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Hefty EU allocations to Lithuanian media bend journalism ethics and standards

For Tauragiskiu balsas, a regional newspaper published in Taurage, a severely crisis-affected industrial town of 30,000 inhabitants in the southwest of Lithuania, the solemn days of a 17,000-something circulation - a staggering achievement for a small town publication - do not go back to such an ancient past.

The rapidly crumbling subscription numbers of the last five years have forced the newspaper however to forsake its independence. Despite the contributions of its new owner, the chairman of the local Social Democrat party branch, the newspaper has kept struggling, plunging deeper into the coffers and puzzling over new monetary resources.

Help has come quite suddenly from an unexpected source - the European Union.

In the year 2010, the EU allocated a generous EUR 400,000 from its substantial structural funds to 91 regional, local and ethnical minority-oriented Lithuanian newspapers, including Tauragiskiu balsas, to cover and inform the public about EU-financed projects. The financial help amounted to an average of EUR 4,000 per publication.

The money allowed the Taurage newspaper to settle nearly three months of due bills for printing costs.

This year the EU allocation for the newspaper has even slightly increased.

Two regional newspapers in Lithuania,  Tauragiskiu balsas and Svyturys

Although some editors view the EU project for the media as a newspaper-nourishing artery, other press freedom-conscious journalists and editors are questioning the financing in terms of journalism ethics and objectivity.

Can journalists benefiting from the project critically analyse EU co-financed projects that are underway or in the pipeline if they find it necessary to do so?

Or will prudent editors, fearing to anger the EU money distributors, the Finance Ministry, and the project administrator, Idea Prima, not prefer to humbly close their eyes and stick to an all-caress-no-scratch policy?

The latter seems to have been a widely accepted stance, at the risk of bending journalism ethics and impartiality.

Although there are no “guidelines” defining how to cover the implementation of EU-financed projects, the unwritten “recommendation” to the regional media seems to be clear: avoid criticism.

Proponents of the EU project entitled “Publicising and Informing about EU Structural Funds Support” in local regional media during 2007-2013” would probably counter-argue that the project is not about criticising: it is about “publicising and informing.”

For a conscious journalist however, it is a hard thing to quench “the itch for criticism”, even when covering a story on a seemingly tedious topic such as a EU- financed project.

“At the peak of the crisis in 2009, Lithuania started using the EU support in full swing, so that precise and timely information on the scope of EU projects became more necessary, as well as on its multi-faceted perspective and perception,” pointed out Jonas Balkevicius, head of Action Programme Publicising Division at the Lithuanian Ministry of Finance. Naturally, there emerged interesting EU-related topics that requested journalists’ attention,”.

Some naysayers in media circles assert however that the European funding is aimed at keeping the often negativism-laden Lithuanians EU-friendly, particularly those living in less well-educated provinces.

Although cash-strapped journalists usually shun at discussing a possible bending of journalism principles, some are speak out bluntly. “ ‘On the record’, the project has helped local inhabitants to find out much more about ongoing EU projects, or those in the planning,” acknowledged Aistas Mendeika, editor of Svyturys, a newspaper published twice a week in Kretinga, in the west of Lithuania. 

“A few years ago for example, a water pipeline started to be built in the neighbourhood, but most people only found out that it was being financed by the European Union’s structural funds when our newspaper ran a news story on it. After we had won the EU project for the media, obviously.”

The newspaper last year raked in nearly EUR 8,000 from the EU project. In a town where a journalist’s salary hardly exceeds EUR 300, it was a bulky sack of cash.

Mendeika however voiced some dissatisfaction with the media project. “No doubt, the project is a source of easy big money for many newspapers. Nevertheless, speaking ‘off the record’, I see a good deal of “brainwashing” in it. The provisions of the project oblige everyone following the lines to “engage in creative informing”, “show the exclusiveness”, “apply flexibility of form” and “demonstrate the undeniable benefit of EU-funded programmes for the local settlement, town or region”, all of which do not leave any room for doubt or healthy criticism,” Mendeika emphasised.

Another newspaper editor, who preferred not to be identified, expressed an even harsher opinion: “Lately we all are observing a very bad trend in the Lithuanian media – financially struggling newspapers renounce their independence, impartiality and the Journalism Code of ethics and do whatever the customer with the thick wallet wants. The EU project for the Lithuanian media is no exception. It is known that there are many problems related to the use of the EU fiscal support. Municipalities often, before giving a thought on the implementation of a project, first try to secure EU financing. Public tenders in EU-related competitions are often far from being transparent. Tender winners turn heels over head in trying to finish projects as fast as possible, neglecting work quality, because numerous other EU projects are under way. Do newspapers, particularly those at local level, highlight these issues? No, they do not, as all of them play the piper’s tune,” the editor lambasted his counterparts.

However, not all media representatives are as blunt. “All sectors profit from the fiscal assistance of the European Union. Why would the media be left out?” asked Ugne Raudyte, a journalist at Palangos tiltas, a newspaper published in the resort town of Palanga, in the west of the country.

Ugne Raudyte, a journalist at the Lithuanian regional daily Palangos tiltas

Currently, 4351 different projects, in areas ranging from human resources, renovations of schools and kindergartens to e-governing and educational programs, have received generous European Union’s assistance, consisting of nearly EUR 7 billion for the period of 2007-2013.

The numbers look even more staggering when breaking down the annual Lithuanian budget: the EU allocation represents EUR 2 billion out of this year’s national budget of EUR 7,5 billion. According to European Commission data of 2010, Lithuania is the leader in receiving European cash.

Dainius Radzevicius, chairman of Lithuania’s Union of Journalism and a board member of the commission that evaluated the EU project for the media, argues however that the EU’s financial assistance to Lithuanian newspapers should also be seen as a form of advertising.

“As with any advertiser, you do not mess up with the advertising money. You are obligated to fulfill the order the way the customer wants. “Obviously, the EU-funded stories often take over most of the newspapers’ content. The newspapers tend to give up their best pages, filling them with EU related articles. Where money is involved, there is always a risk of bending journalism ethics and standards.”

 

Tags: advertising money, cash, editor, ethics, eu projects, european union, funding, journalist, lithuania, local, media, newspapers, regional, support,

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