Russia are few and far between. “Every day can be the last day,” she said. “But we try not to think about that.” (See more about media in Russia here)

The RSF 2016 Press Freedom Index was “noted” by the Russian government, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova in the regular press briefing (April 21) before spinning to unfair treatment of Russians by authorities in Ukraine. "I would like to understand what criteria are being used and what is their concept of freedom of information in the world,” she concluded.

Even lower, between Burundi and Iraq, is Belarus, remaining 157th in the RSF rankings. “Nothing has changed,” said the report. Regular arrests and beatings of media workers seem to have abated as President Alexander Lukashenko attempts to improve his image as “Europe’s last dictator.” The new tactic is imposing fines on those who dare to report.

It seems be working, in the most grotesque sense. Fined for the seventh time “for producing material without correct accreditation,” Belsat contributor Kanstantsin Zhukousky took needle and thread and sewed his mouth shut, reported Polskie Radio (April 18). News channel Belsat operates through the Polish Foreign Ministry and broadcasts into Belarus.

See also in ftm Knowledge

Media in Poland

Poland is the largest media market of the newest EU Member States and the changes have often been surprising, sometimes radical and never ending. Publishers, broadcasters and new media are plentiful, talented and under constant stress not only from competitors. 122 pages PDF, includes updated Resources (January 2016)

Available at no charge to ftm Members Order here

Press/Media Freedom - Challenges and Concerns

Press and media freedom worldwide is facing challenges from many corners. As authoritarian leaders impose strict control over traditional and new media with impunity, media watchers have concerns for democracy. This ftm Knowledge file accounts the troubles of this difficult decade. 88 pages. PDF (December 2011)

Available at no charge to ftm Members  Order here