Public media in Europe under unprecedented strain
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The challenges faced by public media in Europe range from the economic to the technological – due to competition from digital platforms – and geopolitical.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
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PARIS – Public media in Europe is facing a series of new threats, including scrutiny by a resurgent far right, budget cuts and fierce competition in a changing media landscape.
From Lithuania in the east to Italy in the south and inside European stalwarts like Britain, France and Germany, media receiving public funds is facing crises like never before, observers say.
The challenges range from the economic to the technological – due to competition from digital platforms – and geopolitical, the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) media watchdog group warned in a 2025 report.
For example, in France, the pillars of public broadcasting, France Televisions and Radio France, have been targeted since late November by right-wing members of a parliamentary inquiry committee who accuse them of a leftward drift using taxpayer money.
In Britain, the storied BBC apologised and its director-general resigned
In Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany, currently the leading opposition party, has vowed to eliminate the licence fee that funds public media in the country and to restructure the sector if it comes to power.
In Europe, “we’re not in the same situation” as the US, where President Donald Trump has cut off funding to public media since returning to power in January 2025, said Professor Rasmus Kleis Nielsen from the University of Copenhagen, who specialises in media.
But “some of the dynamics are the same”, he added.
Public media has long faced criticism from private publishers (which argued it was not needed in a robust media market), from the far left (which said that it was pro-establishment) and from the free market right (which wanted it gone like other state-owned enterprises), Prof Nielsen said.
Today, the far right has joined in, saying that public service media is “not sufficiently nationalistic” and “too accommodating of diversity of national cultures and perspectives”, essentially criticising it for “being sort of woke and politically correct”, he said.
Hungary led the way
The pressure on public media in Europe “started more than 10 years ago in Hungary”, with public media that is now considered state media, said Ms Laure Chauvel, head of RSF’s France-Italy office.
“This ‘model’ has been exported within the European Union,” she said.
In Lithuania, some 10,000 people took to the streets in Vilnius in early December to protest the freezing of public broadcaster LRT’s budget for the years 2026-2028 and another reform aimed at facilitating the removal of the institution’s director-general, initiated by the populist Dawn of Nemunas party.
In Slovakia, the public broadcaster STVR has undergone a major overhaul since the return to power in 2023 of nationalist Prime Minister Robert Fico and “increasingly resembles a mouthpiece for the government” today, warned the local office of Transparency International in November.
In Italy, press freedom organisations are also denouncing the increased politicisation of public broadcaster RAI since Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni came to power in October 2022 at the head of an ultra-conservative coalition.
Much of the pressure is financial.
Most public media was founded decades ago, when the media market featured a handful of established organisations.
The internet, technological advances and social media shook up that model and people today get their news from a variety of sources, including online news, podcasts, newsletters and viral posts.
Some wonder if public money should continue to be allocated to media in such a market.
According to data from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), total funding for public service media in the 27 EU member states decreased by 7.4 per cent over the last decade, when adjusted for inflation, to €29.17 billion (S$43.7 billion) in 2024.
For example, in Switzerland, the SSR, which broadcasts in the country’s four official languages, will cut 900 jobs out of 7,130 employees by 2029.
A plan involving the closure of radio stations and the merging of television channels has also been launched in Germany.
Some argue that public media is needed more than ever in today’s social media-driven world, where disinformation is rife.
Public service media remains “a cornerstone of democratic societies, providing trusted, independent and universally accessible content”, said Dr Richard Burnley, director of legal and policy at the EBU.
“Currently, a handful of Big Tech gatekeepers exert disproportionate influence over information and public opinion, undermining the public’s ability to access and engage with European media.” AFP
