New Media Rules To Be Presented, Targets Obvious

Michael Hedges September 14, 2022 - Follow on Twitter

Major lawmaking is a tough process, particularly when policy decisions are involved. It’s one thing to change automobile speed limits through towns and villages but quite another to replace the automobiles. The basis for most lawmaking comes from a perceived need overriding the ambiguous or antiquated. But some people are averse to change.

A year ago European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced coming media rule making to be called the Media Freedom Act. It would extend earlier rule making, the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMS), which extended the Television Without Frontiers (TWF) Directive. By the end of the year official consultations had begun. The Media Freedom Act has been vaguely previewed over the recent few weeks. It will be officially presented Friday (September 16) by European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova and Commissioner for the Single Market Thierry Breton.

Unlike the preceding EU media directives, the Media Freedom Act is less about technology and more about media business practices, including advertising, and editorial independence. Also - and significantly - the rules will apply to every media platform. To a great extent, the proposed new rules simply accept today’s reality: media is multi-platform and certain stakeholders seek unfair advantage.

The Media Freedom Act, according to a draft reported by Reuters (September 12), seeks to guarantee editorial independence from political and commercial interference and secure rights for journalists and media providers against sanctions, search, seizure, surveillance by government authorities. Within that realm, it will review allocation of state advertising revenues to outlets favorable to the respective governments. Media ownership transparency will be demanded, lifting the veil on media concentration. "It should be considered whether other media outlets, providing different and alternative content, would still coexist in the given market(s) after the media market concentration in question,” noted Commissioner Jourova, speaking in Brussels (September 12). The European Commission will “have the authority to intervene.”

The Media Freedom Act will further enshrine public broadcasting demanding editorial independence and “stable financing.” National public broadcasters - including fully state broadcasters operating as state-funded media - would be required to appoint operating boards openly and transparently. Removing a board member must be justified and reported transparently.

The new EU media rules. most media watchers quickly pointed out, directly speak to displeasure within the EC with errant Member States; Hungary, Poland and Slovenia. EU competition rules have been ineffective to address media concentration issues rose with the establishment in Hungary of Central European Press and Media Foundation (KESMA) that controls the majority of the country’s print media and fills the pages with pro-government messaging “even though they obviously and brutally distort Hungarian media market conditions,” noted independent Hungarian media news portal Media1 (September 12). State-owned Hungary Today (September 13) referred to the Media Freedom Act as a “concealed threat.”

Long shielded from scrutiny, publishers reacted swiftly - and negatively. The Media Freedom Act is yet another attempt by the EU to appropriate legislative competence for paper printing, and digital,” said European Newspaper Publishers Association (ENPA) in a statement (September 12). “the attempt to impose new regulatory bodies or to expand existing ones to all media, including the press, effectively nullifies the very concept of the Media Freedom Act.” ENPA represents 14 national publisher associations.

The Media Freedom Act will move forward through multiple consultations and debates, including in the European Parliament. Eventually, the 27 Member States will vote. It is worth remembering that the process to enshrine the AVMS Directive took eight years.

See also...

• Hot Topics - European Commission

• Hot Topics - Audiovisual Media Services Directive

• Hot Topics - Media in Hungary