Final Report
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Feasibility study for the preparatory action “ERASMUS for journalists” - PART 2 - Statistical Review FINAL REPORT March 2011 Feasibility study for the preparatory action “ERASMUS for journalists” PART 2 - Statistical Review Specific Contract No 30-CE-0343284/00-24 Implementing Framework Contract No 30-CE-0208146/00-01 Final Report March 2011 Submitted to: European Commission Directorate General Information Society and Media Directorate A – Audiovisual, Media, Internet Unit A1 – Audiovisual and Media Policies Submitted by: Economisti Associati Business address: Via Rialto 9 40124 - Bologna Italy with The Evaluation Partnership and European Journalism Centre The opinions expressed in this study are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission. © European Union 2011. Reproduction is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged, save where otherwise stated. TABLE OF CONTENTS MAIN ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................ 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ 5 MAIN TEXT .............................................................................................................................. 15 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 16 1.1 Nature of the Report ...................................................................................................... 16 1.2 Overall Approach and Methodology ............................................................................... 16 1.3 Structure of the Report ................................................................................................... 18 1.4 Authorship and Acknowledgments ................................................................................. 18 2. The Professional Situation of Journalists ........................................................................... 19 2.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................ 19 2.2 Number and Profile of European Journalists .................................................................. 19 2.3 Main Trends in the Level and Nature of Employment ..................................................... 24 2.4 Changes in Work Practices and Conditions ................................................................... 30 2.5 Job Satisfaction and Outlook on the Future .................................................................... 35 3. The State of European News Media .................................................................................. 41 3.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................ 41 3.2 The Challenges Facing Journalism ................................................................................ 42 3.3 Recent Trends in Traditional News Media ...................................................................... 47 3.4 Digital and Multimedia Journalism .................................................................................. 64 3.5 Media Pluralism and Independence ............................................................................... 78 4. The European Dimension of Journalism and Media .......................................................... 88 4.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................ 88 4.2 The Structure of the European Media Sphere ................................................................ 89 4.3 The Coverage of EU Institutions in Member States‘ Press. .......................................... 100 4.4 The European Dimension in Journalism Practice. ........................................................ 105 4.5 Quality Issues and Challenges. .................................................................................... 109 MAIN ABBREVIATIONS ACT Association of Commercial Television in Europe CC/PCC Candidate and Potential Candidate Countries CPM Cost per thousand DG INFSO Directorate-General for Information Society and Media E&M Entertainment and Media EAO European Audiovisual Observatory EC European Commission ECHR European Court of Human Rights EFJ European Federation of Journalists EJC European Journalism Centre EMM European Media Monitoring EMU European Economic and Monetary Union EMS European Media Sphere EP European Parliament EU European Union GDP Gross Domestic Product GNI Gross national income HHI Herfindahl-Hirschman Index IFJ International Federation of Journalists ILO International Labour Organization ITVE International Television Expert Group JRC Joint Research Centre MS Member State OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development PEJ Project for Excellence in Journalism TOR Terms of Reference WAN-IFRA World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers WEF World Editors Forum WOJ Worlds of Journalism WPT World Press Trends Feasibility study for the preparatory action “ERASMUS for journalists” – Statistical Review Final report March 2011 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 Feasibility study for the preparatory action “ERASMUS for journalists” – Statistical Review Final report March 2011 I. Introduction This report presents the results of the Statistical Review of Journalism and Media Sector in the European Union commissioned by the Directorate-General for Information Society and Media of the European Commission (DG INFSO) in the context of the Feasibility Study for the preparatory action “ERASMUS for Journalists”. The rationale of this statistical review is described in the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the assignment: “the statistical data should demonstrate the recent development of the media sector and the situation of journalists. These data should reveal the prevailing conditions of various types of challenges generated by the on-going technical development of ICT and the rapidly spreading use of internet as well as the adverse effects of the global economic and financial crisis on the media sector. The statistical data should also contribute to mapping the main features of the media and journalists regarding their understanding of the European Union and its different media and cultures”.1 The purpose of this exercise is twofold: (i) to contribute to the design, management, and supervision of the test phase of the preparatory action that the European Commission intends to launch; and (ii) more generally, to support the Commission‘s policy-making activity in this area. II. Methodology The study encompasses three interrelated research topics, modelled on the specific themes indicated in the ToR, namely: (i) the professional situation of European journalists; (ii) the state of the news industry in the European Union (EU), including main trends and challenges; and (iii) the European dimension of journalism and news media. The analysis covers all news media sectors in all EU Member States (MS). The methodology that was designed for the study includes three main tasks, namely: a large-scale web-survey that involved 472 journalists from all EU MS. The survey was implemented between 16 July and 15 October 2010. In order to remove all linguistic barriers and obtain a balanced representation of journalists from all MS, the questionnaire was made available in 21 EU languages. a media monitoring and analysis (MMA) exercise covering a sample of main newspaper‘s websites, aimed at assessing the extent of the coverage of matters related to the EU or other MS. The exercise involved the monitoring of 148 news outlets for a period of three months (16 August – 15 November 2010) and the analysis of nearly 2.0 million news articles; the collection and elaboration of relevant data and statistics from secondary sources (e.g. Eurostat, the World Association of Newspapers, the European Audiovisual Observatory etc.) aimed at: (i) elaborating synthetic, quantitative indicators describing the current situation and the trends in the European news industry, (ii) triangulating data collected from primary sources; and (iii) providing qualitative evidence to illustrate specific issues discussed in the Report. 1 Terms of Reference, page 7. 6 Feasibility study for the preparatory action “ERASMUS for journalists” – Statistical Review Final report March 2011 III. Key Findings 1st Area - The Professional Situation of Journalists Overview. The total number of active journalists in the EU can be estimated at between 220,000 and 300,000. More precise estimates of the journalist population are difficult to make, due to disparities in the definitions used across the EU, and the lack of reliable sources. In particular, there is little statistical evidence at the EU level about the number of active free-lance journalists. According to our study, they account for approximately 27% of all journalists, varying from as little as 20% in countries like Hungary and Bulgaria to in excess of 60% in France and Germany. Another 10% of journalists is employed under temporary contract agreements or other atypical work relations, while the vast majority (62%) is permanently employed. Our survey data also revealed that men are more frequently employed with a permanent contract than women, and that atypical work relations are more widespread in the print and online sectors than in the TV sector. Trends in Journalists'