Author says national identity threatened by German interests
Published:
11 June 2003 y., Wednesday
Media critic Borivoj Celovsky has a message for his compatriots who read the Czech press. There is no Czech press.
Celovsky, author of The End of the Czech Press, says that the country's national identity is threatened because nearly all the nation's newspapers are owned by foreign media companies.
"This is not only demeaning but also dangerous, especially when the capital comes from a powerful neighbor with whom we share the strategically important real estate called Central Europe," he said.
Celovsky's comments and book, which recently went into its second edition, are inspired by the fact that foreign capital controls more than 80 percent of the Czech national newspaper market and 100 percent at the regional level. Celovsky said that he is worried that the newspapers will side with Germany in disputes between the two countries.
The co-owner of a recently launched national newspaper has also criticized foreign ownership of newspapers.
The situation threatens readers' access to a wide variety of opinions, said Ivan Kaufmann, who started national daily newspaper Denik Impuls May 12.
Rheinisch-Bergische Druckerei- and Verlaggesellschaft, GmbH (RBVG), based in Germany, controls Mlada fronta Dnes and Lidove noviny, the country's second- and fourth-largest national newspapers.
Vltava-Labe-Press (VLP), a subsidiary of Passauer Neue Presse (PNP) in Germany, controls the entire regional newspaper market, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, a nonprofit group that tracks newspaper ownership and circulation.
Swiss-run publisher Ringier controls Blesk, the No. 1 daily in the country.
Šaltinis:
praguepost.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
The fate of blue fin tuna hangs in the balance this week as a complete ban on the trade is debated by MEPs.
more »
A $100 million pledge from the Government of Japan has helped to secure the funding base and launch the operational phase of two new climate programs supporting forest management and renewable energy investments in developing countries.
more »
Europeans quite happy with their personal situation, but less satisfied with economic and social climate in their country.
more »
Spain wishes to “make as much progress as possible” to ensure the EU becomes party to the Council of Europe's Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms soon, according to the Spanish Minister for Justice, Francisco Caamaño, at today's opening of a seminar on the challenges and possibilities arising from the Treaty of Lisbon coming into force.
more »
According to Belarusian tradition, a stork brings good fortune to the village it settles in while in western culture the stork is commonly associated with childbirth.
more »
The World Bank Board of Directors today approved an additional financing credit to the Republic of Moldova in the amount of US $20 million for the Social Investment Fund II Project.
more »
The Spanish Health and Social Policy Minister, Trinidad Jiménez, and the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Vladimir Spidla, addressed the press in Madrid on the launch of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion 2010.
more »
The European Commission and the Spanish Presidency of the EU will tomorrow launch the 2010 European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.
more »
Smoking at a restaurant like this one in Spain could soon be a thing of the past. Spanish lawmakers want to stub out the habit in public places like bars and restaurants. But it's an unpopular proposal in a country where around 30 percent of the population smoke.
more »
As President of the European Economic and Social Committee, I would like, on behalf of all the Committee's members, to express my sympathy to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.
more »