Lithuania: Professionalism reduced to arithmetic: increase in business, reduction in journalism

Auks Balytien and Egl Napryt

1. Introduction: media regulation and its impact on journalism

Laissez faire policies implemented in the Lithuanian media legislation in the early 1990s has brought to controversial results two decades later. Absence of restrictions against different forms of ownership has opened the media field for different actors. This was especially needed in the early 1990s when the country attempted to nationalize its media system by privatizing media organizations from within. However, very liberal regulation complemented with new owners different business aspirations created favorable conditions for marketoriented logic to proliferate in media production. The Law on Provision of Information to the Public (first accepted in 1996, new amendments as of July 2006) has certain provisions that guarantee openness and transparency of media as well as enable the widest range of views to be put forward. Media legislation also covers the requirement for political advertising and the procedure for announcing and designating it in media. Also, according to the law, all media are required to report annually on changes in their shareholders. In drafting its legislation Lithuania has followed the practice of the Nordic neighbors. Lithuania has a so-called regulated system of self-regulation (resembling practice in Sweden). It also ensures state subsidies to public information producers through the Fund for the Support of the Press, Radio and Television (Press Fund). Although the budget of the fund is not big (it was 1.4 million Euros), but by supporting non-commercial production it contributes to diversification of media output. Another possibility to correct the so-called market failure seems to be the public funding. Funding media projects directly by citizens has a particular potential in fostering and enhancing pluralism, diversity and quality. Since 2005, according to the Law on Income Tax of Individuals, any natural person may transfer up to 2% of the amount of the income tax paid to the state to any public institution or business organization (also media companies).

The public service broadcaster, the Lithuanian Radio and Television (the LRT), is the only medium which according to the right of ownership belongs to the state. The LRT bases its activity upon the Law of LRT and the Law on Public Institutions. The activities of LRT are not licensed. In contrast, persons that desire to engage in broadcasting and/or re-broadcasting activities must obtain a license from the Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania (RTC). In 2006, a decision to drop down the introduction of the license fee to finance the LRT was taken leaving the public service broadcaster completely dependent on state subsidies and commercial advertising. In this overview, media statistics from 2006 and 2007 is used and media performance is evaluated on the analysis of nine cases (Table 1).

Table 1 about here

Ten representatives of these media organizations were interviewed: the chief editor of the regional daily Kauno diena, the chief editor of the tabloid daily Vakaro inios, a journalist of the free daily 15 minui, the head of the newsroom department of commercial broadcaster TV3, the head of the TV newsroom department of the LTV (public service TV channel), the head of the radio newsroom department of LR1 (public service radio), the chief editor of the commercial radio station ini radijas, the chief editor and the vice-editor of the Internet news portal Delfi.lt, the chief editor of the Internet news portal Bernardinai.lt.

2. Indicators and scores

(F1). Geographic distribution of news media Mainstream news media is equally available to all citizens. There are no clear differences noticed in the regional or national distribution of mainstream media. Few exceptions in the use of the Internet can be observed, but the situation is changing rapidly. The use of print and Internet media has been growing while individual TV viewing time has been shrinking since 2004 when Lithuanians watched television 213 minutes per day (Table 2). 2 points

In 2007, one weekly newspaper was read by 71.3% of inhabitants of 15-74 years of age, while one daily was read by 50.5% of people in the same age group (TNS Gallup). Average readership of dailies was 58% of inhabitants, weeklies 71% of inhabitants. The tendency of slowly growing readership of periodicals is noticed during the last few years it increased by 2%.

Table 2 about here

According to the Lithuanian Press statistics of 2007, 328 newspapers and 474 journals were published in Lithuania. Each inhabitant would get 79 issues of newspapers and 20 journals a year if divided equally. A great variety of local and regional newspapers may be noticed. There is a tendency that more newspapers are available in larger regions (with bigger cities, such as Vilnius and Kaunas with populations of 550.000 and 350.000 respectively), even though it is not a rule (Table 3).

Table 3 about here

Lithuanians are not the most devoted newspaper readers in Europe. According to the World Press Trends (2007), the newspapers reach in 2006 was 56.1% which is less than in the Nordic, but higher than in the Southern European countries. The majority of dailies in Lithuania follow the middle road. In mainstream dailies serious things intertwine with popular reports. It is also customary that dailies are published in a smaller (compact) format. A smaller format does not necessarily indicate that a newspaper is overtly sensational. All newspapers have bright covers, eye-catching headings and subheadings and many photos. All dailies are published as morning papers. There is no evening or Sunday press. Lithuania does not have sports daily (sports news as well as other specialized news are covered by the Internet media). The only free daily (15 minui) has been published since 2005. Lietuvos rytas and Respublikos grup, two publishing houses deeply rooted in the press market, give evidence that the newspaper market is an oligopoly in Lithuania (Table 4). There

are prospects that a large number of owners and publishers will not endure. Especially in small media markets, concentration is inevitable.

Table 4 about here

Lithuanian television market consists of 31 television networks, 30 of which are commercial and one is public (the LRT, broadcasting 3 national television programs LTV, LTV2 and LTV World). The two of commercial television stations TV3 and LNK are in a strong competition for audience attention (Table 5).

Table 5 about here

The most money spent for advertising is absorbed by TV sector (43.5%), which allows different program diversification strategies to apply. In broadcast sector, cable penetration has remained steady at some 42% of the total population. In 2006, over 57% of television households were watching TV only via the analogue terrestrial broadcasting platform. It is expected that TV viewers possibilities to choose should be widened after the implementation of digital TV. It is planned that in 2009 at least one network of digital TV should cover at least 95% of the territory of the country. As for the radio market there are 48 radio stations (11 national, 7 regional and 30 local radio broadcasters). Except for one station (the public service radio with its three programs) all stations are profit-driven ventures. In 2006, among the TOP 5 radio programs the LR1 (public service radio station) is the top popular with 23.2% of market share. The availability of regional and local radio programs differs greatly in the main cities and smaller regions. If in Vilnius 15 regional radio stations can be heard, in Kaunas 13, Klaipda 12, iauliai 9, some regions can hear only few or none at all. The Internet is the fastest growing media with annual growth of advertising revenue about 50% every year. Aside to online news portals maintained by conventional media, there exists an abundance of online-only news portals that are taking a full advantage of the existing opportunities to conquer online audiences by providing breaking news, news analysis,

interviews and press reviews, blogging, interactive games and other online services of added value (Table 6).

Table 6 about here

The growth of the Internet and mobile phone users has significantly affected the expansion of the online news market. In 2005, at least 36% of population accessed the Internet once per 6 months, 130% of population had mobile telephones and 15% of households were connected to the Internet. In 2006 alone, the Internet connections at home amounted to 32%. In 2007, the size of online audience has reached 54% of total population of the country and there is a clear tendency observed that the Internet usage is increasing in the peripheral regions indicating leveling of Internet media use between bigger and smaller cities of the country. During recent years, the usage of broadband Internet is growing at high rates. Just in one year (between 2006 and 2007) the number of households using broadband increased by 14% (from 19% till 34%). These numbers are still smaller than the European average which was 30% in 2006 and 42% in 2007. However, the difference between European and Lithuanian average is diminishing (from 11% in 2006 till 8% in 2007). Despite fast growth, the conclusion could be made that only one third of Lithuanian households are enjoying the advantages of broadband connection.

(F2) Patterns of news media use (consumption)

1 point

The use of entertainment programs dominates among general population; clear differences exist between media use among better educated and having better income audience groups if compared to less educated, younger and less economically wealthy consumers. Age and education as well as income are still considered to be major factors affecting news media usage patterns. Tabloid dailies (Vakaro inios, L.T.) are far more popular than the dailies of mid-market (Lietuvos rytas) or higher quality (Kauno diena, Klaipda). Younger, better educated audiences show preferences in the Internet media consumption, while no clear age group distribution is noticed in TV news access.

In the TV sector the highest ratings were reached by entertainment programs, finals of music shows and broadcasts of basketball games. The ratings of the most popular entertainment programs range from 29.7% to 20.6%, ratings of movies from 16.1% to 14.9%, while the ratings of the most popular newscasts on different channels vary from 12.4% to 2.1%. Comparing this data, it may be noticed that the popularity of entertaining content is up to 3 times higher than that of the newscasts. In the radio sector, the majority of radio programs belong to the type of entertainment and present only very short news. However, there are two news-oriented radio stations the first radio program of the public service broadcaster and ini radijas. The former one is the leader among radio stations while ini radijas is in the 13th position (2.1%). Analyzing the usage patterns of Internet, it should be mentioned that in both 2006 and 2007 news portals were among the most popular accessed websites reached by 72% (Delfi.lt, news portal), 37% (Lrytas.lt, online newspaper) and 27% (Alfa.lt, news portal) of online audience. In the second half of 2007, 18.4% of the Internet users claimed they most frequently read versions of Lithuanian newspapers and magazines, 14% communicated in virtual forums and news groups, 2.4% of respondents watched TV online (TNS Gallup, 2007). It may be summarized that approximately half of the inhabitants are readers of daily newspapers (however, the popularity of tabloids is much higher than of those with more qualitative content). Similar findings can be made in the TV and radio sectors: ratings of TV news are 2 or 3 times lower than those of entertainment programs, while active news listeners comprise about 23% of the total radio audience. The situation is different with the Internet news oriented portals take the most popular positions, but it should be remembered that only around half of the population (54%) are Internet users in Lithuania.

(F3) Internal rules for newsroom democracy.

1 point

In few media organizations decisions in the newsrooms sometimes involve journalists. In most media organizations there are no formal procedures on how to involve journalists in decisions on personnel or editor in chief choices. Most often, the chief editor is appointed by the owners or a company director, even though once journalists of 15 minui were asked to suggest a candidate.

In the news media analyzed, the selection of new journalists is usually done by the chief editor or the head of the news department (15 minui, Vakaro inios, TV3, radio and TV newsrooms of public service broadcaster). Sometimes some other employees are involved into this decision making process, but they are usually the ones taking high positions in the newsroom (Kauno diena, Delfi.lt, ini radijas). The entire newsroom staff is consulted only in the news portal Bernardinai.lt, but the final decision is taken by the chief editor.

(F4) Company rules against internal influence on newsrooms.

1 point

Some media organizations have formal rules to separate newsroom and advertising departments; concrete cases exist when journalists protested against the decisions of managers to impose what stories to cover. The main media law prohibits any pressure on journalists to air false or biased information. It requires producers of public information programs to have their own internal codes of ethics, which must set the journalists rights, duties, responsibility, employments relations, as well as the journalists protection against restriction of his rights. It pins down the journalists duties including the duty to refuse an assignment by the producer, the disseminator of public information, their representative or a responsible person appointed by them, if this assignment compels [the journalist] to violate the laws or the Code of Ethics of Lithuanian Journalists and Publishers. Institutionally, it seems that adequate wording is in place; in reality, however, there exist certain drawbacks in media performance. In most cases, the requirement for an internal code of ethics in media organization is implemented only formally as there is no legally binding commitment to ensure editorial independence. According to interview results, the majority of journalists say they are independent in choosing their topics and feel no pressure from the owners. At the same time, they would not in most cases produce a negative report on the owners. According to our respondents, there is no censorship in the media, yet a certain degree of self-censorship exists. Most media organizations do not have formal rules to separate newsroom and advertising departments, but in some media these separations were made. As claimed by respondents, most media organizations hire different people and do not involve journalists in the preparation of advertising material. Advertising department also does not participate in

newsroom meetings. However, it does not mean that this department does not have influence on the work of journalists. For example, some years ago the report by Transparency International mentioned a case when a list of main advertisers was hanging on the notice board in the newsroom of one national TV channels meaning that no negative material should be announced about them (Transparency International, 2007). Another research study has shown that in the analysis of publications in three Lithuanian dailies in the period of 20042006 tendencies were noticed that no negative articles were usually prepared about the main advertisers (Nastaraviius, 2006). The same research study also demonstrated that some newspapers even started publishing negative articles about some companies prompting these to order advertising. In our sample of leading media, some chief editors are also the directors of their media organization (for example, in the daily Vakaro inios and the radio station ini radijas). This could be treated as a conflict of interests, as newsroom and management departments should be totally separated. It also needs to be mentioned that clear cases exist to verify that journalists protest against internal pressures. For instance, when the news agency ELTA was bought by the Respublika media group, the majority of ELTA journalists left their jobs as they claimed that the new owners tried to make influence on the content. In 2007, the director general of the radio station ini radijas Vaidotas ukas lost his job because, as he claimed, he refused to make an interview with the owner Augustinas Rakauskas (the president of the association of enterprises Senukai).

(F5) Company rules against external influence on newsrooms

0 points

Media organizations receive income from diverse streams; however, sponsoring agreements are found in some, mostly regional and local, media. News media receive income from a multitude of sources such as advertising and sponsoring. In the case of public service broadcaster, close to 40% of the funding comes from advertising, while the rest comes through state allocations. The chief editors of the selected news media claimed that they usually do not feel any direct outside pressures. Only the head of the newsroom of commercial TV channel TV3 said that once she experienced direct pressure and even attempts to intimidate. She also mentioned a

case when one of the main advertisers cancelled their order after a negative reportage about their company was shown. Other respondents mentioned only soft attempts to affect the content by hiring agencies of public relations or attempts to convince people who are in some way related to journalists. Considering the sources of income that news media have, advertising is usually the essential one. 4 of out 9 selected news media are totally dependent on this revenue stream (15 minui, Delfi.lt, ini radijas, TV3). Newspapers (Kauno diena or Vakaro inios) get their income from sales and subscription but advertising still gives the biggest part of revenue. Internet news portal Bernardinai.lt is the least dependant on advertisers, as income from advertising amounts to only 15% of the total budget; the rest is provided by the Press Fund and various sponsors (through public funding). In 2007, the Lithuanian chapter of Transparency International has announced a research about the level of corruption in Lithuanian media. According to the data provided in this research, 13% of businessman, who participated in the survey and who had dealings with Lithuanian media in 2005-2006, said they paid the media by advertising or commercials for the publishing of positive material or suppressing negative information. Most often respondents claimed they bribed the press; national TV channels are described as less corrupt than local ones.

Equality / Interest mediation (E1) Media ownership concentration regional level 2 points

Media concentration is not an issue of big concern as great variety of media outlets exists on regional level. The audience share and reach of local and regional TV channels has slowly increased over recent years. In 2006, the market of regional and local broadcasting included one regional broadcaster and 27 local commercial TV stations. The country was served at the time by 57 cable operators and four Multichannel Multipoint Distributed Service (MMDS) operators. The number of regional, local broadcasters and cable operators has been stable. According to the law, a regional broadcaster shows terrestrial programming to a territory inhabited by less than 60% of Lithuanias population.

Rules on licensing regional and local broadcasters are the same as for nationwide broadcasters. The RTC says in its annual reports that regional and local broadcasters are monitored on a regular basis. Sanctions against them were exceptionally rare: once in 2005 and three times in 2006. No comprehensive data on this monitoring are publicly available. In general, regional concentration is fairly low. In most cases more than two competing news media outlets are available in each sector. Market share (CR3) in the regions of Lithuania cannot be calculated, as no relevant data is available.

(E2) Media ownership concentration national level.

2 points

Media ownership concentration is not an issue of big concern, but certain worries were already aired by media experts as the situation in some sectors may rapidly change to critical levels. In Lithuania, the legislation contains no special provisions on media concentration. The sector comes under the more general competition law, which forbids dominant positions, meaning over 40% of a market. In TV market, a severe competition exists between two commercial stations TV3 and LNK, as their popularity is at similar rates. In 2007, TV3 controlled 26.6%, while LNK 22% of the overall market. The third largest player is the public service broadcaster (LTV) which owns 13.4 of the market (TNS Gallup, 2007). The total market share of these three channels is 62%. In the radio market, situation is different for the public service broadcaster, as its station LR1 is the leading one (it controls 21.1% of the market). Other two dominant positions are taken by commercial stations Lietus and Pkas (13.3% and 9.4% respectively). Taken together, these three channels comprise 43.6% of the overall market. Considering the market of national dailies, Vakaro inios, Lietuvos rytas and 15 minui control 19.9 %, 19.2 % and 11.1 % of the overall market respectively. The total market share of these three dailies is 50.2 % (TNS Gallup 2007). In general, conclusion could be made that the highest concentration exists in the television section (CR3 reaches 62%), which is followed by newspaper market (50.2 %) and radio market (43.8%). Even though Internet media is rapidly strengthening its positions in the overall media market, no data is available on the marker share by the leading news portals.

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No sanctions have ever been imposed in Lithuania for abuse of dominant positions by owners of more media in pursuing their business interests. It is difficult to prove that media ownership concentration has direct impact on media content but observations can be made. Lietuvos rytas, one of the biggest newspaper publishers, has stepped seriously into the TV business by acquiring shares of the regional TV stations network 5 kanalas (now it is TV channel Lrytas Television). The producer company owned by the same owners has weekly programs on the public service broadcaster. Briefly, media structural diversity is a serious problem for small markets and, as practice reveals, it is difficult to find one adequate solution suitable for every situation. In the early 1990s, the ideal of market liberalization was initiated by immediate needs (to promote development of domestic actors). Thus, certain bans and restrictions in media regulation were imposed. Also, as Lithuania does not share languages with its neighbors, media regulation does not follow the protectionist path.

(E3) Diagonal ownership concentration. Some non media owners also invest into media companies.

1 point

In recent years, diagonal media concentration has significantly increased as well as more varied ownership forms have emerged in the media scene. Aside to foreign ownership (mainly from the neighboring Scandinavia), media in Lithuania is owned by local business groups with varying interests (Table 7). Increasing diagonal media concentration creates a tricky situation where the media becomes an instrument in the hands of different actors aiming to achieve their aspirations.

Table 7 about here

Achema Group is now the most active player in the Lithuanian media market owning dailies, TV and radio stations and publishing houses. Other media giants are set to exploit the growing popularity of Internet media. Lithuania's leading private equity concern, MG Baltic, owner of the national broadcaster LNK, launched a news portal, www.alfa.lt, in the August of 2007, and is actively penetrating the publishing market. Another private equity firm, Hermis

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Capital, owns three regional dailies, while 80% of shares of the radio station ini radijas belongs to Augustinas Rakauskas, who is the owner of Senukai enterprises. Briefly, discussion on media concentration and access diversity in small markets raises different concerns. On the one hand, in a small market, few but large and wealthy media firms could provide better quality and more innovative media products as well as ensure better working conditions for journalists than many small and highly competitive local media suppliers with only limited resources. On the other hand, there remains a perceived danger that excessive concentration of media ownership and business logics based on economic management of news production poses a threat to pluralism by concentrating more economic power into the hands of just a few suppliers. Giant media groups may find it easy to take over and drive out smaller companies. Also, large companies may strategically deploy their resources to undercut the price of weaker competitors in target markets.

(E4) Diversity of news formats. Different types of content is offered, but entertainment dominates.

2 points

Recent years have seen a certain shift from information, culture and education programs to entertainment on the public service and, particularly, commercial channels. The increase in presentation formats is observed in online media, as a clear shift to incorporating video news, blogs, reviews by public intellectuals and user generated content is noticed in all biggest online news portals. In contrast, in print media, a tendency is observed of genre diversity diminishing just to two choices: hard news and features. The shift to entertainment and movies is most clearly visible on television where a variety of entertainment programs were launched. Although the generic diversity is fairly big across the four national coverage channels (1 publicly funded and 3 commercial stations) ranging from hard news to softer programming and entertainment, the composition among different types of broadcasters looks very much the same (see Table 8). Offering more hours in some sectors of softer programming (entertainment), commercial stations aim to keep balance in their output by providing news and information programs as well as movies and fiction in comparable amounts with the public service broadcaster. As data shows, all TV stations are dependent on advertising revenues and air about the same amount of hours of advertisements in their programming (4-5% of all output hours).

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Table 8 about here

At the same time, serious talk shows have been steadily disappearing from the screen. Their number dropped from ten in 2004 to four in early 2007. Three of them cover political and economic issues and the fourth deals mainly with social and gender issues. Two of them are broadcasted by LRT, one by 5 kanalas and one by LNK. The political talk shows on LTV, Spaudos klubas and Forumas, however, are criticized for bias by some experts and viewers. In the presentation of his 2006 Annual Report in Parliament on 22 May 2007, the Inspector of Journalist Ethics Romas Gudaitis urged the hosts of LTVs talk shows to offer a wider choice of experts and commentators and to ensure the diversity of opinions and expressions. The media law contains general guidelines on programming that apply to all broadcasters. They include the requirement to air unbiased information with as many opinions as possible on controversial issues related to politics, economic and social issues. Commercial broadcasters are also obliged by their license contract with the regulator to air a certain proportion of generic programming every week (the RTCs representatives say that they monitor periodically how commercial broadcasters fulfill these obligations; however, no data are publicly available). The Law on LRT also sets general principles for content broadcast by LRT. However, they are similar to the provisions from the main media law. It stipulates specific requirements for programs with the aim of ensuring a diversity of topics and genres, obliging broadcasters to cover diverse social layers and people of all ages, diverse nationalities and convictions. The law also requires that biased political views should not be allowed to predominate in the programs, and that information and commentaries on TV screens must be balanced and reflect diverse political views. The law states that opinions by journalists and commentators must be clearly labeled as such, while factual news must be substantiated and comprehensive. The law also obliges the public service broadcaster to give priority to national culture and broadcasts on information, world cultures, journalistic investigation, analytical, educational and art broadcasts. The public service broadcaster is not obliged to comply with any rules on a minimum length of programs by genre. It is the responsibility of the LRT Council to make decisions on LTV content and to monitor its programs. However, none of these functions performed in reality:

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there are no data available on monitoring of LTV programs. The LRT Council is also responsible for putting together a state strategy on programming of the public service broadcaster.

(E5) Alternative / minority media Different minority media are offered.

3 points

Lithuania is in general an ethnically homogenous country. In 2007, Lithuanians accounted for 84.6% of entire population in the country, with none of the national minorities topping the 10% threshold. The largest minority in Lithuania is Polish, 6.3%, followed by Russians (5.1%) and Belarusians (1.1%). Other minorities account for less than 1% of the population. Lithuanian legislation does not include any special quotas for language and minority groups. Some radio stations (LR1) and several news portals (Alfa.lt) publish news in the English language, while Delfi.lt has also its news edition in Russian. According to the Lithuanian Press Statistics of 2007, out of the total number of 328 newspapers 25 were published in foreign languages. The majority of them (19) are in Russian, 4 in Polish, 1 in English, Yiddish and German languages. There is also one radio program in Polish (Znad Wilii) and one in Russian (Russkoje Radio Baltija). The Law on LRT also does not set specific quotas, but includes some specific requirements for LTV. It obliges LTV to allot time for Lithuanias traditional and state-recognized religious communities to broadcast religious services in accordance with the conditions and procedure stipulated in bilateral agreements between the public broadcaster and various religious communities. The legal amendments that came into force on 31 December 2005 added requirements on broadcasters to air programs for national minorities and people with sight and hearing disabilities. LTV generally follows the legal requirements and offers five programs for national minorities in Polish, Russian and Ukrainian, it also has programs for the Jewish community in Lithuania and Labas (Hello) on the culture, traditions and religion of other nations. LTV also airs three weekly programs for religious communities (Catholics, the Evangelical community and for the Christian Orthodox community). It also airs masses during the most important Catholic religious events. Roman Catholics in Lithuania comprise a majority. There are 2.7 million Catholics in a country of 3.4 million, according to the census in 2001. None of the other religious confessions account for more than one per cent of the population. The other largest

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religious communities include Christian Orthodox with over 141.000 believers and the Evangelical community (Lutherans and Reformists) with 26.000. In 2006, programming for national minorities accounted for 1% and 2% of LTV and LTV2 broadcasting time, respectively, while religious programs accounted for 0.8% and 1% of LTV and LTV2 broadcasting time.

(E6) Affordable public and private news media

2 points

Quality media as well as the Internet access is more expensive; mainstream media as well as tabloid press is cheap. According to the Lithuanian Department of Statistics (Indicators of Economic and Social Development, 2004-2009), average gross monthly earnings for workers was 636 Euro (net monthly earnings 493 Euro). Considering the prices for the access of various media, many differences can be noticed according to the media type. There are no license fees for radio and TV in Lithuania; moreover, one national free newspaper is available at the three biggest cities of Lithuania. Putting aside free media channels, the cheapest media are newspapers (tabloids are twice cheaper than mid-market press); subscription to cable TV and the Internet is considerably higher. If access to newspapers comprises 1-2%, access to cable TV requires 2% and for highspeed Internet up to 6% of monthly earnings (Table 9).

Table 9 about here

In general, mainstream media is available at a low cost. All news portals offer free content, there are no taxes to pay for the public service media (TV and radio) and newspapers are facing serious competition and dropping numbers of readers thus they are competing with different subscription offers. As different media is available (and at a low cost), generally, the amount of media consumed is increasing in all sectors.

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(E7) Content monitoring instruments

1 point

There is an organized and regular media monitoring performed by diverse organizations such as NGOs, media regulatory bodies, higher education institutions; however, these results seldom reach wider audience. Discussions on media performance are found in the Internet media as well as some radio broadcasts or dailies; this is done by academics, public intellectuals, media professionals). In Lithuania, media content is monitored by the institution of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics and the RTC. The Lithuanian Journalism Centre (an NGO) performs different projects some of which are related to media content and performance monitoring as well as policy drafting. However, the results of these projects are seldom published in the mainstream media or reach wider audience in any other ways except of academic discussions at higher education institutions. In principle, an independent and regular professional media monitoring instruments and mechanisms do exist in the country. There is one professional journal in Lithuania, called Journalists News. It appears once a month and has been published since 1997 (its funding comes from the Press Fund). In 2007, the first Lithuanian media weblog started functioning (Gzi.lt). It is an open forum which invites all media organizations concerned with the matters of ethics and transparency to participate in an open and honest discussion. Currently the members of this weblog are 19 media organizations. Commentaries of media researchers are also published on the webpage; also, there is a possibility provided to participate in virtual debate forums. The role of training and education of journalists seems to be of particular significance in bringing training of students as close to practice as possible at the same time allowing analysis and reflection that is necessary for journalism professionals to fully understand both the methods involved in news reporting and writing and the social repercussions of proliferating market journalism. To conclude, it seems that a small market sets higher demands on both news producers and consumers. For news producers, it requires to achieve quality content with limited resources. Consumers, too, must be better equipped to access information, make informed choices and assess the received content.

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(E8) Level of self-regulation (performance)

1 point

There is an organized system of media self-regulation in Lithuania; there are also examples of organized self-criticism. But there are little resources and for citizens it is unclear whom to address complaints. In Lithuania, two institutions are involved in handling complaints on media performance, namely the Ethics Commission of Journalists and Publishers and the office of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics (both established in 1996). Ethics Commission of Journalists and Publishers is a self-regulation institution, while the office of Inspector of Journalist Ethics is more a regulatory instrument. Both institutions are slightly interlinked, for example the candidacy of the Inspector is proposed by the Commission. The Office of the Inspector observes how the Law on the Provision of Information to the Public functions as well as adherence to the regulation according to the Law on the Protection of Minors against Detrimental Effect of Public Information and others laws. Commission mainly deals with journalist ethics and the main document on which it bases its decisions is the Ethics Code. The person who wants to write a complaint needs to address it to one of those two institutions. If the case deals with human rights, honor, dignity, privacy violation, also the rights of minors then the complaint should go to the Inspector. The Office of Inspector has a group of experts who help him make decisions on these cases. The Office of the Inspector also monitors media and has the power to punish information provider (by administrative order) if he detects that the media firm has offended the law. The Commission investigates cases from the perspective of journalists ethics. It bases its decisions also according to chapters in the Ethics Code. A problematic issue here is the dilemma that is faced by the citizens. It is unclear in most cases to whom to address the complaint. Indeed, the two institutions are cooperating if the case is unclear and deals with the matter of the other office, they exchange the cases. In this respect a bigger transparency on both institutions is needed as well as media literacy needs to be promoted already at a school level (in Lithuania this is already done: school programs have different modules on media). The Commission is funded from the Press Fund; the budget assigned is limited, it is used mainly for administrative purposes. Members of the Commission are paid by honorariums for

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each of the meeting. Small budget limits the activities of the Commission: it does not perform media monitoring and limits its functions only to decision making. The Office of the Inspector is funded by the state. The Inspector is a public servant (he is employed by the state and cannot get any other salary); he has an office and employs experts who do the media monitoring, especially of cases that might deal with violation of the rights of minors. One more aspect that becomes crucially important in the analysis of media performance is a question whether media adhere to the requests by the Inspector (also by the Commission) to publish negations. News media often show disrespect for Inspectors decisions and almost never publishes negations. As a result, in his report to the Parliament of 2007, the Inspector suggests to establish sanctions for the noncompliance with his decisions. The Commission is facing the same problem, even though the situation is a bit different. Approximately 50% of its decisions are published by the media which broke the Code of Ethics. When the medium in breach does not publish the negation, the Commission announces its decision on the first radio program of the public service broadcaster. However, in 2008 this has not been done yet due to the unsettled time for their announcement. The only sanction the Commission uses in its work is writing letters and warnings to the chief editors of media that violate the Code. Those organizations which constantly repeat serious violations can be labeled as the medium which does not comply with the rules of the Code. During the whole time when the Commission has been working, there was only one such case, when this sanction was applied to the daily Vakaro inios.

(E9) Code of ethics at the national level (structure) There is an institutionalized system of self-regulation and code of ethics).

2 points

The main regulatory tool for editorial policies in media is the Code of Ethics for Journalists and Publishers, approved by the Lithuanian Journalists Union in 1996. The Code sets basic requirements for news reporting, ethical standards and protection of individual privacy. It also speaks about the relations between journalists and owners, and among journalists themselves. The Code was amended in 2005 to include provisions on transparency of information, hidden advertising and the rights of private individuals and minors. Journalists are obliged by law to protect and respect the right to privacy in the event of death or disease. They must not

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mention personal data when covering suicides or suicide attempts and must not propagate or depict attractively smoking, drinking or the use of narcotics. Such topics can be covered only when needed for the realistic presentation of various issues. However, this hardly changed the real situation in the Lithuanian media. Most of the decisions by ethics custodians in recent years were primarily related to violation of privacy and protection of minors. All representatives of the selected news media claimed that their journalists adhere to the principles of the Lithuanian Journalists and Publishers Code of Ethics. Nevertheless, in some organizations analyzed, there are no formal means that would oblige journalists to follow this requirement. In 2 organizations out of 9, this requirement is included into the employment contract (dailies Kauno diena and 15 minui), in one organization it is a part of professional instructions (ini radijas). In radio and TV newsrooms of the public service broadcaster, provisions of the Code of Ethics are incorporated into the internal principles of work and into the regulations on internal work of newsrooms. In TV3 and Delfi.lt, the principles of the Code are a part of internal unwritten rules of an organization. Only two of the selected news media organizations have their additional internal rules written down (LTV and ini radijas). In all the others, these rules are more implicit rather than clearly formulated principles. The methods of reaction towards mistakes or breaches of ethics done by journalists are very similar in various organizations. No strict sanctions are usually applied except some extraordinary cases; editors discuss faults with a journalist or during newsroom meetings. Organized process of self-criticism is quite rare except of few projects (one radio program and several online portals) which offer programs resembling the logic of media reviewing media. Independent journalist associations play an important role in improving skills and raising ethical standards. In Lithuania, two such organizations exist: Lithuanian Journalists Union and Journalists Association. The number of their members is respectively 800 and 100 journalists. Having in mind that in general there are 3000 journalists in Lithuania (4000, if counting those who work on honorarium bases), then members of these organizations form approximately one third (or one fourth) of all journalists. The number of the members of professional organizations differs a lot in the selected news media. It is only in the daily Kauno diena that all the journalists belong to the Lithuanian Journalists Union; in other news media analyzed they comprise from 0 to 35% of all newsroom employees. On the whole, it may be generalized that Lithuanian Journalists Union

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is not strong but it performs its functions at least partially. It organizes various courses and seminars, provides free consultations on legal matters for their members. Besides, a collective agreement was signed with the National Association of Publishers of Regional and Town Newspapers which unites representatives of 37 newspapers.

(E10) Participation of citizens

2 points

News media organizations have introduced adequate means to receive public comments. Media in Lithuania provides a variety of ways for hearing their audiences opinions and suggestions. Rather often people suggest various themes that journalists find worth creating articles or reportages about, so the audience has impact on the news media agenda. According to the representatives of the selected news media, the most popular forms of expressing audiences opinion and suggestions are phone calls and e-mails. Some news media have original ways to hear from their readers or listeners. Internet news portal Delfi.lt has created a special menu section called Tell us your news!, while the journalists of the portal Bernardinai.lt once a month or more seldom organize meetings with their readers in various parts of Lithuania. Some ways to hear audiences attitudes are related to the type of media: in the programs of radio station ini radijas and public service broadcaster, listeners calls are often incorporated into the live coverage. Radio newsroom of public service broadcaster also has an answer phone which records listeners questions at any time of the day. A special broadcast is prepared every week for providing answers to these questions. Internet media organizations having less hierarchical editorial structures are more open to new content formats and forms of cooperation with citizens. Many possibilities to participate in discussions on actualities are provided by Internet portals, as they all allow the possibility to comment on the articles. Some of them offer possibilities to write weblogs (Delfi.lt, 15 minui, Kauno diena), to participate in virtual discussions and forums.

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Control / watchdog (C1) Control of the controllers 1 point

Few media do this on a more deep level; mainstream media only mention factual information on changes in the field. Public criticism and regular public debates on media performance are taking place on irregular basis. For example, media structural changes related matters are covered in the media; this, however, is done mostly on the factual level and in the sphere of economic news. A broader analysis on the impact on changes in the media field on citizenship is lacking (but again with some exceptions, for example, some media do this). The chief editor of commercial radio station ini radijas described their main function as serving interests of the audience, so the control of the controllers is taken into account as much as it interests their listeners. A journalist of a free newspaper 15 minui said that the informational style is dominating in their newspaper and serious issues are avoided.

(C2) Watchdog and the medias mission statements

1 point

Level of importance is acknowledged as very high; at the same time, the mission of media in most cases is mentioned as to inform the public. The representatives of the selected news media describe the watchdog role as one of the most important functions of media, but the biggest priority is given to the mission of informing society and presenting the biggest scope of various opinions. Journalists claim that it is important to report news which has tangible consequences for ordinary citizens. This kind of journalism takes a keen interest in public opinion. In these answers the locus of news is clearly pulling away from politics and seeking a more immediate connection to the everyday life of individuals. Also, it may be noticed that some representatives of the selected news media have a varied understanding of the watchdog function. For example, the chief editor of the daily Kauno diena and the head of the radio news department at the public service broadcaster associated it with the presentation of a concrete authors opinion towards certain actualities. The chief editor of the daily Kauno diena expressed her opinion that nowadays the watchdog function is being transformed into the production of balanced and wide-ranging information. As she explained, this function in Kauno diena is fulfilled by the selection of certain topics.

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(C3) Professional training There exists a continuous training of media professionals.

2 points

The Lithuanian Journalists Union regularly organizes trainings on the basis of the needs expressed by the profession. Over recent years, the biggest attention has been paid to the media in the regions and trainings were offered in online reporting and editing, newsroom management, journalism ethics, elections reporting, EU news reporting and so forth. However, in the media industry, professional trainings are carried out on less regular basis; a somewhat more structured time-table of trainings is offered by the public service broadcaster. Analyzing how much the selected news media organizations invest into professional training of journalists, it was noticed that 6 out of 9 organizations prepare internal seminars for their journalists (Delfi.lt, 15 minui, TV3, ini radijas, radio and TV newsrooms of public service broadcaster). The frequency of such seminars is usually several times a year. At the same frequency one or few journalists from an organization raise their qualification in seminars organized by outside institutions (higher education institutions, international organizations). 4 out of 9 selected news media organizations pay for seminars that are not for free or finance traveling expenses if the seminars take place abroad (dailies Kauno diena, Vakaro inios; TV3). Other 4 media organizations finance only part of the price, pay for the seminars that take place only in Lithuania or invests in those journalists that seem to be most worth it (15 minui, Delfi.lt, radio and TV newsrooms of public service broadcaster). One organization has no possibilities at all to invest into professional training of their journalists (Bernardinai.lt). In addition to various seminars, higher education may also play a significant role for the qualification of journalists. The 4 out of 9 representatives of the selected news media described journalistic education as not a significant criterion in the selection of new journalists (15 minui, Vakaro inios, Bernardinai.lt, TV3). Other 4 respondents mentioned it as the one that is taken into account but does not play any crucial role in comparison to others (Delfi.lt, ini radijas, radio and TV newsrooms of public service broadcaster). It was only the chief editor of Kauno diena who considered journalistic education to be an important criterion and underlined its positive effect on employees professional responsibility and ability to find relevant information.

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Despite the low value that the respondents attribute to journalistic education, the percentage of journalists who are educated in this field is quite high. In 4 out of 9 of the selected news media organizations such journalists form from 75% till 96% of all newsroom journalists (Kauno diena, Delfi.lt, radio and TV newsrooms of public service broadcaster). In two organizations it comprises approximately half of the journalists (TV3 and ini radijas). In the last 3 organizations such journalists form much smaller part of the staff from 10% till 30% (15 minui, Bernardinai.lt, Vakaro inios). Many representatives of the selected news media contrasted professional education with experience or inborn talents. The majority of them made conclusions that practical skills for a good journalist are more necessary than special education, even though there was no such intention in the question to make such comparisons.

(C4) Watchdog function and financial resources

1 point

Only ad hoc provisions for media professionals to do investigation; no regular investment into development of foreign correspondents corps, except the LRT. Even though investigative journalism is a significant tool for the control of the powerful, the selected news media do not engage into these activities on regular basis. Lack of financial resources, adequate time planning as well as lack of professionals qualified to do investigative journalism are among most frequently mentioned reasons for this. For example, 4 out of 9 representatives of the selected news media mentioned that they would like to pay more attention to the field of investigative journalism (Kauno diena, TV3, radio newsroom of public service broadcaster, Bernardinai.lt). Regional daily (Kauno diena) is the only organization which encourages production of investigative journalism: a journalist is awarded a certain bonus for an article prepared after investigation. In some media organizations allocation of time required for the production depends on internal agreement between journalists (Bernardinai, 15 minui). In the free daily 15minutes, only so-called mini investigations or experiments are sometimes accomplished, but an informal agreement exists that one journalist is preparing a report on the theme of the day while others do the rest of the work. In both TV channels analyzed, TV3 and the first TV channel of public service broadcaster (LTV), a weekly program oriented towards deeper analyses of actualities is broadcasted. If an important issue for investigation is found, the newsroom attempts to provide conditions for an investigation. For example, in 2007 an investigation about abuses of

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power in the municipality of the capital city had been carried out for 3 months. Nevertheless, the majority of the news media analyzed do not allocate neither additional time nor money for the promotion of investigative journalism. It is interesting to note that even the notion of investigative journalism that chief editors of the selected news media have may be different. The head of the radio newsroom of public service broadcaster feels sorry that they have no special department of investigative journalism and look up to Scandinavian media where journalists perform research for half a year or even for the whole year. By contrast, the chief editor of the tabloid Vakaro inios claimed that articles of investigative journalism are published every day on the second and third pages of the newspaper. However, these publications could be described as usual articles and certainly not as examples of investigative journalism.

3. Concluding remarks
This study has disclosed certain drawbacks that may have serious implications to medias democratic performance in the future. Lack of explicit mission statements and rules for internal newsroom organization are disclosed as a serious problem in some (particularly, commercial) media organizations. It is a warning indication of lack of internal newsroom democracy which may lead to limitations of medias democratic performance. Also, as discussed in this study, certain kinds of selfcensorship as well as external pressures on certain media types (small media) are detected. In addition, complex organization of self-regulation, absence of publicly available media monitoring efforts affect both media accountability and public knowledge and willingness of the audience to take part in media related discussions. The Internet media is operating on a somewhat different logic as it aims to create open forums for public debates by providing diverse news and also critical analysis of media performance related matters. Although Internet usage is growing and leveling in the regions of the country, audiences which access this medium are the younger and better educated ones. It may be observed that the news media analyzed do not explicitly assign special importance to the function of the control of the powerful but at the same time perform it to a certain extent. As mentioned, investments into investigative journalism are often prevented by the lack of financial resources.

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There is a general trend observed that in favor of expanding profit margins the mainstream media gradually abandon public service mission of journalism. Entertainment programs and sensational news dominate in commercial channels. To conclude, there are many challenges to be approached in the process of consolidation of media democratic performance in Lithuania. Some of these challenges are quite new such as questions related to diffusion of market-oriented journalism and abandonment of public service mission, ongoing structural changes in the media sector due to media convergence and concentration, or old, for example, related to production of analytical and investigative journalism, investments into foreign reporting and so forth. In short, the journalistic culture of Lithuania is affected by the liberal media model, but weak historical tradition of professional journalism, absence of organized self-criticism in the mainstream media and lack of public debates on medias performance has caused significant distortions of medias performance from, especially, the Nordic examples.

References Balytien, A. (2006). Mass Media in Lithuania: Changes, Development, and Journalism Culture. Berlin: Vistas. Gemius Audience (company website), http://www.audience.lt. Lithuanian Press Statistics (2007), http://www.lnb.lt/doc/bkc/statistika2006.pdf. available on the Internet:

Nastaraviius, M. (2006). Verslo interes raika alies periodini leidini turiniui (Impact of Buisness Interests on Newspaper Content). Unpublished Bachelor thesis, Vilnius University. OSI (Open Society Institute) and EUMAP (EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program) (2005) Television Across Europe: Regulation, Policy and Independence. Summary. Budapest: OSI/EUMAP. Statistics Lithuania (company website), Main Indicators of Economic and Social Development, 2004-2009, http://www.stat.gov.lt/en/pages/view/?id=2622. TNS Gallup (2007) Metin iniasklaidos apvalga. Available on the Internet: http://www.tnsgallup.lt/lt/disp.php/lt_2/lt_2_4. TNS Gallup (company website), http://www.tns-gallup.lt. Transparency International (2007). Skairesns iniasklaidos link. Available on the internet: http://www.transparency.lt/new/images/media_skaidrumas_www.pdf.

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Tables:

Table 1. Leading news media according to its audience share, impact, distinctiveness, etc. (2007). News media outlet Kauno diena Vakaro inios 15 min TV3 LTV ini radijas LR1 Media type (average circulation, 000) Regional daily, 45 Tabloid daily, 130 Free daily, 100 Commercial broadcaster Public service TV station Commercial radio station Public service radio station Ownership Hermis Capital (private equity, Lithuania) Respublika group (closed stock company, Lithuania) Schibsted (Norway) Modern Times Group (Sweden) State (according to the LRT Law) Closed stock company, Lithuania (owner Augustinas Rakauskas) State (according to the LRT Law) Other media outlets owned by the same company Regional dailies (Klaipda, Vilniaus diena) Dailies Respublika (tabloid), Vakar ekspresas, news agency ELTA National tabloid L.T. (50%) Regional TV station, VIASAT network, chain of radio stations LTV, LTV2, LTV World, Lrt.lt, radio stations (LR1, LR2, LR3, Opus radijas) -

LTV, LTV2, LTV World, Lrt.lt, radio stations (LR1, LR2, LR3, Opus radijas) Delfi.lt Online only news portal Microlink (Estonia) Bernardinai.lt Online only news portal Public institution* *A public institution is a non-profit public organisation with limited civil liability, having the rights of a legal person, Registered according to the Law on Public Institutions and other laws of the Republic of Lithuania. Its purpose is to serve public interests by engaging in activities for the advancement of public benefits.

Table 2. Comparing different media use in 2002 and 2006 (TNS Gallup, 2002, 2006). Cover% 2002 Dailies Weeklies Magazines, monthlies, bimonthlies 44.6% 47.3% TV 50.5% 54.2% 2006 56.1% 68.3% Internet Radio 148 min/day Min/day 2002 2006 170 min/day 2002 Daily reach 15.5% monthly reach 189 min/day 192 min/day 18.4% 6 months reach 20.4% Reach% 2006 Daily reach 31% monthly reach 34% 6 months reach 36.4%

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Table 3. Distribution of regional and local newspapers in Lithuania (Lithuanian Press Statistics, 2007).
Main city and its region Alytus Kaunas Klaipda Marijampol Panevys iauliai Taurag Teliai Utena Vilnius Inhabitants (in thousands) in the region 187.7 701.5 385.7 188.6 299.9 370.0 134.2 179.8 185.9 850.0 The number of regional and local newspapers 9 19 14 13 12 14 7 13 12 24

Table 4. Top 5 dailies according to circulation and average readership (TNS Gallup 2006).
Place of publication Vilnius Vilnius Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipda Vilnius Kaunas Type National tabloid National daily National daily (free sheet) National daily Regional daily Publisher Naujasis aitvaras, closed stock company Lietuvos rytas, closed stock company Shibsted, (Norway) Respublikos leidini grup, closed stock company Hermis Capital, closed stock company Average number of circulation (thousand) 130 70 18.6 100 50 45 6.1 161.5 14.4 8.2 488.4 429.6 214.2 Average readership (cover %) 22.0 Average readership (thousand) 578.1

Title Vakaro inios Lietuvos rytas 15 min Respublika Kauno diena

Table 5. Four national coverage TV stations and their market share (TNS Gallup, 2006)
Program LNK Area of transmission National coverage Owner/Media group Laisvas nepriklausomas kanalas, closed stock company (MG Baltic 80%, Amber Trust S.C.A. 20%) TELE-3, closed stock company (owned by Modern Times Group) LRT, state-owned public service broadcaster Achemos grup, closed stock company Type Commercial 53.5 Commercial 53.0 Public service Commercial 45.6 38.7 24.5 14.8 9.2 23.4 Daily reach (cover%) Market share (in%)

TV3 LTV BTV

National coverage National coverage National coverage

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Table 6. Main online-only news portals in Lithuania (Gemius Audience, 2008).

Title Delfi.lt Balsas.lt Alfa.lt Bernardinai.lt Vz.lt Lrt.lt Owner Interinfo, closed stock company Naujosios komunikacijos prekyba, closed stock company MG Baltic, closed stock company Bernardinai.lt, public institution Bonnier Media (Sweden) LRT, state-owned public service broadcaster Type Mainstream news media Mainstream news media Mainstream news media Non-commercial news media News media specialized for business sector Mainstream news media International activities Delfi.lv, Delfi.ee no 124.878 no no Di.se, Aripaev.lv, Borsen.dk, Db.lv, Pb.pl, Business.hr no 207.233 na 49.722 na Number of unique users, 2007 841.136

Table 7. Media owners with their main business interests outside the media field
Owner MG Baltic Hermis Capital Achema Group Other business interests than media Diverse business interests Private Equity company Major industry group LNK and TV1television stations, Internet news portal Alfa.lt, publishing houses Neo-press and UPG Baltic Regional dailies (Vilniaus diena, Kauno diena, Klaipda) BTV, Radio stations Radiocentras, RC2, Zip FM, Russkoje Radio Baltija, the daily Lietuvos inios, the regional newspaper Naujienos, printing houses Titnagas and Ausra, and advertising agency Tango reklama Augustinas Rakauskas President of association of enterprises Senukai Radio station ini radijas Media outlets

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Table 8. Output of broadcasting by genre 20052006 (OSI & EUMAP program, www.eumap.org) PSB output (hours), LTV Genres Information programs News (including sports) Other information programs Education Culture Religion Entertainment Movies, soap Music Sports, excluding sports news Other entertainment Other unclassified programs Advertising Total 2005 1.234 427 807 0 350 76 1.970 1.082 350 184 355 1.215 91 8.141 2006 1.098 (11.2%) 447 (4.6%) 651 (6.7%) 0 (0%) 248 (2.5%) 47 (0.5%) 2.103 (21.6%) 2.830 (29%) 119 (1.2%) 219 (2.2%) 261 (2.7%) 1.319 (13.5%) 402 (4.1%) 9.744 (100%) Commercial stations output (hours) 2005 2006 16.855 8.227 (7.6%) 14.922 4.161(3.8%) 1.933 4.065 (3.4%) 805 1.409 (1.3%) 1.617 3.592 (3.3%) 79 146 (0.13%) 31.256 20.226 (18.8%) 6.260 31.491 (29.2%) 2.410 3.591 (3.3%) 850 1.135 (1%) 12.926 10.205 4.123 104.241 12.028 (11.2%) 12.116 (11.3%) 5.402 (5%) 107.589 (100%)

Table 9. Access costs for various types of media in Lithuania.

Annual subscription of internet access Annual subscription of cable TV Annual subscription of midmarket daily (Lietuvos rytas) Annual subscription of regional daily (Kauno diena) Annual subscription of tabloid daily (Vakaro zinios) 114 344 (depending on the speed of data transfer) 139 115 57 45

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