Access to media for local/regional communities and for community media

The Netherlands scores a very low 4% risk on the indicator Access to the media for mi- norities. The Frisian minority has its own Frisian-language regional broadcaster: Om- rop Fryslân, and the different broadcasting associations and special-task public service broadcasters, NOS and NTR, ensure the representation of social, cultural, and religious diversity. The NPO (national public broadcasting service), in general, also strives for the proportional representation of non-western groups, monitoring its progress since 2010 (Rossini 2020). On the other end is Denmark, where this indicator acquires the highest risk of all MPM2020 indicators (88%). The high risk assessment is mainly based on research suggesting that minorities are under-represented in the media, which is par- ticularly pronounced for immigrants. Furthermore, the Danish public service media, DR, has stopped producing news in immigrant languages, such as Arabic and Somali (Borberg 2020).

3.4.2. Access to media for local/regional communities and for

Authority (BTK). On the other side of the spectrum are Austria, Germany, Malta, Swe- den, France, Ireland, and the UK, where there is a low risk on the Access to media for local/regional communities and community media.

In Albania, the risk is medium. The law does grant regional and local media access to platforms after the digitisation process is completed. However, some local broadcasters have complained that hosting costs are too high for Albania, particularly as the Albani- an law does not provide any subsidies for the media. Community media are exempted from the licensing fee, but still have to apply for permission, which may be rejected, and they are not allowed to air for-profit advertisements (Voko et al. 2020). In the country at the moment there are only 4 community radio stations which are licensed, all linked to religious organisations.

Figure 3.4.2.a. Indicator on Access to media for local/regional communities and for community media - Map of risks per country

As the very name indicates, this indicator is composed of two sub-indicators: Access to media for local/regional communities and Access to media for community me- dia. In line with the previous MPMs, in MPM2020, the sub-indicator on community media scores as being at a higher risk level than that focusing on local and regional

communities (see Figure 3.4.2.b.). It assesses whether the community media are guar- anteed access to media platforms (e.g., by the reservation of TV or radio frequencies for community media, or guarantees of access to networks via must-carry rules), whether the community media’s independence is safeguarded, and whether these media benefit from state support, subsidies or targeted policy measures. 13 countries (Bulgaria, Croa- tia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Finland, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, and Turkey) scored a high risk on this sub-indicator. The risk is medium for 9 countries: Denmark, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithua- nia, Slovenia, and Romania; and 8 countries acquire a low risk score: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Malta, Sweden, and the UK. In the majority of countries, the community media are not recognised as a unique category by media law, and their independence is often guarded only by general requirements for media independence.

In Malta, the Broadcasting Act gives special recognition to the ‘community radio ser- vice’, which is defined as ‘a radio service designed to cater for the needs of a particular community or locality and having a limited range of reception’. There are a handful of community radio stations that are village/town based and that serve to cover cultural aspects, like religious feasts or specific locally based events. In view of Malta's size, local/

regional media is not a viable concept.

The second sub-indicator examines whether there are legal safeguards for access to the media for local and regional communities, and whether the state supports local and re- gional media through subsidies or policy measures. The MPM assesses whether the law contains specific provisions granting access to the media platforms for regional or local media, and whether these provisions are implemented. Moreover, it assesses whether the PSM are obliged to keep their own local/ regional correspondents or branches, and if they have obligations to broadcast national news in regional and minority languag- es. The overall results drawn from this sub-indicator show that more than half of the countries (18) fall into the medium or high risk band, and 12 scored at the low risk level, with France and Spain being at the minimal possible risk level. In one third of the countries (Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, Albania, and Turkey) the state does not support regional/local media with subsidies. In a further 11 countries, these subsidies are limited, and in 8 countries they only seem to be adequate as financial support (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Hungary, Portugal, Spain).⁴⁵ However, it should be taken into account, here, that, as per the results in the area of Political independence, in Austria and Belgium the direct state subsidies are distributed to media based on a set of criteria, but it is unclear whether they are fair, and in Croatia and Hungary there are no clear criteria regarding the distribution of direct state subsidies to the media, which may result in channelling money only to those media that are supportive of the government.

Figure 3.4.2.b. Indicator on Access to media for local/regional communities and for community media - Averages per sub-indicator