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Media Landscape - Cyprus

INTRODUCTION

The Republic of Cyprus is a well-known regional holiday resort, a services centre (mainly banking and shipping) and telecommunications node. It is also in the middle of a difficult political situation which has been the centre of a lot of media attention throughout Europe recently.

Based on Republic Presidential Democracy, it has two official languages, Greek and Turkish although English is widely spoken. The majority of the population is Greek Orthodox [78%] but there are also an estimated 18 percent Muslims, while Maronite, Armenian Apostolic, and others represent an overall 4% of the population. The population was estimated at 78,4301 in July 2006 in the non-occupied territories and around 200,000 in the north.

Cyprus has been geographically and ethnically divided since 1974 when Turkey moved into more than a third of the island in response to a coup inspired by the military junta in Greece, and after decades of inter-communal tensions and violence. In 1983, the area under Turkish military control declared itself independent and proclaimed a republic called "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" (TRNC), which, to this day has not been recognized by any country except Turkey and is considered as illegal by the international community.

UN-lead negotiations together with the possibility of a settlement through the island's accession in the European Union have dominated the political discourse. The last peace plan proposed by the UN in 2002 before accession was led to a deadlock. Despite this, the Republic of Cyprus joined the European Union in May 2004. With the rejection of the re-unification 'Annan Plan' in 2004, special measures were adopted by the EU regulating its relations with the occupied territory, starting with the policing of the Green line that separates it and extending to trade, funding, and official representation.

Every effort has been made in this chapter to address both parts of the island. However, unless otherwise stated, the following report is based on international and national information available concerning the non-occupied part of the Republic of Cyprus.


1. WRITTEN PRESS

Since the first newspaper was published in 1878, more than 400 newspapers and periodicals have been published mainly in Greek, but also in Turkish, Armenian and English, for (and by) the respective communities and minorities. The development the Cypriot media has shown great progress, with all newspapers having switched to computerisation, and adopting up-to-date printing techniques. However, the small size of the population defines some of the barriers imposed on all the aspects of organisational structure and outcomes of the press.

According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics of 2004, the newspaper circulation ratio was 124.7 per 1000 people. However, since the amendment of the 1989 Press Law makes the accessibility to information on newspaper circulation non–obligatory by the distribution agencies, no official data is available on circulation.

There are eight dailies (seven in Greek, one in English) available in the Republic of Cyprus: Politis (4,500 circulation in 2004) and Phileleftheros (most widely read with a circulation of 25,000 in 2004 and considered not to be party affiliated), Haravgi (mouth-piece of the communist party AKEL) Αlithia, Machi, and Simerini (right-wing, linked to right wing party DESY), XPress Economiki (financial newspaper), and The Cyprus Mail (in English, 3600 circulation in 2004)).

There are no media ownership restrictions in relation to the print media. Simerini (6,500 circulation in 2004) newspaper is controlled by the DIAS Publishing House, the biggest media owner on the island, who also controls the very popular Sigma TV and Radio Proto, widely read magazines Madame Figaro, To Periodiko, Time Out, Star, Exclusive and Harpers Bazaar.

In the Republic of Cyprus, there are 27 weekly newspapers and other periodicals which reflect the diversity and often the ownership of the media. Corporate and trade union publications are increasingly very popular. The most popular weekly is the Cyprus Weekly, There are also Tharros, Antilogos, the Financial Mirror, Egatiki Foni [ 'Worker's voice' in Greek, mouthpiece of SEK, the right wing labour union The Cyprus Workers' Confederation) and Ergatiko Vima [Worker's Tribune' in Greek, mouthpiece of left labour union PEO- The Cyprus Labour Federation], Super Aggelies [Small Ads since 1994], Chrystes Efkairies [ Small Ads, since 1994], Demosios Ypallilos (Civil Servant /Fortnightly published by the Cyprus Civil Servants Association Nicosia (PASYDY), Chrimatistiriaka Nea (Stock Exchange News), Athlitiko Vima (Sports Tribune), Trifylli (twice a week, athletic), Athlitiki tis Kyriakis (Sunday Sports News) and more.

The five registered weekly magazines include Periodiko, Selides, TV Mania, Star and Super Kid. There are further 47 registered periodicals/magazines published every two weeks, month or two-months which cover areas such as lifestyle, fashion, football, hunting, sport, health, design, political parties and more. There are further more 33 registered magazines and periodicals which are published every three months or occasionally.

It is estimated that the overall advertising expenditure for 2004 was around 70 million euro of which the print media account for approximately 18 percent.

In the Turkish-occupied area there is a choice over eight daily papers, representing one of the highest concentrations of newspaper titles per capita anywhere in the world. However, mainland Turkish papers sell best on the island. Conservative Turkish dailies Sabah and Hurriyet have a daily circulation of 13,000 between them, while sales of the most popular Turkish Cypriot paper, Kibris, never exceed 10,000 copies a day. There are further five weeklies and three periodicals.

The local daily newspapers, strongly linked to political parties, are Afrika, Kibris, Gunes, Halkin Sesi, Kibrisli, Vatan, Volkan and Yeni Duzen and the Cyprus Today in English. The weeklies are the Cyprus Post in English, Yenicag, Ortam, Yeni Cag, Ekonomi, and Cumbez as well as Baris Gasette and Gasette Spor.


2. THE BROADCAST MEDIA

The Cyprus Broadcasting Service was established in 1956 under British colonial rule, and later on the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) was established with the country’s 1960 independence. CyBC used to operate as a semi-governmental organisation in conditions of monopoly until 1990, when private radio and television were introduced. Today, there are two state and six private Greek Cypriot channels with an island-wide coverage and two in the occupied north. Further, relays of Greek and Turkish stations are available across the island with a number of channels from Turkey and one from Greece beam (ERT, the Greek public service broadcaster) directly to Cyprus while satellite television is becoming increasingly widespread.

The island-wide TV stations operating in Cyprus are the state-owned Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation CyBC, and the private Mega TV, Antenna T.V, Lumiere T.V., Sigma T.V, Alpha T.V, Astra T.V. and CNCPlus. A second channel of CyBC was established in 1992 to face competition from the commercial TV. Euronews is broadcast in the early morning hours from CyBC2. LTV (Lumiere TV) is a pay-TV channel with coded signal and belongs to a company and concentrates on movies and sports.

There is no TV licence fee for viewers and no licence TV for media owners if the applicant controls any more than 5% shares in a publishing house, newspaper or periodical or a more than 5% in a TV station with national coverage. The public broadcasting service is partly financed through a tax on the electricity bill. The state channel has lost the lead in the numbers of viewers and listeners to private channels and all the private channels belong to multimedia conglomerates. Most specifically, Mega TV, Antenna TV and Alpha TV are closely affiliated to the channels with the same name in Greece who transmit their productions to the Cypriot branches respectively. Interestingly though, local, Cypriot sitcom productions are by far more popular than Greek productions.

The share of Sigma TV in 2004 in prime time was about 30%, MEGA had 15.9%, Antenna TV had 20.3 %, CyBC1 12.5 %, and CyBC2 6.9%.

On the other hand, people in the Turkish Cypriot community receive and generally prefer to watch Turkish TV channels. The local Turkish speaking TV channels are Bayrak (B.R.T.K.) (controlled by the authorities), Akdeniz TV, Kanal T, Kibris TV, Genc TV and Avrasya TV.

There are ten radio stations operating island-wide transmission in Greek. These are Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC): Radio Athina, Radio Proto, Logos (popular and owned by the Church of Cyprus) Radio Astra (owned by AKEL, the communist party) Radio Ant1 FM, Radio Super FM Radio Sfaira, Kanali Exi and Energy 107,6 FM. There are also about 40 local radio and TV stations.

The Turkish speaking Bayrak transmits in three programs, and there are also Akdeniz Fm, First Fm, Sim Fm, Kibris Fm, Radyo Vatan, Güneş Fm, Dance Fm, As Fm , Cool Fm, Uluslararasi Kibris Üniversitesi, Ydü Fm, Radyo Daü, Gaü Fm, Laü Fm, Kuzey Fm, Radyo T, Radyo Güven , Açik Radyo , and Avrasya FM.

There are three other types of television currently emerging in the Republic of Cyprus, namely satellite television (Athina), terrestrial television and cable television (Cablenet). Athina Satellite offers free installation and a monthly payment, subject to a two year contract. Cablenet, which has signed a deal with the Cyprus Electricity Board (EAC) and has a set installation price and a monthly fee. There is further a very recent deal of the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CyTA) with MiVision which a fixed installation price and finally, Novacyprus, a satellite service with a deal with LTV/ALPHA.


3. ONLINE MEDIA

Most of the important media outlets have their own web sites as the internet becomes ever more important in the media market. According to the CIA Factbook, in 2005 in the Republic of Cyprus there were 298,000 Internet users and 46,863 Internet hosts. By 2006, the internet hosts went up to 67,589. Popular information and news websites include http://www.cyprus-news.com, http://kypros.org/, http://www.go2.com.cy, http://www.ikypros.com, http://www.typos.com.cy ,http://grhomeboy.wordpress.com and The Cyprus International Press Service http://www.cips.com.cy

In the occupied north, popular sites include Kibris Portasi http://www.kibrispostasi.com/, Yerel Information http://www.yerel.info, Hamamboculeri http://www.hamamboculeri.org and Kuzey Kibris Haber http://www.haber.net.kk.tc/

The private telecom operators Primte Tel could potentially present a challenge to the state-owned CyTA (Cyprus Telecommunications Authority) in fixed telephony and ADSL-linked home entertainment.

CyTA currently controls 97 per cent of the fixed telephony market, 93 per cent of the mobile telephony, 94 per cent of the internet market and 100 per cent control of the broadband service market.


4. NEWS AGENCIES

The Cyprus News Agency (CNA) is an independent and autonomous corporation functioning within the framework of the Cyprus Press Law. The agency is governed by a seven member Board composed mainly of journalists representing the Union of Journalists, the Publishers' Association, the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation and the Press and Information Office.

In addition to the Greek language, CNA offers news in the Turkish language, which it distributes to Turkish Cypriot news media and political parties, as well as to the news media of Turkey. Further, CNA news in English is distributed to international news agencies.

The Turkish News Agency Cyprus (TAK), Akdeniz News Agency (ANA), Lefkosia News Agency (LNA), Uludag News Agency, Foto Arca News Agency and Famagusta News Agency operate in the Turkish-occupied area.


5. MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS

The Union of Cyprus Journalists in the Republic of Cyprus has around 400 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists and the European Federation of Journalists. The Union is represented in the Radio-Television Advisory Committee and the Administrative Council of the Cyprus News Agency and in various cases it is invited to parliamentary committees to express its views when matters that concern the media are discussed.

There also exists the Association of Newspapers and Periodicals Publishers and the Association of Owners of Private Electronic Media on which little public information is available. Together with the Union of Journalists, they bare the operational expenses and other relevant expenses of the Press Ethics Committee which is charged with monitoring and implementing the Journalists Code of Practice – available on the Press and Information Office website.

In the occupied-north, the Union of Press Workers (Basin-Sen) is also a member of the International Federation of Journalists.


6. NATIONAL MEDIA POLICIES

Article 19 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus provides the right to freedom of speech and expression in any form. It further states that seizure of newspapers or other printed matter is not allowed without the written permission of the Attorney -General of the Republic, which must be confirmed by the decision of a competent court within a period not exceeding seventy--two hours, failing which the seizure shall be lifted. It reiterates that nothing shall prevent the Republic from requiring the licensing of sound and vision broadcasting or cinema enterprises.

The Cyprus Radio - Television Authority was established as an independent regulatory body under the Radio and Television Stations Law. The Authority is "responsible for appointing the Radio-Television Advisory Committee which is a consulting body and which reflects public opinion, the views of government services and various interested organisations and associations, and the positions of private radio and television broadcasters".

The responsibilities of the Authority include the issuing and renewing broadcasting licenses for radio and television; monitoring media ownership and media content; safeguarding editorial independence; ensuring the equal treatment of political parties etc. The Authority also has the responsibility for the implementation of clauses of the European Convention on Transfrontier Television with regard to the content of the private broadcasters' programmes.

The law opposes concentration of ownership (although in practice this does not appear to be the case), and secures the protection of minors and of private life and human rights, respect for the personality, dignity and private lives of persons, and the right of individuals to reply or redress in the event that reports affecting them or their activities are inaccurate or misleading.

The public may submit a complaint to the Cyprus Authority of Radio-television for unjust treatment by radio / TV stations in informative / recreational programmes; for the violation of their personal life by broadcasting information about them in such programs; for the broadcasting of scenes of sex or violence which are in contrast to the relevant laws and regulations. The Cyprus Authority of Radio-television has the right to examine possible violations of laws and regulations by a station, even if no complaint has been filed.

The 1989 Press Law safeguards the freedom of the press, the unhindered circulation of newspapers, and free access to state sources of information. It provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and the authorities generally respected these rights in practice; however, journalists were obstructed in their reporting, fined, and threatened with more serious charges.

The public broadcasting service (Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation) is operating under a completely separate law and a separate board appointed by the Council of Ministers. Its income derives from advertising, subsidy by the state and duty paid by electricity consumers. The CyBC is currently facing serious financial problems due to fierce competition by private broadcasters. The Government and the Parliament are pressing for extensive cuts in the CyBC expenses and for reduction of its staff.

No specific law in relation to the media can be found in the occupied north. Journalists can be arrested, put on trial, and sentenced under chapter 154 of the 7th paragraph of the so-called 'Criminal Code', concerning "Unjust actions", "The Courts", and "Military Adjudication" covering 84 items, all remnants of legislation from the British Colonial times and still in use. Based on 'possibilities', these laws require no need to have a 'complete action' in order to be arrested, put on trial or imprisoned. A more recent legislation, from the 1980s, namely covering 'Military crimes and punishments' covers 'crimes' and 'punishments' within the military forces based in the northern part of Cyprus. Even though this law relates to the military, journalists are also put on trial under military courts.


7. ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEMS

The establishment of an Ombudsman’s office since 1991 appears to have had a positive impact in accountability systems. However, the various committees set up in order to provide for better accountability standards are not publicly regarded as very active and do not seem to be consistently implementing their own objectives and regulations.

The independent press council 'Cyprus Media Complaints Commission' (CMCC) was established in May, 1997 by the Association of Newspapers and Periodicals Publishers, the owners of private Electronic Media and the Cyprus Union of Journalists, responsible for the self-regulation of the news written and electronic media. The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation later acceded to the regulations governing the operation of the CMCC and the Code of Media Ethics.

The CMCC accepts complaints submitted within 30 days of the offending publication first appearing or becoming known to the offended party or even a third party. The right to examine publications on its own initiative also exists.

Journalists are expected to be self regulating and to adhere to their own Code of Practice which applies to all media (print and electronic, semi-state or private) and all those working for them and defines the duties and rights of journalists and covers the following topics: accuracy, right of reply, private life, hospitals, mourning-grief, obtaining of information, copyright, bribery-receiving gifts, presumption of innocence, sexual crimes, children, discrimination, economic benefits, journalistic confidentiality, and public interest. The agreement was effectively signed by all on 21 May 1997. Six months later, the public service broadcaster CYBC signed also the code and agreed to subject itself to the authority of the Commission. Following the adoption of the broadcasting law of 1998, the journalistic code of conduct was incorporated as an appendix in the Regulations on radio and television stations, adopted in 2000.

The Press Ethics Committee consists of thirteen members who are "individuals of high moral standard and established high reputation" appointed by Union of Journalists, the Association of Publishers and the Owners of Electronic Media. The Committee receives, deals with and decides upon complaints about alleged violations of this Code by a journalist and/or the media. It also issues, within the spirit of this Code guidance notes for interpretation purposes but it is not entitled to impose any penalty or to adjudicate compensation or to deal with a complaint which is the subject matter of a procedure before a Court or other organ having jurisdiction under law.


8. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

The Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2005 of the Reporters Without Frontiers places Cyprus 25th in its record together with Namibia and Benin. In its 2006 Annual Report, the Reporters without Frontiers say that "Press freedom improved in 2005 but obstacles to the free flow of news between the northern and southern parts of the island still weigh heavily on journalists and their work”. It further stated that “On the territory under control of the Government of Republic of Cyprus, there were only a few cases in 2005 where the rights of journalists were violated. In the northern part of Cyprus, freedom of the press and the right to free expression continue to be violated in 2005”.

Ther is evidence of increasing self-censorship (and censorship) in the Republic of Cyprus in the last three years, whereas that was not the case in the past.


9. REFERENCES AND SOURCES FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information and links on all Media related firms can be found at the vertical portal Cyprus Media http://www.cyprusmedia.com/, which includes includes all major Television and radio stations, newspapers and magazines, as well as companies that offer Media related services.

Journalists Code of Practice http://www.mmc2000.net/docs/leggi/CYPRUS.pdf

10. THE AUTHOR

Myria Vassiliadou is currently the Director of the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies and an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Intercollege in Nicosia, Cyprus

Excerpt from EUROPEAN MEDIA GOVERNANCE: THE NATIONAL AND REGIONAL DIMENSIONS, published by Intellect (http://www.intellectbooks.com).

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