The Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) has released a new report by Ellen Hume, called Caught in the Middle: Central and Eastern European Journalism at a Crossroads. Ellen is a veteran journalist and international media analyst and consultant, who is currently based at the CMCS as Annenberg Fellow in Civic Media.
The report examines the state of independent news media in Central and Eastern Europe 20 years after the collapse of communism and the beginning media development efforts by Western organizations in the region.
From the Executive Summary of Caught in the Middle: Central and Eastern European Journalism at a Crossroads:
Journalists in Central and Eastern Europe are struggling to hold on to the gains they made in the first two decades after communism. Ethical journalists in this region face a triple threat: a backsliding against the 1990s democratic reforms, a global Internet-driven erosion of the media business model, and the continuing world economic crisis that is exposing the fragility of democratic institutions. [..]
Particularly as journalism transitions to new digital, mobile, and Internet formats, Central and Eastern European countries need to experiment with new business and usage models and find strong advocates for independent media. Instead, the current economic, political and social momentum is pushing journalists toward sensationalized and partisan tabloid content that does little to earn respect for accountability journalism or engage citizens about important issues. Some nationalistic governments are seeking to co-opt media independence in all of its forms. Some of the best independent journalists are being driven to work for quixotic websites with little audience and no money. [..]
it is clear that the media developers contributed a lot, and learned a lot, but moved away from Central and Eastern Europe too soon. They should consider new initiatives both regionally and nationally, to support:
- Investigative journalism projects with genuine public importance and ethical boundaries.
- Journalism associations that stress professionalism and counteract the political elites’ dismissal of journalism’s value.
- Media criticism publications that hold journalists, owners, and politicians accountable to the public.
- Media literacy training, as well as a larger curriculum that stresses the rights and obligations of citizens in a democracy.
The report is available for download from the CIMA website.