Andrej Skolkay - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Uploads
Papers by Andrej Skolkay
The media coverage of corruption: the case of Slovakia, published in Otázky žurnalistiky/Issues o... more The media coverage of corruption: the case of Slovakia,
published in Otázky žurnalistiky/Issues of Journalism, vol. 59, 3-4/2016, 63-80
Wien (IWM Working Paper No. 1, 2000
Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, 1996
... critical of the government. One example of this occurred in Slovakia in 1991, when Prime Mini... more ... critical of the government. One example of this occurred in Slovakia in 1991, when Prime Minister Jan Carnogursky refused a request for financial support from the editor-in-chief of the liberal weekly Kultiirny zivot. This refusal was ...
This case study reports about the collusion scandal behind the widespread wiretapping operations ... more This case study reports about the collusion scandal behind the widespread wiretapping operations of various journalists. The report, however, focuses mainly on one part of the affair, namely the clear collusion between a journalist from the daily Pravda, and a top politician – a Member of Parliament, whose conversations were also recorded. MP Róbert Kaliňák was apparently trying to persuade the reporter Vanda Vavrová to publish discrediting material about his political rival. The study thus largely examines the media's role in politics and ethical issues resulting from trespass of the journalistic agency for objective and impartial reporting. Moreover, initial coverage of this affair by the selected media is analysed throughout the study to pinpoint the role of Slovak journalists/media while facing the controversial behaviour of one of their peers. It was found that the media actually underplayed the collusion story and focused their attention mostly on the wiretapping affair, strongly condemning the actions by the state authorities. Ironically, a few years later it was proved that the wiretapping of journalists (in contrast to other persons and institutions) was both legal and justified. Moreover, the media ignored the possible political and criminal corruption issues behind the double scandal.
The study focuses on two Slovak corruption cases, both well-documented and of similar social rele... more The study focuses on two Slovak corruption cases, both well-documented and of similar social relevance, of which one did not receive any cross-media coverage. Moreover, the case of large-scale bribery was rather under-hyped in comparison to other major corruption scandals occurring in the country. The case of cronyism formed a typical example of extremely poor inter-media coverage of highly unfair and politicised cronyism. Through these cases, especially in the one in which the media failed to stimulate the creation of a full-blown scandal, the study further analyses the criteria and circumstances that determine the worthiness of a case for wide media coverage. The study on Slovakia is framed within theories of scandalous reporting and the theory of agenda setting and inter-media agenda setting role of the media, and supported by quantitative analysis of actual media coverage of the bribery case.
This chapter presents an analysis of the work of foreign correspondents in Slovakia. The findings... more This chapter presents an analysis of the work of foreign correspondents in Slovakia. The findings are based mainly on interviews with the majority of currently active foreign correspondents (FCs) and some of the FCs who were previously assigned to Slovakia (12 out of approximately 20). Additional sources included a few partial studies related to this topic. Research focused primarily on professional and personal background of foreign correspondents, resources, their major challenges, the methods of work and the lessons they learned while working as foreign correspondents in Slovakia. This chapter also focuses on the framework of the international news produced by FCs reporting from Slovakia, including how agendas are set and how news is processed.
This chapter provides a comparative study of emerging systems for regulating New Online Media Ser... more This chapter provides a comparative study of emerging systems for regulating New Online Media Services (NOMS) at the international level and more specifically at the European Union (EU) level. The focus here is primarily from the perspective of freedom of speech and we consider the respective advantages and disadvantages of different regulatory approaches (statutory regulation, no regulation as well as self and co-regulation) within this free speech framework. Since by their technological nature NOMS have an international character and reach, international guidelines are likely to play an increasingly important role. Nevertheless, the regulatory guidelines for NOMS in international documents are sometimes absent or patchy and we therefore consider the implicit and explicit suggestions made in policy documents, case law and legislation in the past that could guide the development of international standards for the new media, as well as more recent proposals relating to the Internet of today. The international organizations we consider in this paper are the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe (CoE), especially its specialized human rights court, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and the United Nations (UN) Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), together with the UN itself. As will be shown, in practice UNESCO has not dealt much with this issue with the position of NOMS being addressed in rather more detail by a special UN rapporteur, while discussion of NOMS by the OSCE has been rather contradictory. As a result, more emphasis is given to the position of certain international bodies, notably the CoE, than others.
In addition to these international organizations, we also focus on the evolving policies of the EU in regulating NOMS. We acknowledge the interest in, and support for, self-regulation and co-regulation within the EU in this field (Senden, 2005; Darmanin, 2013).1 Several EU directives provide guidelines relating to self-regulation, particularly with regard to advertising, data protection (Directive 95/46), e-commerce (Directive 2000/31) and unfair trading practices (Directive 2005/29). However, as will be shown, similar developments in relation to NOMS have been delayed (primarily due to impractibality as well as contradictory EU expectations with respect to regulation), resulting in a degree of statutory and co-regulation taking hold with respect to NOMS, with the EU ultimately endorsing co-regulation or established functioning regulatory mechanisms in the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (Directive 2010/13 EU, AVMSD). However, ultimately and perhaps for some unexpectedly, it was the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) which intervened decisively in regulating some aspects of NOMS. This is especially striking in contrast to more usual or at least more likely expected involvement of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in this area). For this reason, the EU case deserves special attention.
In contrast, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) deals with online regulation exclusively from the point of view of a consumer or of businesses. The regulatory advice of the ITU seems to be quite extensive but rather general. The two most important pieces of advice seem to be “to update existing legislation/regulations to make them fit for purpose in a converged regulatory framework” and “to establish a clear division of responsibilities between the different regulatory authorities concerned.” Respecting content and businesses it recommends “review[ing] the framework for content regulation,” while at the same time calling for a “stable legal framework” (Stevens, 2013, pp. 28-29).
MEDIADEM
MEDIADEM is a European research project which seeks to understand and explain the factors that pr... more MEDIADEM is a European research project which seeks to understand and explain the factors that promote or, conversely, prevent the development of policies supporting free and independent media. The project combines a country-based study in Belgium, Turkey and the UK with a comparative analysis across media sectors and various types of media services. It investigates the configuration of media policies in the aforementioned countries and examines the opportunities and challenges generated by new media services for media freedom and independence. Moreover, external pressures on the design and implementation of state media policies, stemming from the European Union and the Council of Europe, are thoroughly discussed and analysed.
This article explains why the majority of post-communist Slovak top politicians sooner or later g... more This article explains why the majority of post-communist Slovak top politicians sooner or later gained ambivalent, often openly negative, sometimes even extremely negative attitudes towards the mass media. Further, this article invents and then categorizes various functions of the media in post communist transformation. These functions of the media sometimes contradicted normative expactations of the media behaviour in a liberal democratic theory. This article puts Slovak case study in a broader framework of post-communist transformation of media system based on a famous Hallin-Mancini comparative study of media systems.
We have identified the judiciary as playing a very important though ambiguous role in the free an... more We have identified the judiciary as playing a very important though ambiguous role in the free and independent operation of the media in Slovakia. Among the four key bodies that are identified here as shaping the implementation of media policy, the role of the judiciary-specifically, the Constitutional Court-is shown to be important in protecting and promoting freedom of expression and liberal-democratic values, balancing more conservative or politically polarised state institutions. The main regulatory body, the Council (Board) for Broadcasting and Retransmission (RVR) has conservative values, thus relatively hampering the free and independent operation of the media in Slovakia. The other key bodies that shape the implementation of media policy-the National Council of Slovakia (Parliament) and the Ministry of Culture (MC)-reflect social or party-ideological normative values in their media policy making (or lack thereof). The influence of vested interests is relatively low and some other problems (e.g. lack of transparency of ownership of broadcast media at the third or even lower levels of ownership structure, i.e. consecutive owners in a chain of ownership) can also be found in other countries as well as in Slovakia.
Conference Presentations by Andrej Skolkay
Books by Andrej Skolkay
Media Regulatory Authorities in the Visegrad Countries
The media coverage of corruption: the case of Slovakia, published in Otázky žurnalistiky/Issues o... more The media coverage of corruption: the case of Slovakia,
published in Otázky žurnalistiky/Issues of Journalism, vol. 59, 3-4/2016, 63-80
Wien (IWM Working Paper No. 1, 2000
Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, 1996
... critical of the government. One example of this occurred in Slovakia in 1991, when Prime Mini... more ... critical of the government. One example of this occurred in Slovakia in 1991, when Prime Minister Jan Carnogursky refused a request for financial support from the editor-in-chief of the liberal weekly Kultiirny zivot. This refusal was ...
This case study reports about the collusion scandal behind the widespread wiretapping operations ... more This case study reports about the collusion scandal behind the widespread wiretapping operations of various journalists. The report, however, focuses mainly on one part of the affair, namely the clear collusion between a journalist from the daily Pravda, and a top politician – a Member of Parliament, whose conversations were also recorded. MP Róbert Kaliňák was apparently trying to persuade the reporter Vanda Vavrová to publish discrediting material about his political rival. The study thus largely examines the media's role in politics and ethical issues resulting from trespass of the journalistic agency for objective and impartial reporting. Moreover, initial coverage of this affair by the selected media is analysed throughout the study to pinpoint the role of Slovak journalists/media while facing the controversial behaviour of one of their peers. It was found that the media actually underplayed the collusion story and focused their attention mostly on the wiretapping affair, strongly condemning the actions by the state authorities. Ironically, a few years later it was proved that the wiretapping of journalists (in contrast to other persons and institutions) was both legal and justified. Moreover, the media ignored the possible political and criminal corruption issues behind the double scandal.
The study focuses on two Slovak corruption cases, both well-documented and of similar social rele... more The study focuses on two Slovak corruption cases, both well-documented and of similar social relevance, of which one did not receive any cross-media coverage. Moreover, the case of large-scale bribery was rather under-hyped in comparison to other major corruption scandals occurring in the country. The case of cronyism formed a typical example of extremely poor inter-media coverage of highly unfair and politicised cronyism. Through these cases, especially in the one in which the media failed to stimulate the creation of a full-blown scandal, the study further analyses the criteria and circumstances that determine the worthiness of a case for wide media coverage. The study on Slovakia is framed within theories of scandalous reporting and the theory of agenda setting and inter-media agenda setting role of the media, and supported by quantitative analysis of actual media coverage of the bribery case.
This chapter presents an analysis of the work of foreign correspondents in Slovakia. The findings... more This chapter presents an analysis of the work of foreign correspondents in Slovakia. The findings are based mainly on interviews with the majority of currently active foreign correspondents (FCs) and some of the FCs who were previously assigned to Slovakia (12 out of approximately 20). Additional sources included a few partial studies related to this topic. Research focused primarily on professional and personal background of foreign correspondents, resources, their major challenges, the methods of work and the lessons they learned while working as foreign correspondents in Slovakia. This chapter also focuses on the framework of the international news produced by FCs reporting from Slovakia, including how agendas are set and how news is processed.
This chapter provides a comparative study of emerging systems for regulating New Online Media Ser... more This chapter provides a comparative study of emerging systems for regulating New Online Media Services (NOMS) at the international level and more specifically at the European Union (EU) level. The focus here is primarily from the perspective of freedom of speech and we consider the respective advantages and disadvantages of different regulatory approaches (statutory regulation, no regulation as well as self and co-regulation) within this free speech framework. Since by their technological nature NOMS have an international character and reach, international guidelines are likely to play an increasingly important role. Nevertheless, the regulatory guidelines for NOMS in international documents are sometimes absent or patchy and we therefore consider the implicit and explicit suggestions made in policy documents, case law and legislation in the past that could guide the development of international standards for the new media, as well as more recent proposals relating to the Internet of today. The international organizations we consider in this paper are the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe (CoE), especially its specialized human rights court, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and the United Nations (UN) Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), together with the UN itself. As will be shown, in practice UNESCO has not dealt much with this issue with the position of NOMS being addressed in rather more detail by a special UN rapporteur, while discussion of NOMS by the OSCE has been rather contradictory. As a result, more emphasis is given to the position of certain international bodies, notably the CoE, than others.
In addition to these international organizations, we also focus on the evolving policies of the EU in regulating NOMS. We acknowledge the interest in, and support for, self-regulation and co-regulation within the EU in this field (Senden, 2005; Darmanin, 2013).1 Several EU directives provide guidelines relating to self-regulation, particularly with regard to advertising, data protection (Directive 95/46), e-commerce (Directive 2000/31) and unfair trading practices (Directive 2005/29). However, as will be shown, similar developments in relation to NOMS have been delayed (primarily due to impractibality as well as contradictory EU expectations with respect to regulation), resulting in a degree of statutory and co-regulation taking hold with respect to NOMS, with the EU ultimately endorsing co-regulation or established functioning regulatory mechanisms in the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (Directive 2010/13 EU, AVMSD). However, ultimately and perhaps for some unexpectedly, it was the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) which intervened decisively in regulating some aspects of NOMS. This is especially striking in contrast to more usual or at least more likely expected involvement of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in this area). For this reason, the EU case deserves special attention.
In contrast, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) deals with online regulation exclusively from the point of view of a consumer or of businesses. The regulatory advice of the ITU seems to be quite extensive but rather general. The two most important pieces of advice seem to be “to update existing legislation/regulations to make them fit for purpose in a converged regulatory framework” and “to establish a clear division of responsibilities between the different regulatory authorities concerned.” Respecting content and businesses it recommends “review[ing] the framework for content regulation,” while at the same time calling for a “stable legal framework” (Stevens, 2013, pp. 28-29).
MEDIADEM
MEDIADEM is a European research project which seeks to understand and explain the factors that pr... more MEDIADEM is a European research project which seeks to understand and explain the factors that promote or, conversely, prevent the development of policies supporting free and independent media. The project combines a country-based study in Belgium, Turkey and the UK with a comparative analysis across media sectors and various types of media services. It investigates the configuration of media policies in the aforementioned countries and examines the opportunities and challenges generated by new media services for media freedom and independence. Moreover, external pressures on the design and implementation of state media policies, stemming from the European Union and the Council of Europe, are thoroughly discussed and analysed.
This article explains why the majority of post-communist Slovak top politicians sooner or later g... more This article explains why the majority of post-communist Slovak top politicians sooner or later gained ambivalent, often openly negative, sometimes even extremely negative attitudes towards the mass media. Further, this article invents and then categorizes various functions of the media in post communist transformation. These functions of the media sometimes contradicted normative expactations of the media behaviour in a liberal democratic theory. This article puts Slovak case study in a broader framework of post-communist transformation of media system based on a famous Hallin-Mancini comparative study of media systems.
We have identified the judiciary as playing a very important though ambiguous role in the free an... more We have identified the judiciary as playing a very important though ambiguous role in the free and independent operation of the media in Slovakia. Among the four key bodies that are identified here as shaping the implementation of media policy, the role of the judiciary-specifically, the Constitutional Court-is shown to be important in protecting and promoting freedom of expression and liberal-democratic values, balancing more conservative or politically polarised state institutions. The main regulatory body, the Council (Board) for Broadcasting and Retransmission (RVR) has conservative values, thus relatively hampering the free and independent operation of the media in Slovakia. The other key bodies that shape the implementation of media policy-the National Council of Slovakia (Parliament) and the Ministry of Culture (MC)-reflect social or party-ideological normative values in their media policy making (or lack thereof). The influence of vested interests is relatively low and some other problems (e.g. lack of transparency of ownership of broadcast media at the third or even lower levels of ownership structure, i.e. consecutive owners in a chain of ownership) can also be found in other countries as well as in Slovakia.
Media Regulatory Authorities in the Visegrad Countries