The Association of Private Electronic Media “Media lenses” reacted to the possible government subsidy of print media in Macedonia. They have nothing against the financial support for the survival of the daily newspapers, but they wonder why private radio and TV stations are being expelled from that action.
On 14 November 2017, the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) organized a conference on “Media Pluralism in Greece: Evaluation, challenges and prospects” in order to officially present the results of the Greek part of the EU-wide research on media pluralism, conducted by the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF). The results of this study were not very pleasant for Greece’s broadcast media, which are to be found below the EU average in most indexes (political independence, social inclusiveness and protection of journalists…).
“We want an independent public service!”. On December 27th hundreds of Montenegrin citizens gathered in front of the parliament in order to denounce the political pressures on the public information service. During the demonstration they symbolically broke the chains that enclosed a television.
After the Greek financial crisis erupted, both newspapers adopted several harsh reorganization measures, such as pay cuts, voluntary staff reductions and lay-offs. Instead of solving the companies’ financial troubles, however, these measures resulted in salaries being withheld for months, with the management repeatedly pleading for the staff’s understanding and patience. Strike action and/or legal recourse were discouraged amid an atmosphere of fear and insecurity.
Changes in media contents that include entertainment explosion, low level of text literacy, image domination and huge distribution of "hits only" are defended by Croatian experts whose "argument" is that they just give people what people want. What is not being mentioned are the main reasons, like that it is a successful profit-making strategy: by producing cheap content and maximizing the audience the profit continues to be generated by media corporations that still control the economy.
Six people including the German journalist Meşale Tolu (who was arrested last April) were released in 18th December hearing, when 18 people have been tried. The next hearing is on April 26.
Brazilian caricaturist Carlos Latuff has announced on his Twitter account that Erdoğan’s lawyers are imposing legal pressure on Twitter for 80 themes in which are included 11 of his caricatures. “Why doesn’t Erdoğan want Turks to access my caricatures? What is Erdoğan afraid of?”, Latuff wrote.
Media organizations and associations in Serbia, including the NGO sector, believe that concerning media freedom and freedom of speech the only aim of public authorities is to show to Brussels and Washington that things are being promptly correcting in the country. According to media organizations, the government use all available means to discredit or financially destroy media that are professional in reporting and commenting relevant events for the country.
KRIK is one of the few investigative media in Serbia, but it is also the main target of attacks by Serbian tabloids, the “watchdogs” of the political power. Despite pressures and the lack of means, its six journalists have earned a solid reputation with their extensive investigations of corruption and organized crime. An interview.
The way that the establishment of private TV channels was implemented in Greece, perfectly illustrates the ties between the new media owners and politicians. Private TV was met with a mixture of fear, for what was yet unknown and thus challenging to control, and with anticipation for what could serve several entrepreneurial and political interests more efficiently…
