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Media Landscape and the State of the Freedom of Media in Selected ENP and EU Countries

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Media Landscape and the State of the Freedom of Media in Selected ENP and EU Countries Media landscape and the state of the freedom of media in selected ENP and EU countries Media analysis Warsaw 2019 Media landscape and the state of the freedom of media in selected ENP and EU countries Dominik Cagara, Michał Kobosko, Ewa Stasiak-Jazukiewicz, Roxane Farmanfarmaian, Anatoliy Martsynkovskyi, Natalia Moghilda Editors Dominik Cagara, Michał Kobosko Technical editor Marcin Sobala Published by College of Europe Natolin Campus Nowoursynowska 84 02-797 Warsaw, Poland This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the College of Europe, Natolin and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. Unless otherwise indicated, this publication and its contents are the property of the Natolin Campus of the College of Europe. All rights reserved. College of Europe Natolin Campus ul. Nowoursynowska 84 PL 02-797 Warsaw, Poland www.coleuropenatolin.eu 2 Eastern Partnership Anatoliy Martsynkovskyi Media and journalists in the Eastern Neighbourhood countries work in different political, economic and social conditions. With regards to the level of democracy and freedom we propose to divide the Eastern Partnership countries into two groups: authoritarian group including Belarus and Azerbaijan, and unstable democracies Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine in the other. Freedom of media is directly and systemically repressed by authoritarian governments in Belarus and Azerbaijan whereas basic tenants of media freedom are respected in the latter four EaP countries. The division is made based on the “Freedom in the world 2018” report, which ranks Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine as "partly free" 154, while Belarus and Azerbaijan are ranked as "not free". Traditional print media struggle in all six countries, with the situation being especially grave in the three countries of the South Caucasus, where journals have become practically obsolete and dailies have lost much of its relevance. With the increasing access to internet, online media have been rapidly expanding its outreach and have become a space for independent voices to resonate. At the same time, in all six countries, TV remains the main point of access to information, providing highly partisan and politicised coverage and contributing to the polarisation of society. In all six countries, internal and external disinformation remains an acute problem, tightly connected to the politicisation issue. Few solutions have been suggested to address the problem; one of them is to restrict access of audiences to foreign, especially state-funded Russian broadcasting. The prevalence of this practice and its justification as a fight with 'fake news' is often used to quell voices critical of the governments coming from within or from the West, especially in Azerbaijan and Belarus. While investigative journalism is openly repressed in Azerbaijan and Belarus, in the other countries the changed news cycle, lack of resources, difficulties with 154 https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2018. achieving financial sustainability, and underpaid, overburdened, and often unqualified staff is a major obstacle in producing investigative reports that as a rule maximise the impact on audiences and are effective in bringing about progressive change. In all countries except Belarus, which are parties to territorial conflicts, both print and online media universally fail to give platform to peace agents, advance reconciliation between conflicted societies, and offer narratives that can challenge the dominant nationalist and often militarist discourse. Finally, media in all countries for the most part fail to accurately report on the European affairs and act as watchdogs for the progress of implementation of the EU Associations Agreements with Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, and the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement with Armenia. Social and political dimensions of journalism Apart from Belarus every other Eastern Partnership country has either a frozen or an active conflict territory within its borders with Russia being involved into these conflict. The result of these conflict were the emergence of unrecognised separatist entities: Transnistria in Moldova, Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. For more than four years Ukraine has been living in an armed confrontation in its east and in the conditions of the loss of a significant territory of which Crimea has been fully annexed by Russia and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions are controlled by unrecognised “people's republics” under Russian moderation. These conflicts represent significant social and political factors in the Eastern Neighbourhood which slow down the development of countries causing significant economic losses and loss of lives. In case of Ukraine the armed conflict shifted the College of Europe Natolin Campus ul. Nowoursynowska 84 PL 02-797 Warsaw, Poland www.coleuropenatolin.eu 160 attention and energy focus of the society from internal reforms, so the opponents of pro-European changes took advantage. These conflicts also affect foreign policy. In 2013 as a result of pressure by Russian Federation Armenian government refused to sign the Association Agreement with the EU . In view of the smouldering territorial conflict with Azerbaijan regarding Nagorno-Karabakh the country is dependent on Moscow security guarantees. The big business exercises a significant influence on media sphere and politics in a number of the Eastern Partnership countries. Ukraine represents the case of the most significant influence. The oligarchs – powerful business persons who control the entire sectors of the economy, parliamentary groups and media have been operating in Ukraine for over 15 years. Similar problems Armenia, Georgia and Moldova experience the similar problems. Elections in the EaP countries have traditionally been a period when the problems and vices of the media are becoming more tangible. Authorities in non- democratic countries are trying even more "tighten the nuts." during the election periods The countries in unstable democracies group experience the complex processes that ultimately lead to increased influence of politicians or media owners on editorial policy, placement of paid articles and stories, the emergence of various kinds of manipulations and obstruction of journalistic activity. A number of elections are being held in the Eastern partnership region in 2018-2019. Georgia held presidential elections in October 2018, Ukraine's presidential elections are scheduled for March 2018, and Belarus will probably hold elections later in 2019. Armenia has held early parliamentary elections. Ukraine and Moldova will have regular parliamentary elections later in 2019. College of Europe Natolin Campus ul. Nowoursynowska 84 PL 02-797 Warsaw, Poland www.coleuropenatolin.eu 161 Even in more democratic Eastern Neighbourhood countries, the internal political situation is traditionally difficult, and the attitude of society to what is happening is quite critical. For example, according to the latest polls, only 26% of Georgians believe that the country is developing in the right direction, in Ukraine there are 15% of such people, in Moldova - 18%. The countries of the Eastern Neighbourhood are at different levels of European integration. Respectively, their media have different reasons and needs for coverage of European issues. However, common for these countries is a fairly high level of trust and a positive attitude towards the European Union. The level of trust towards the European Union is significantly lower in Azerbaijan and Belarus. Table 1 presents the differences in attitude towards the EU among the Eastern Partnership countries between Azerbaijan and Belarus on the one hand and the other four countries on the other. College of Europe Natolin Campus ul. Nowoursynowska 84 PL 02-797 Warsaw, Poland www.coleuropenatolin.eu 162 Table 1 The attitude of the population of the EaP countries to the European Union (%) Country Нave a Нave a Feel relations Trust Aware of Feel that positive negative with the the the EU’s EU image of image of European EU financial support is the EU the EU Union are support effective good (those who aware ) Armenia 48 8 80 70 69 66 Azerbaijan 39 12 65 40 29 78 Belarus 34 18 50 47 44 46 Georgia 49 5 83 70 67 59 Moldova 48 14 74 64 87 55 Ukraine 49 14 62 66 60 43 Source: The EU NEIGHBOURS east project, https://www.euneighbours.eu/en/east/stay-informed/publications/opinion-survey-2018 The European issues are more relevant and covered more extensively in Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine, since their relations with the European Union are College of Europe Natolin Campus ul. Nowoursynowska 84 PL 02-797 Warsaw, Poland www.coleuropenatolin.eu 163 regulated by the Association Agreements . The implementation of hundreds of EU directives and regulations into national legislation significantly influences or will influence entire sectors and, ultimately, people's lives. This provides opportunities for creating materials that are in demand by the audience. The deep and comprehensive free trade areas envisaged by the AAs also affect the business and the regulatory field. European Union is already the main trading partner for these three countries. According to recent polls, the majority of citizens there is in favour of EU membership . The highest support of 65% for the EU membership is registered in Georgia, in Moldova and Ukraine the levels of support
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