Czech Journalists’ Refreshed Sense of Ethics in the Midst of Media Ownership Turmoil

Abstract

In recent years, the Czech Republic has seen the largest changes in media ownership since the early 1990s. Most striking was the purchase of one of the largest publishing houses Mafra by the tycoon Andrej Babiš in June 2013, followed by the takeover of the Czech branch of Ringier by other Czech businessmen later that year. The first case in particular instigated immense discussion about the economic and ethical crisis facing Czech journalism since Babiš is also a powerful political figure (currently the Minister of Finance). In response, a significant number of leading, well-known journalists left media owned by big business and launched projects of quality or "slow" journalism which had until that point been merely discussed theoretically. This paper-based on the results of the Czech part of the Worlds of Journalism Study project-addresses the shift in the ways journalists perceive their roles and ethical responsibilities before and after the 2013 ownership changes. We also present the manner in which these changes are reflected in emerging media projects. It seems that those journalists not affected by the ownership change tend to view journalism ethics and the ability of journalism to exert power more seriously than before.

Crumbled autonomy: Czech journalists leaving the Prime Minister's newspapers

“…Significantly, the oligarchization and concentration of media ownership have limited the ability of journalists to leave one medium for another in which they would enjoy more autonomy because they would perceive less influence on their published work (Reich and Hanitzsch, 2013). Data from the Worlds of Journalism study, which was gathered between 2012 and 2014, both before and after the extensive changes in Czech media ownership which occurred in 2013 (Hájek et al, 2015;Němcová Tejkalová et al, 2015), show that journalists are experiencing an increasing influence of owners on their news organizations and suggest that they feel decreasing job satisfaction. Nevertheless, perceptions of their autonomy have not changed in a statistically significant way (Hájek et al, 2015;Němcová Tejkalová et al, 2015).…”

“…Data from the Worlds of Journalism study, which was gathered between 2012 and 2014, both before and after the extensive changes in Czech media ownership which occurred in 2013 (Hájek et al, 2015;Němcová Tejkalová et al, 2015), show that journalists are experiencing an increasing influence of owners on their news organizations and suggest that they feel decreasing job satisfaction. Nevertheless, perceptions of their autonomy have not changed in a statistically significant way (Hájek et al, 2015;Němcová Tejkalová et al, 2015).…”

“I Know Which Devil I Write for”: Two Types of Autonomy Among Czech Journalists Remaining in and Leaving the Prime Minister's Newspapers

“…Importantly, this disquieting trend means that journalists have limited choices to leave their employer for another where they would enjoy significantly more autonomy. Data from the Worlds of Journalism study gathered between 2012 and 2014 (Hájek et al 2015;Němcová Tejkalová et al 2015) show that Czech journalists do feel the rising influence of owners upon their news organizations, and also indicate decreasing job satisfaction. The journalists' situation is further complicated by their poor collective bargaining position given by underdeveloped labor organizations (Castro-Herrero et al 2016).…”

Journalistic discourse of freedom: A study of journalists’ understanding of freedom in the Czech Republic and Serbia

“…With lowering profitability of media, changing business models of media and consequences of the economic crisis, the structure of media ownership went through extensive transformation. The Western media owners left, being replaced by the new generation of local media barons who concentrate the media ownership (Hájek et al, 2015).…”