Vasile State, Director of the Association of Electronic Press: Concentration Is a Threat not only to Pluralism, but also to Commercial Competition

Media concentration is not a new phenomenon, but in recent years it has been growing and reaching dimensions that threaten media pluralism.

The fact that several TV channels emerged is positive, but it is not necessarily beneficial for the development of the sector or a guarantee for media pluralism. The thing is that we should not confuse plurality of media outlets with pluralism or diversity of opinions. If a new channel or channels appear on the market, but they are no different from the already existing ones in terms of editorial policy, we cannot speak of increase in diversity and pluralism of opinions.

Concentration is a threat not only to pluralism, but also to commercial competition. As it is, commercial competition tends to create uniform contents, because in this fierce battle media service providers focus on the same categories of the public. All the more poisonous is media concentration, because it causes the risk that political or economic centers might reach dominant positions in the formation of public opinion.

To fight these dangers and threats, regulations are necessary that would suppress attempts of increasing concentration in the media. What is the use of legal provisions obliging broadcasters to declare their owners and beneficiaries? Some officials are already making triumphant declarations that, you see, we ensured media ownership transparency. And we might keep congratulating each other for a long time, but if we think better, not much has changed. We already knew approximately who the owners of some of our TV channels were.

So we need to set up by law some anti-concentration thresholds, and we also need authorities that would oversee compliance with them. In this sense, 5 years ago the Association of Electronic Press included such mechanisms in the draft of a new Broadcasting Code (which is currently undergoing examination in the Parliament), and they referred not only to concentration of ownership, but also to the concentration of audience. Thus, concentration of ownership and extension of audience shares shall be limited by law to dimensions that could ensure economic efficiency, but would not generate dominant positions in the formation of public opinion.