NEWSPAPER JOURNALISM SURVIVAL IN MODERN CZECH ERA

Newspaper Journalism Survival in Modern Czech Era

Table of Contents

Introduction3

Fifteen Years On8

Independence vs. Political and Economic Manipulation9

Commercial Television11

The Biggest Daily15

From Samizdat to National Daily17

Scope of the Study19

Proposed Methodology20

References22

Newspaper Journalism Survival in Modern Czech Era

Introduction

The development of Czech media since the end of 1989 reflects the development of the entire country. While the first, and to a significant extent also the second, half of the 1990s represented a period marked by the formation of new principles for professional journalism, the main characteristic of the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the new millennium has been the rise of entertainment-related media - the infiltration of “softer” entertainment-based formats into formerly serious media. As a result, Czech media have become involved in creating conditions for the spread of “Communist bad taste” through the medium of post-Communist pop-culture. This reinforced a unique form of nostalgia for the 1948-1989 regime. Czech media have thus become less relevant for the development of democracy and civil society.

For Czech journalism, 1990 was a fundamental turning-point. After fifty years of oppression, Czech newspapers gained independence. In 1990, there were few foundations to build on. The tradition of free journalism had been terminated by force in the period 1938-39, with only a partial renewal between 1945 and 1948. In addition, the position of journalism during the first Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938) had been completely different to that of modern media in a present-day free society. There was no modern tradition of independent media, nor a generation of journalists from whom the new generation could learn the principles of journalism. Very young people with no experiences thus ended up in senior positions in some of the key media organisations.

Guiding principles for the profession were sought abroad, particularly in the Anglo-Saxon tradition of journalism. This endeavour could be compared to walking on shifting sands. The working methods and professional principles of journalists in the west were changing under pressure from emerging 24-hour cable television news channels and later the influence of online media. The border between objective and opinion-based journalism became, and is still becoming, less clear. The concept of objectivity itself came under fire from those concerned both with the theory and the practice of journalism. The nature and style of articles in the dailies is changing - new themes, especially from the world of pop-culture, are commonly appearing on the main news pages, whereas in the past they would have been confined to the weekend supplement. In general, journalism has become more personal and colourful, less serious and more opinionated. There was also a certain confusion of values in Czech journalism in the 1990s.

The media market was one of the first segments to be fully privatised. Freedom of speech was guaranteed by the Constitution and most of the laws that the political class could abuse to limit freedom of press were abolished. The Federal Press and Information Office, which had performed censorship, was dissolved in May ...