Hot topics click link for more
Media life is challenging for small countries with ill-mannered neighbors. Disputes, in normal circumstances, are worked out through treaties, bilateral or multilateral. Conflicts can be tempered even where tempers are on edge. Otherwise, things can get messy.
It was an appearance of far-right Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj that set off a certain roar. On the TV Happy program Good Morning Serbia (January 4) he ran-off his mouth with a hate-filled and misogynist rant (too dreadful to be repeated here) directed at Montenegrins. Public pressure has fallen to the Montenegrin media regulator Agency for Electronic Media (AEM) for sanctions. (See more about hate speech here)
Mr. Seselj gained notoriety on arrest and detention for war crimes at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). He is a Serbian nationalist, beloved in Serbia, reviled elsewhere. After jail time in The Hague he returned to Serbia and a political career.
A battery of Montenegrin civil rights groups brought the insult incident to the attention of the AEM and Serbian equivalent Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM). Human rights and women’s rights NGOs appealed for action from politicians to stand against "poisoning public space with hate speech, insulting comments and belittling their colleagues,” reported RFE/RL (January 6). They want TV Happy banned from Montenegro. The AEM has scheduled a meeting this weekend. The REM has made no commitment. (See more about media in the Western Balkans here)
TV Happy is a licensed Serbian broadcaster. Distribution in Montenegro is controlled by cable TV operators, outside the reach of regulators. It mostly broadcasts reality TV shows and, of course, talk shows. It is owned by Invej, which also owns a casino, a cigarette factory and other businesses that are regular advertisers.
Merger and acquisition activity took off in the new year like a shot. There’s nothing like keeping the party going. The New York Times Company, publisher of the euphonious US newspaper, announced (January 6) an agreement had been struck to acquire sports news portal The Athletic, valuing the acquisition at US$550 million, about €442 million. The deal reached the public five minutes after the close of the New York Stock Exchange, after which NYT shares traded slightly lower.
The Athletic is a subscription-based business entirely focused on sports, down to the minutia, just like sports fans always want. It launched six years ago, the brainchild of Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann, who will remain executives with the NYT subsidiary. They had been shopping a deal for about a year, finding no takers at the US$750 million asking price. News portal The Information reported the transaction shortly before the NYT announcement and had the first glimpse of the valuations. (See more about mergers and acquisitions here)
The Athletic covers sports for die-hard fans in 47 US cities, Toronto and Montreal, Canada and the UK. The subscription offerings are oriented to locality. It has 1.2 million subscribers, according to the NYT statement, and has never been profitable, close but not quite. This spooked the usual go-to financial angels, venture funds and such as the company burned through cash. Deal talks with the NYT “resumed” about three weeks ago. (See more about sports media here)
For the NYT the acquisition is all opportunity. As a general interest publication it could not serve sports superfans with subscription-generating coverage and didn’t try. The NYT is in the subscriptions business, advertising being rather fleeting. It has about 8.4 million current subscribers and chief executive Meredith Kopit Levien is shooting for 10 million by 2025. With little subscriber overlap, the magic of bundling should benefit everybody.
Protests in oil-rich Kazakhstan are now in their fifth day. International media coverage has been steady but far from the level seen in Afghanistan a few months ago. Flights into the main international airport have been interrupted; hence, news teams can’t get there. The internet users have seen a “nation-scale blackout” since Tuesday, reported internet observer Netblocks (January 6), preventing the sharing of news reports. Bitcoin mining, too, has been disrupted.
All-news TV channel Khabar 24 is operating and filing regular reports. It’s a state broadcaster based in Almaty with several regional affiliates. Khabar 24 reported, quoted by St. Petersburg, Russia news portal Lenizdat (January 6), “looters” breaking into editorial offices of several news channels and removing mobile video cameras, damaging other equipment. Kazakhstan TV (Qazaqstan), another state-operated channel, reported one employee injured. A separate report, from news portal Orda KZ (January 5), said the building housing Kazakhstan TV was set alight. (See more about media in Central Asia here)
Unsurprisingly, Russian news media is closely following the protests in Kazakhstan, which began over a doubling of fuel prices. “A number of TV channels” stopped broadcasting, reported Russian news agency RAI (January 6). Offices of state radio and TV center MTRK (Mir) was “ransacked by protestors,” noted Russian daily Izvestia (January 5). “Unknown individuals broke into the office, said Mir chairperson Radik Batyrshin. “They destroyed the satellite equipment room and the journalists’ workplaces. The report that someone demanded going into the air does not correspond to reality.”
It is accepted wisdom, as 2022 begins, that television news - some of it, at least - is in for a rough year. Viewers are exhibiting coronavirus fatigue and a preference for streaming services offering comedy, cooking and fun. Cable operators are watching the channel choices. The advertising people, too, are withdrawing from certain TV news channels. Even the biggies like CNN are counting every centime.
So it came as no surprise that Media Globe Networks, principally owned by billionaire Naguib Sawiris, reached an agreement to exit Euronews, the Europe-centric news broadcaster founded nearly three decades ago by public broadcasting collective European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The presumed succeeding owner (88%) is Alpac Capital, based in Portugal. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter, reported Reuters (December 17). Not insignificantly, the European Commission will have the opportunity to weigh-in. The EBU is retaining its 12% stake in Euronews. (See more about TV news here)
Alpac Capital was relatively unknown to the media world. It’s a venture capital fund with principal offices in Lisbon, Budapest, Hungary and the UAE. The very thin website pictures several executives without names. It’s self-described business is “hands-on equity investments with active involvement in business development to support scale-up and ensure the highest standards of professional management.” It was founded in 2013 by Luis Santos and Pedro Vargas David, according to Crunchbase, and has made one acquisition - Euronews.
Inquiring media watchers quickly discovered that Pedro Vargas David is the son of Mario David, who has a relationship with Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, coincident with that Budapest office. “There is no business rationale with this acquisition,” said esteemed Hungarian media watcher Agnes Urban of Mertek Media Monitor to Politico EU (December 21). She expects, in time, Euronews will be just another “outpost” in PM Orban’s well-reported “illiberal” media designs. “It is a political investment,” she added. “It is the essence of Orban’s regime,” she said separately. (See more about media in Hungary here)
Euronews and Alpac Capital executives have taken great pains to extol the virtues of the acquisition. Chief Executive Michael Peters, who just replaced Mr. Sawiris as chairman, said he’s “100 percent certain that his financial projects will never interfere with Euronews.”
When oppressive waves roll, news outlets are easily caught in the undertow. The same can be said more times more conducive for news start-ups. Alas, the waves are predictable.
Hong Kong independent news portal Citizen News found the tide inescapable this week and gave it up. In a social media post (January 2) its closing was announced. "At the center of a brewing storm, we found ourself in a critical situation,” it said, quoted by CNN. “In the face of a crisis, we must ensure the safety and well-being of everyone who are on board.”
A week ago another independent Hong Kong news outlet - Stand News - abruptly closed after a police raid, netting several employees and board members. (See report on Stand News here) Popular tabloid Apple Daily ceased publishing last June, its publisher Jimmy Lai and several staff arrested. (See report on Apple Daily here) Shortly after Apple Daily closed Hong Kong authorities turned attention to public broadcaster RTHK, firing show hosts and cancelling programs. (See RTHK report here)
“We can’t work in a safe environment,” said chief writer Chris Yeung at a press conference, quoted by South China Morning Post (January 3). “For those who are being seen as critical or troublemakers, they are more vulnerable. So this is what we are facing and that’s why we made the decision in the midst of those uncertainties. There is no other choice but to stop.”
“Hong Kong is hailed as Asia’s world city with freedom of information and freedom of the press,” said the Hong Kong Journalists Association in a statement (January 3). “If more media outlets halt their operations, the damage to Hong Kong’s reputation will be hard to estimate.” Chris Yeung is the former chairperson of HKJA. (See more about media in Hong Kong here)
“It happens all the time in the commercial world,” said Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam to reporters ahead of an executive council meeting, noted The Hong Kong Standard (January 4). Hong Kong authorities “never did anything” against Citizen News, she said. The decision to close, she added, reported Hong Kong Free Press (January 4), was made by the two media outlets themselves and cannot be linked directly to freedom of the press.
News reporters see and feel threats. Security details are often provided to protect news crews from violence, typically in conflict zones. Big news organizations spare no expense. Still, bad things happen.
UK public broadcaster BBC has formally appealed to the Metropolitan Police for robust security following increasing threats from anti-vaxxer thugs, reported the (UK) Times (December 30). Last summer the UK government mounted a public consultation into safety issues, interviewing 360 UK journalists, 80% of whom reported “threats, abuse or violence while working in the UK.” The inquiry was called subsequent to BBC TV Newsnight political reporter Nick Watt being “hounded by aggressive anti-lockdown campaigners.” The Times is published by News UK, principally controlled by the Murdoch family. (See more about Media and the Virus here)
“A key theme raised was the challenges faced by journalists at demonstrations,” said the official evidence report. “Filming during crowds and demonstrations is getting more and more difficult and less safe. A growing number of protesters and activists now target media and film crews with intimidation and threats of violence.” (See more about media in the UK here)
Most chilling came this: “The majority of respondents did not report all incidents to platforms, police and employers, due in part to poor confidence they would be progressed or taken seriously.” Three individuals have been charged for aggressive behavior in the June 14 incident involving Nick Watt, which was captured on video. To date they have refused to appear.
|
