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Other administrative pressures

Economic leverage increasingly used against media holdings in Turkey

Posted on July 16, 2015 Leave a Comment

Media ownership remains concentrated in the hands of a few large, private holding companies that earn the majority of their revenue from nonmedia assets. The centralization of public procurement decisions within the prime minister’s office under AKP rule has led to increasing use of economic leverage against these holding companies to force them to toe the party line, according to Freedom House.

The prime minister’s office directly controls the Privatization High Council (OİB), the Housing Development Administration (TOKİ), and the Defense Industry Executive Committee, which together account for tens of billions of dollars in procurement contracts per year.

Regading examples of the use of economic leverage to shape media ownership, Freedom House points to the wiretap recordings leaked in December 2013, that indicated that the government dictated which holding companies would purchase the Sabah-ATV media group in exchange for a multibillion-dollar contract to build Istanbul’s third airport. The Savings Deposit and Insurance Fund (TMSF) was also used to transfer media assets to supportive businessmen, as in November 2013, when Ethem Sancak, a Turkish businessman with close ties to Erdoğan, bought three media outlets previously owned by the Çukurova Group from TMSF.

Source: Freedom of the Press Index 2015 – Turkey

https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2015/turkey#.VY0bykv_9EQ

Posted in: Cases, Other Administrative Pressures, Turkey | Tagged: Other administrative pressures, Turkey

Russia uses advertising and other economic pressures against critical media

Posted on July 6, 2015 Leave a Comment

Government advertising allocations are an important means of influencing content in Russia, and most media businesses remain dependent on state subsidies and government printing, distribution, and transmission facilities, Freedom House reported in 2015. In addition, private businesses are reported to be reluctant to place advertisements with outlets that are not favorable to the government.

In July 2014, Putin signed a series of amendments to the federal law on advertising that, beginning in January 2015, would ban satellite and cable channels from carrying commercial advertising if they also charge viewers a subscription fee. Stations with terrestrial broadcasting licenses would be exempt from the ban, meaning it would seriously damage the financial viability of Dozhd, foreign content providers, and many other services, but not the dominant progovernment channels.

Dozhd (Rain), often described as Russia’s only independent television news outlet, faced increased interference in response to its content during 2014. In January, the station came under fire from authorities after it conducted a website poll asking readers whether the Soviet army should have surrendered the city of Leningrad to German invaders during World War II rather than resisting a lengthy siege that cost nearly a million civilian lives. The state telecommunications regulator, Roskomnadzor, began an investigation into the incident, and within days the major satellite providers in Russia began to drop Dozhd from their subscription packages, reportedly under pressure from the Kremlin. In March, Dozhd general director Natalya Sindeyeva announced that the station was insolvent, although it managed to continue operating through the end of the year. A number of observers alleged that the government’s campaign against the broadcaster was actually motivated by its critical reports on other topics, including corruption and human rights abuses surrounding the Sochi Olympics.

Source: Freedom of the Press Index 2015 – Russia

https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2015/russia#.VY0aN0v_9EQ

 

Posted in: Advertising, Cases, Licenses, taxes, imports and audits | Tagged: Advertising, Other administrative pressures

Aggressive campaign by Azerbaijanian authorities against independent news media Azadliq

Posted on June 29, 2015 Leave a Comment

The newspaper Azadliq, widely recognised as one of the last remaining independent news outlets operating in Azerbaijan, is facing imminent closure. The aggressive campaign by the authorities against the newspaper and the denial of advertising shows the desire of the authorities to stifle the newspaper, according to the news site Contact.

A statement from the paper, quoted in the news site, outlined its “difficult financial situation”. “If the problems are not resolved in the shortest possible time, the publication of the newspaper will be impossible,” it read. Azadliq has long faced an uphill battle to stay in business.

In July 2014, Azadliq was forced to suspend print publication. Editor Rahim Haciyev told Index on Censorship that the government-backed distributor had refused to pay out the some 75,000 EUR it owed the paper, which meant it could not pay its printer.

The paper has also seen its finances squeezed through being banned from selling copies on tube stations and the streets of Baku, and being slapped with fines of some 73,500 EUR following defamation suits in 2013. The paper was also evicted from its offices in 2006 and authorities have repeatedly targeted its journalists.

Sources:

Milana Knezevic, “Azerbaijan: Independent newspaper Azadliq faces imminent closure” (25 June 2015) Index on Censorship

“Azadlig Newspaper Could Suspend Its Publication” (25 June 2015), Contact.az

Posted in: Advertising, Asia, Cases, Licenses, taxes, imports and audits | Tagged: Advertising, Asia, Other administrative pressures

Murky ties among politicians, big business and the media found in the Balkans

Posted on June 26, 2015 Leave a Comment

Opaque funding, hidden ownership, murky ties among politicians, big business, and journalists, are all too common problems in the countries that once made up Yugoslavia, according to an article published in Nieman Reports.

The article, which covers several cases of alleges soft censorship practices in Serbia, Bosnia, Slovenia and Macedonia, mentions fear of losing their jobs as an important reason journalists in mainstream media stay away from sensitive subjects.

It concludes, however, that having lost their jobs—or being unable to secure jobs at legacy titles in the first place—, many journalists have gone on to found the online outlets that are keeping investigative reporting alive in the Balkans.

Vladimir Radomirovic, “In the Balkans, Whistle-Blowing News Outlets Struggle to Survive”, NiemanReports

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Posted in: Europe, General, Licenses, taxes, imports and audits | Tagged: Europe, Other administrative pressures

“Soft Censorship is Very Deleterious for Journalism”

Posted on June 23, 2015 Leave a Comment

Don Podesta

Don Podesta, manager and editor at the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) based within the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in Washington D.C., published ‘Soft Censorship: How governments around the globe use money to manipulate the media’ in 2009. Today, he believes that governments are increasingly using soft censorship, and evermore sophisticated economic pressures and forms of intimidation, to silence critical reporting and reward positive coverage.

As a partner in WAN-IFRA’s on-going Soft Censorship research, Don spoke to Mariona Sanz about some of his concerns regarding the development of one of the least acknowledged, but arguably most pernicious forms of modern censorship.

 

WAN-IFRA: You started researching soft censorship in 2008. What did you uncover?

Don Podesta: I identified three main forms of indirect government censorship. The first was manipulating government budgets to reward media that are compliant with local or national governments and punish critical media. The second form, if not directly using government money, was pressuring businesses to advertise in some media and not in others. In China, Hong Kong or Taiwan, for example, I found that the government put pressure on big state companies, airlines and banks to withdraw their advertising from independent publications, so it was not the government itself but its pressure on commercial entities. The third version, which blends into corruption, is paying journalists directly to write a story. Why buy an advertisement if you can buy a story? This form is particularly prevalent in Ukraine where they have this phenomenon called “jeansa” [term for the blue jeans that journalists typically wear]. This practice can become two-way blackmail, as the journalist can also collect money for not writing something.

 

 How has soft censorship evolved since then? Are there new practices you are identifying?

In my view, the definition of soft censorship has broadened to include new forms of economic pressures. An example would be Venezuela right now, where, because of the lack of foreign exchange, there are restrictions on the importation of newsprint. Independent newspapers do not have enough newsprint to produce their newspapers, and some are even borrowing paper from neighbouring countries like Colombia and Brazil.

There is also another prevalent form, perhaps closer to direct censorship, related to the licensing of broadcasters. If the government does not renew your broadcasting license, you are out of business.

Finally, we are seeing forms of online indirect censorship promoted by countries that traditionally had hard censorship. So-called “trolls” or government-supported people make nasty comments online to intimidate journalists. Russian trolls, for example, are commenting about the conflict with Ukraine and make a lot of noise on the Internet to silence journalists.

 

Can such forms of intimidation, like trolling for example, really be considered soft censorship?

They are pretty harsh, but indirect. For me hard or direct censorship is the old notion of “if you publish this we are going to close down your organisation,” or pre-censoring. By intimidating reporters by saying nasty things no one is stopping the journalist, who can still write and the article will be posted on the newspaper’s webpage, but s/he might think twice before writing again on the topic if people are going to accuse her of being a prostitute or an idiot. Intimidation is a form of censorship.

 

In fact, how can we distinguish clearly between soft and hard censorship?

There’s a spectrum from the hardest to the softest censorship practices, and in between it is a matter of judgment whether we call them hard or soft. If they are related to economic or regulatory pressures, I call them indirect or soft. Physical attacks, direct censorship or withdrawing licenses would be rather hard forms. In other words, if the pressure prevents the article or the media from going out, it is hard censorship. Something that inconveniences the media or causes economic damage is indirect censorship. In fact, self-censorship is one of the major consequences of soft censorship.

 

And governments are increasingly using these indirect forms?

Yes, governments are much more sophisticated right now. They do not send soldiers to a radio station to take possession of it. Now they use money or place the regulatory burden on organisations with regulations, tax audits and requirements for more documentation. As most information can be found on the Internet, and they cannot close it down, they have discovered other ways to influence content. It’s disheartening that there are so many forms; we are finding new soft censorship practices all the time.

 

Have you identified regional trends?

Every country is different. Some of the threats that are common, and across regions is what we call “brown envelope” journalism, taking money to do stories. You see a lot of this in Africa or Asia, where it is called “red envelope” journalism.

In South America, from a study of seven countries conducted in the region, it came out that the pressures from city, regional and even national governments were very similar across borders. But inside countries you find local phenomena, as for example in Colombia, where radio reporters in provincial cities like Cartagena pay station owners for air time and cover the expense by selling advertising to the same government officials they cover. Essentially, this means interviewing officials in the morning for a news report and contacting them in the afternoon to solicit advertising. I have not seen this phenomenon in Asia or Europe. Some characteristics are unique to certain places.

 

What are the effects of soft censorship for journalism?

Soft censorship is very deleterious for journalism. It makes it difficult for newspapers to speak truth to power, to do investigative reporting. It takes away some of the watchdog function of a news organisation because outlets are not going to bite the hand that feeds them. This means the public does not get the information that they should be getting.

 

From our monitoring, we see that soft censorship happens also in countries with apparently no press freedom related problems.

Yes, in fact, when I wrote my paper I turned it into an op-ed for the Washington Post, where I mentioned that the Illinois governor at the time reportedly threatened to withhold state assistance from a deal involving the sale of Wrigley Field, owned by the Tribune Co., if the paper did not fire members of the editorial board whom he viewed as highly critical of him. Even in the United States a governor of a large state can use his power over state funds to punish a big institution. Soft censorship happens everywhere.

 

Why should people care about soft censorship?

First of all, because it is taxpayers’ money and it must be distributed equally. This process has to be transparent and there should be an oversight body, which is not politically appointed, to ensure that the standards are being upheld. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression and several think tanks have produced recommendations on that score. If the government is going to advertise, it should also be responsible for measuring the audience to ensure the citizens are getting the proper value for the tax money that is being spent on it. Audience measurement is important, as well as audience appropriateness. For example, what sense does it make to have advertising for tourism in a local paper? If people come to Patagonia to see the wonders of that area, and you put the advertising in the local paper of that same province, it makes no sense.

 

Are international legal instruments that attempt to regulate government advertising useful?

They would be useful models if they were followed, but much like for other freedom of expression clauses, all countries sign on but then their presidents and ruling people define and redefine them in the way they want. Venezuela for example is a signatory of the conventions concerning freedom of expression, but the government is not behaving in that way. Which are the enforcement mechanisms for international conventions? The goals are clear, but the execution is different from country to country.

 

Why do you think that soft censorship does not generate greater international outcry and interest?

The obvious reason is that there is so much spectacular violence against journalists right now, including beheadings, assassinations, imprisonments, that indirect censorship is not very visual and not as exciting compared to the drama of a journalist being put in prison or killed.

The second reason is that soft censorship happens in the world of commercial and monetary transactions, and that publishers are the ones who care the most about this. I was on the board of directors of the Inter American Press Association for about a year and a half and went to a couple of their conventions. Soft censorship was on the top of their list.

Posted in: Advertising, General, Interviews, Licenses, taxes, imports and audits, Paid News, Reports, Subsidies, Taxes | Tagged: Advertising, Interviews, Other administrative pressures

Ever-growing self-censorship related to economic pressures in Turkey

Posted on June 18, 2015 Leave a Comment

The IPI special report on Turkey 2015, Democracy At Risk, points to the increased pressure on media in recent years, part of a drift toward authoritarianism that has led to a pervasive climate of self-censorship and one of the most troubling press freedom pictures in Europe.

Apart from bans on covering certain topics and direct pressures, the report  highlights the political leaders’ efforts to control media via huge tax fines, calls for boycotts, advertisement embargos, seizing media outlets and transferring their ownership to supporters, frustrating journalists with legal cases on insult claims, targeting opposition journalists with social media trolls, and cultivating Internet sites and columnists tasked with scaring and intimidating critics.

The report expresses concern about the “ever-growing self-censorship related to economic pressure, particularly as companies active in other economic sectors acquire ownership of a greater number of media outlets, sometimes at the alleged behest of government officials in exchange for favour”. According to the analysis, “those companies are, in turn, increasingly dependent on state contracts and government connections to survive, leaving journalists with the choice of suppressing critical reports or losing their job, which, amid a polarised media and political climate, effectively can equal loss of career”.

As the report summarizes, the effects of these pressures ara that “media owners suppress criticism to protect their profits, journalists suppress criticism to protect their jobs, and the Turkish people are left with- out information necessary to make informed decisions or hold leaders accountable”.

Read more: Steven M. Ellis (2015) Democracy at Risk. IPI Special Report on Turkey 2015. Vienna: International Press Institute: http://www.freemedia.at/fileadmin/resources/application/IPI_Special_Report_-_Turkey_2015_Final.pdf

 

Posted in: Advertising, Audits, Cases, Europe, Licenses, taxes, imports and audits, Taxes, Turkey | Tagged: Advertising, Audits, Europe, Other administrative pressures, Turkey

High taxes on Zimbabwean newsprint

Posted on May 25, 2015 Leave a Comment

According to the MISA African Media Barometer 2012, printing costs are very high and newsprint is expensive. Supplies have to be imported from China, Russia and South Africa and are heavily taxed. As a consequence, papers are forced to save on newsprint by reducing the size of the paper and the print run. There is the additional problem of transporting the newsprint to Zimbabwe, as there is often major traffic congestion at border posts.

In addition, state-run companies do not advertise in private papers, and state-run media outlets do not accept advertising from companies allegedly aligned with the opposition.

Source: Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) – African Media Barometer – Zimbabwe

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Posted in: Africa, Cases, Imports, Licenses, taxes, imports and audits, Taxes | Tagged: Africa, Imports, Other administrative pressures, Taxes

Tax investigations and arbitrary evictions used against media by Albania’s former government

Posted on May 11, 2015 Leave a Comment

The government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha, which stepped down in September 2013 after the ruling Democratic Party (PD) lost the June parliamentary elections to the opposition Socialist Party (PS), used administrative mechanisms, including tax investigations and arbitrary evictions from state-owned buildings, to disrupt the operations of media outlets it perceived as hostile, according to Freedom House.

The press freedom organisation denounced that the partisan bent of many news outlets was visible during the 2013 election campaign, with the main television stations favouring either the PD or the PS in the amount or tone of their coverage. The election commission’s media rules were weakly enforced, and a decision by the panel in early June appeared to require broadcasters to air party-prepared footage during newscasts, disregarding a 2011 court ruling.

According to a 2013 report by the researcher Ilda Londo, the development of Albanian media during the last two decades can be divided in two phases: the first, from early to late 90s was marked by the so-called politically engaged media, while the second saw the emergence and expansion of clientelistic media. The pressure on the media became more sophisticated during the second period. Even if Albanian media rarely faced open threats or assaults on journalists, they rather experienced problems of an economic nature, such as financial pressure, distribution issues, non-transparent funding, ownership issues, difficult labour conditions and corruption in the media

 

Source: Ilda Londo (2013) Limited Assistance for Limited Impact: International Media Assistance in Albania. Sarajevo, Analitika and Albania Media Institute.

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Posted in: Audits, Cases, Europe, Licenses, taxes, imports and audits, Taxes | Tagged: Audits, Europe, Other administrative pressures, Taxes

All printing presses gov controlled in Kazakhstan

Posted on May 10, 2015

ASIA — KAZAKHSTAN — LICENCES, AUDITS & IMPORTS

Kazakhstan’s government owns and controls all available printing presses in the country and uses this as leverage over independent publications. One newspaper, Respublika, photocopied editions when access to a printing press was denied in 2010.

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Posted in: Asia, Cases, Licenses, taxes, imports and audits | Tagged: Asia, Other administrative pressures

Government controls the only affordable printing facility in Rwanda and critical newspapers have to be printed abroad

Posted on May 7, 2015 Leave a Comment

The government owns the only affordable printing facility in Rwanda, and it frequently denies service to critical newspapers, according to Freedom House

Most newspapers are printed in Uganda, where printing costs are much cheaper. In June 2013, security forces reportedly seized copies of three Rwandan newspapers—Impamo, Rushyashya, and Intego—in Gatuna, a town on the Ugandan border where they had been printed. The newspapers were released for distribution three days later and only after the outlet owners agreed to stop reporting on speculation that Kagame would amend the constitution to allow him to run for a third term as president.

The press freedom institution also specified that market entry for media outlets remains expensive, but the government has eliminated taxes on imported media equipment and removed the sales tax on domestic media materials in order to decrease costs and spur future investment.

Source: Freedom House

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Posted in: Africa, Cases, Licenses, taxes, imports and audits | Tagged: Africa, Imports, Other administrative pressures
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"Official 'soft censorship' describes an array of official actions intended to influence media output, short of legal or extra-legal bans, direct censorship of specific content, or physical attacks on media outlets or media practitioners."

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