Publication details
Hidden in the Background: Local Journalists between Foreign and Local Company Owners
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2016 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| Citation | |
| Description | The latest print media ownership change in the Czech republic came in the year 2015, when was the big publishing house, Vltava-Labe-Press, sold from foreign owner to the local company. This sale ended seven years of gradual change of media ownership in this transitive media system – departure of foreign owners and entry of national companies without publishing experiences (Waschková Císařová – Metyková 2015). The departure of foreign media owners followed the financial crisis (Stetka 2012) and the entry of some controversial local owners brings occasional protests and collective departures of journalists (Hajek 2015). The paper presents problem of local media ownership change, connected with so called re-nationalization of the Czech print media ownership and its consequences for local journalists themselves. Case study based on long-term qualitative research (in-depth interviews with journalists in 2009, 2015 and 2016) focuses on journalists’ perception of the owners’ role in the publishing house and change of this perception after change of the owner in the Czech publishing house Vltava-Labe-Press. Qualitative document analysis is focused on the context, factual change of direction in the publishing house development. Does ownership matter, when journalists neither see owners’ responsibility nor reflects its possible controversy? Is it possible to coordinate journalists seeking financial stability and owners seeking profitability? The findings suggest that respondents were unable to reflect the (old and new) owners’ role in the publishing house – owners are almost invisible for them, hidden in the background. They speak about past and present big pressures on earning money and cost savings or unacceptable interpenetration of editorial and advertising work. Interestingly enough, journalists don’t associate these commercialization pressures with the owners but with the constantly changing Czech management. One year after the ownership change, journalists are mainly tired of ongoing lack of the vision and frequently changing strategy of the publishing house. |