Slovenia: Far from being a media market
Although Slovenia is otherwise one of the most advanced new members of the EU, it can hardly boast a competitive media market, and many journalists in the country have become little more than the servants of particular interests. These are some of the chief findings of a new study on the role of the State in the Slovenian media industry, written by Sandra Bašić-Hrvatin and Brankica Petković. The study was carried out as one of the follow-up projects to the Television across Europe monitoring.
By Marius Dragomir
21 Feb. 2008
A glance at the patterns of advertising hints at the friendships between media outlets and various political and business circles. Companies tightly linked with various political interests do not advertise in outlets that are known for their critical stance towards the Government, write Bašić-Hrvatin and Petković. Part of the ongoing Media Watch project run by the Slovenian Peace Institute, this study analyses media ownership, regulation and the journalistic profession in the course of assessing the political interests that influence media coverage.
The State has always played an important role in the media sector, according to the authors, whose study was published in Slovenian in December 2007 and in English in February 2008. Following a non-transparent process of privatisation in the 1990s, the media came into the hands of a small group of owners with strong economic and political interests. The study also shows that broadcast licensing is marred by lack of transparency and a web of hidden interests.
In addition to the commercial sector, the State is exerting tight control also over the public service television in the country whose reform has not been completed. The authors recommend involving the public much more in the management and programming of the public service broadcasters.
Mediterranean model
The study examines the Slovenian media since the early 1990s through such concepts as political parallelism, clientelism and instrumentalisation (defined by media scholars Daniel C. Hallin and Stylianos Papathanassopoulos). The “polarised pluralist Mediterranean model” (defined by Hallin and Mancini) is characterised by the belated introduction of press freedom and commercial media, strong political influence on the media including public service broadcasters and regulators, a strong State, and low journalistic professionalism.
The study measures political influence on the media with a set of indicators including ownership, advertising, financing and State aid, broadcast licensing, functioning of regulators, independence of the public service broadcaster, the audiovisual culture and media links between the Roman Catholic Church and the State.
The Peace Institute has promoted the report in the ongoing debate on relations and conflicts between the Government and the media. The report was distributed last year to policy makers, researchers and media professionals. It will be presented in February and March in Maribor, Koper and the capital Ljubljana.
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You call this a media market? : The Role of the State in the Media Sector in Slovenia/Sandra Bašić-Hrvatin, Brankica Petković ; [translation Olga Vuković], Ljubljana: Peace Institute, 2008 [Edition Mediawatch]
Download the full publication at the Peace Institute website.
