The remarkable irony that saw Estonia's newspaper readership collapse just as the press was given its freedom is just one example of how the legacy of communist rule dictates the state the media is in today. The upheaval had a different impact in Poland. Here, the collapse of communism and the surge in support for the Solidarity movement led to a surge in demand for local papers. Poland's most popular paper today was launched by Solidarity just 15 years ago. Yet in Hungary, not one new quality political daily paper survived after the regime change. This country failed to protect its written media from foreign control with the result that seven of the 10 national dailies and all of the local daily papers are owned by Western companies.
The expansion of the EU means these markets are in the early stages of yet another unpredictable upheaval. Eight of the 10 countries that joined the EU this month emerged from the Soviet Bloc in the early 1990s. In this review, dotJournalism looks at developments in online journalism in the East and, in a linked report, 'Online news bridges Cypriot divide', we also examine how the online journalists in Cyprus are facing different challenges.
Some of the best newspaper sites in the post-communist countries are those that have benefited from investment and are wholly or partly owned by Western multinationals. Director of the Bridges to the East Institute, independent media consultant and online magazine editor Jan Pieklo points to Gazeta Wyborcza as the site that has developed the richest online content in Poland. One of the few internet versions of a daily paper in these countries to have introduced a distinct brand, Gazeta.pl is now a news portal. Gazeta Wyborcza was owned by Agora, a company set up by the anti-communist movement, but is now partly owned by US-based It has a circulation of 600,000. Other national dailies in Poland with notable sites include the broadsheet Rzeczpospolita.pl and the left-of-centre Trybuna.
Even the best online versions of national dailies in Slovakia are criticised by Andrej Skolkay, a lecturer at the Faculty of Mass Media Communication of UCM in Trnava. He told dotJournalism that the sites developed by Sme, Pravda and Hospodarske Noviny are 'very similar' and difficult to navigate.
Not surprisingly, other publications that have invested heavily in their online versions are those targeting an audience that is likely to have access to the internet - papers in English targeting English speakers and the business press. Etrend was developed by Slovakia's leading business publisher and has established pay-to-view content. An online version of a leading paper in English is the Prague Post - the most widely circulated English weekly in the Czech Republic. The online version reaches 300,000 readers weekly. The Warsaw Business Journal plays a similar role in Poland.
Internet publications in the former communist states are finding the search for a viable economic model even more difficult than it is in the West. Only 20 per cent of Hungarians have access to the internet. One of the most exciting and popular online developments in Slovakia - the entertainment site Inzine - closed in March. Despite picking up a sizeable and loyal audience and becoming media partner to several cultural events in the country, it failed to attract enough advertising to generate the profits its owner sought.
Predictably, this experience has been repeated across the region. One attempt to launch an internet-only news site in Slovakia died after a couple of years in 2000. Called Edom, it failed to attract advertising. Kaposi from the .Political Science Department of the Central European University in Budapest has reported that, aside from the online versions of newspapers and the business and financial titles, 'the other online news service initiatives did not become successful, and interest in them as targets of investment waned after the international dotcom crash'.
Both Andrej Skolskay and Jan Pieklo told dotJournalism that sites are struggling to remain sustainable. Jan Pieklo says that lively and popular 'alternative' sites that have materialised in the West have yet to emerge in Poland.
Even so, a few independent internet-only ventures targeting niche audiences have survived. Jan Pieklo points to the nicely designed Arabia as one example. Another example is the internet press review Newspaper.pl
One site that has struggled against the odds in Slovakia is Changenet. In six months its page views have doubled with 500,000 in April. A cleanly designed discussion and news-based site for the staff of non-governmental organisations, its editorial office survives on a small budget with no advertising revenue. Andrej Skolskay also points to the riotous Zion as a significant development. The 'Magazine for Chicks with Small Tits' mixes music, with reviews, interviews, biographies and photography. Features about death rub shoulders with reviews of heavy metal gigs. While it does not appear to be carrying obvious advertising, it clearly has many fans.
So has a distinct online editorial discipline emerged in the East? Jan Pieklo told us that Polish Journalist's Association formed its online journalism section two years ago. A distinct discipline is 'slowly emerging', he said.
Related articles:
http://www.journalism.co.uk/features/story917.shtml
http://www.journalism.co.uk/briefs/story895.shtml
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story820.shtml
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