INDEPENDENT RADIO IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE: COUNTRY BY COUNTRY REPORTS Wolfgang Hirner March 1996 Copyright AMARC-Europe 1996 This is a report from the AMARC-Europe Open Channels 1995 programme carried out in partnership with the Open Society Institute - Regional Media Program and with the financial support of the Phare and Tacis Democracy Programme, a European Union initiative to help promote democratic societies in the countries of central and eastern Europe, the Newly Independent States and Mongolia INDEPENDENT RADIO IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE: COUNTRY BY COUNTRY REPORTS Researched and compiled by Wolfgang Hirner March 1996 Copyright AMARC-Europe 1996 AMARC-Europe is the European section of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters, the world-wide network of independent community-based and participatory radio stations. Its aim is to support, promote and defend the interests of community radio broadcasters through solidarity and international co-operation. Further information on AMARC-Europe is available from: AMARC-Europe, 15 Paternoster Row, Sheffield, S1 2BX, U.K. Tel: +44 114 279 5219, Fax: +44 114 279 8976 E-mail: [email protected] 2 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 5 ALBANIA 6 BELARUS 10 BULGARIA 12 CZECH REPUBLIC 15 ESTONIA 19 HUNGARY 22 KAZAKHSTAN 25 KYRGYSTAN 27 LATVIA 29 LITHUANIA 32 MOLDOVA 35 POLAND 38 ROMANIA 42 RUSSIA 45 SLOVAKIA 49 SLOVENIA 52 UKRAINE 55 3 4 INTRODUCTION Since 1989 there has been a rapid growth in independent media across central and eastern Europe. The old state monopolies on broadcasting have been removed but the new forms which have replaced the old certainties have varied enormously from country to country. Most governments in central and eastern Europe now pay lip service to the freedom of information and expression but it is free enterprise and the opening up of markets which have driven the transition from state broadcasting monopolies to an environment in which independent media have found a foothold. Three trends can be distinguished in the move to independent media in the local radio sector in central and eastern Europe. First is the privatisation of local radio stations formerly controlled by the state broadcasting organisations. Privatisation has taken place through a mixture of staff and management buyouts and external investment and ownership. In most cases some forms of commitment to public service have been retained as is the case, for example, in Poland and Slovenia. Second is the awarding of new independent radio licences to commercial companies often with western European or U.S. backers. Most of these new services are rather conventional commercial music radio stations carrying pop, rock and easy listening. Some re-broadcast news from external sources such as Voice of America, BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle and Radio France Internationale. Poland and the Czech Republic, for example, have hosted an explosion of private commercial radio stations. Third is the emergence of what is perhaps best described as civic sector radio. These services emphasise news, information, social issues and local culture. They broadcast a wide diversity of speech and music content and see their role as contributing to the development of a plural and democratic culture. These are the radios which most resemble western European community radio stations. Hungary is the first central European country to legislate specially for a new civic sector of radio. Only a few governments have positively encouraged the emergence of a pluralist media, notably Hungary and Slovenia, and many retain the vestiges of state control through other means, such as fiscal and licensing measures. Belarus and Croatia are amongst the least permissive regimes in which governments, directly or indirectly, exercise effective control over most of the radio landscape. This report provides a country by country analysis of the media in central and eastern European highlighting the development of radio in particular, and summarising the legal and regulatory frameworks within which these radio stations exist. The report was researched and compiled by Wolfgang Hirner with additional editing by Tony Harcup and Steve Buckley. 5 ALBANIA Background, history and brief media landscape The political situation in Albania at the time of writing is very confused. The information below was gathered before the fall of President Sali Berisha in March 1997. Before Albania`s first post-Communist elections in 1991 the press was strictly controlled and had to serve the interests of the ruling Communist Party. Censorship was amongst the strictest of all former Communist countries. Many critical journalists were jailed or exiled. An alternative or underground press simply did not exist. The first post-Communist newspaper, Rilindja Demokratie, emerged in January 1991. It is owned by the Democratic Party, which came into power after the 1992 elections. The paper had a circulation of 30,000 immediately before the elections, but this declined dramatically afterwards to about 8,000. The three other daily newspapers are the Socialist Party´s Zerri i Poppulit (Voice of the People); Gazetta Shqiptare, owned by the Italian Gazetta del Mezzagiorno; and the independent Koha Jone. The latter recently launched the country’s first private distribution company . Albanian newspapers face serious economic problems because of extremely high taxation: 30% customs duty on paper, 15% circulation tax, 15% tax on advertising, 20% tax on wages. It seems that the Government hopes to put independent publications out of business through such high taxes. Another major problem facing the newspapers is distribution. Some 65% of Albanians live in the countryside where the postal service is very bad. The state- controlled distribution system reaches only about half the population. Television and radio are still strictly controlled by the Government. While state radio and television are nominally independent, and officially answer only to parliament, in reality the state broadcasting company Shqiptar is a mouthpiece for the party in power. But it would be unfair to say that no changes have been made. A relatively new phenomenon are live programmes with audience participation, something which was unheard of in the Communist era. The state broadcasting company has started co-operating with other European broadcasting companies, and it also has some correspondents in foreign countries - ending the decades of isolation in the field of broadcasting. The Parliamentary Media Commission is currently discussing a broadcast law to regulate private broadcasting. 6 Radio landscape National State radio: Radio Tirana (daily 20 hour programme) International programme on the Shortwave band Regional and local 4 local state radios: Radio Korca, Radio Shkodra, Radio Gjirokastra (which also broadcasts half-an-hour a day in Greek for the Greek minority in southern Albania), Radio Kukesi ( in the districts Kukes, Dibra, Troboja, Puka and for the Albanian minority in Yugoslavia) Private Radio Vlora in Tirana worked as a pirate radio station, but was recently closed down. It was run by Fernando Llambro, a 34-year-old electrician. Radio Vlora 104 FM attracted listeners in an 80 kilometer range. Legal and regulatory aspects There is not yet any post-Communist constitution in Albania. The law on Majority Constitutional Provisions of 29April 1991, as amended in 1992, serves as a temporary constitution. A referendum on a draft constitution was held on 6 November 1994, but was rejected by 60% of voters. A restrictive press law was adopted on 11 October 1993 by the People’s Assembly. The more dangerous provisions include Article Nine, which lays down stringent personal requirements for editors; Articles 12 to 17, which allow publications to be seized; and Article 18, which allows the removal of a publication from circulation on the basis of vague criteria. Gathering information from different Government institutions is very difficult under the law, as the absence of clear criteria allows bureaucrats to decide what is a state secret. A scandalous provision in Albania’s criminal code allows prison sentences of between three months and five years for denigrating the President of the Republic or the Albanian nation and its symbols. A broadcast law, regulating private broadcasting, was expected to be approved during 1996. References Magazines Sullivan, Marianne: Albanians still struggle for information. In: Transition Vol.2 No.18, 6 October 1995. Balkanmedia, Volume IV/2/1995 Balkanmedia, Volume III/3/1994 7 Reports Freedom House: Nations in Transit, New York 1995. Books Muench, Jochen W., Simaku, Gaquo: Die albanischen Massenmedien - von der Diktatur zur Demokratie. In: Osteuropa. Medianlandschaft im Umbruch. Vistas, Berlin 1994. Ballauri, Elsa: Das Rundfunksystem Albaniens. In: Internationales Handbuch fuer Hoerfunk und Fernsehen 1994/95. Baden Baden, Hamburg 1994. 8 BELARUS Background, history and brief media landscape Since Belarus became independent, the number of registered publications in the country has increased from 200 to more than 800. But that does not mean that freedom of the press has also increased. State-founded publications account for 90% of national circulation. There are about 30 publications in Belarus which are completely independent of Government control, but most are small and poorly funded. After Alyaksandr Lukashenka became President in 1994 the situation for media independence got worse. There was a notable increase in Government interference in the media. In the first few