Mass Media and Political Leverage
“The situation of mass media freedom and pluralism in the European Union is worsening. This is the opening sentence of an appeal urging the European Commission to draft a Directive for the Protection of Media Pluralism and Freedom of the Press. The appea
Christine Leșcu, 15.05.2013, 14:07
The European Initiative for Media Pluralism was started at the beginning of the year, as per EU prerequisites, by seven Member States. It urges European institutions “to safeguard the right to independent and pluralistic information”. Ioana Avadani, general manager of the Centre for Independent Journalism and one of the initiators of the project, believes that at present access to comprehensive and honest information is in danger.
Ioana Avadani: “The Citizens Initiative seeks to put pressure on European bodies, on the European Commission and Parliament, to work out a legal way of solving the so-called “tycoonization” of the press at EU level. What we Romanians regard as problems that are specific to the local media landscape are in fact common in Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Portugal as well. There are but a few countries that aren’t experiencing any such problems at present, where political power and mass-media are not that intertwined as to affect freedom of expression”.
The European Initiative for Media Pluralism is the result of efforts carried out by seven entities from Romania, Spain, the UK, Hungary, France, the Netherlands and Bulgaria. The process of registering a citizens’ initiative with EU institutions is no easy task. First you must collect 1 million signatures from supporters all across the European Union. Then you need to draft the text of the initiative and the potential Directive, which must be submitted for debate and negotiation to the European Commission, the European Council and the EU Council of Ministers. This process could take years to complete, but is an extremely important step, because throughout the process regular citizens can get involved in the establishment of laws with direct impact on their lives and in the protection of their fundamental rights. One of these rights is the right to information, which is objective and free of the economic interests of media tycoons.
What are the main risks threatening media pluralism and citizens’ right to information in Romania at present? Mircea Toma, the representative of the Press Monitoring Agency told us more:
Mircea Toma: “The main risk currently facing our country is an increase in the concentration of media ownership. The phenomenon has been gaining momentum in Romania in the early 2000s, especially at local level, where private media tycoons first emerged. The main danger is for someone to be able to control and influence communication addressing citizens and influence them to support him to hold high political office and make his business more profitable. There has been a lot of talk recently on the so-called “moguls”, a word reportedly describing media ownership from a judgmental point of view. Being a media proprietor is not a bad thing per se, but problems appear whenever repeated abuse is reported. The latest report on freedom of expression in Romania points to the fact that two media tycoons have turned their private television stations into overt political propaganda tools.”
Anyone who wishes to shield themselves against these dangers under the European law can access the website of the European Initiative for Media Pluralism, www.mediainitiative.eu and sign the citizens’ initiative for media pluralism.
