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Latvia

Latvia

News media outlets and owners
Country report 2023

Anda Rožukalne and Līga Ozoliņa

Table of Contents

Introduction to country

Latvia is one of the Baltic states, its territory is 64.6 thousand square meters. It has been a member of the European Union since 2004, and a member of the Eurozone since 2014. At the beginning of 2023, one million and 883 thousand inhabitants lived in Latvia, which is 7.3 thousand more inhabitants than a year ago. The population increased in 2022 due to the immigration of Ukrainian refugees fleeing to Latvia due to Russia’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine (Official Statistics Portal, 2023, June 1). Latvian is the only state language in Latvia; however, the country is ethnically heterogeneous. Most of the Latvian population in 2022 are Latvians (62.9%), 24.2% Russians, 3% Belarusians, 2.2% Ukrainians, 1.9% Poles, 1.1% Lithuanians, 5.4% representatives of other ethnic groups (CSB/LETA, 2022). About 35% of country’s population uses the Russian language daily, part of Russian-speaking population uses Russian-language media, thus, the mass media audience is considered linguistically divided.

Media structure and media system mirrors the transformation processes and contradictions of the media system (Brikše, Skudra, & Tjarve, 2002; Dimants, 2001; Dimants, 2010), developed after Latvia regained its independence in 1991. Latvian media ownership issues have mostly been studied using the political economy approach to characterise the ownership related processes of the media system and analysing media diversity, including foreign media companies influence (Dimants, 2008; Zelče, Ločmele, & Procevska, 2010; Zelče, 2018a; Zelče, 2018b).

However, even having few comparative research (Dimants, 2010) the studies of Latvia’s media owners have been sporadic and fragmentary, underfunded researchers have been able to offer an analysis of certain aspects, leaving some of the periods of media development little or no studied at all (Mediadelcom, 2023). The media sample selected in this study partly describes Latvia’s linguistically divided media structure, where coexist three rivalling journalism cultures that can be distinguished by their attitude towards accountability (Dimants, 2018). Firstly, the ethnic minority media are represented by the traditional Russian journalism culture. Secondly, the instrumental and authoritarian (post-Soviet) journalistic culture characterises the media that are not independent from political and economic subsystems of the society. Thirdly, a professional media culture, oriented towards high professional standards and editorial autonomy from the publisher and owners, can also be identified.

In the first decade of the 21st century, only a few academic publications were devoted to media ownership issues in Latvia (Mediadelcom, 2023), which analysed the structure of media owners and its relationship with pluralism and quality of democracy (Kehre, 2005; Nagla, & Kehre 2004; Šulmane, & Kruks, 2007). Since 2010, several studies have assessed the structure of media owners in the context of the media system (Rožukalne, 2013; Tjarve, 2018), changes in media owners, in some cases attention has been paid to media concentration (Jastramskis, Rožukalne, & Jõesaar, 2017), focusing specifically on regional (Uzule, 2018; Murinska, 2015) or Russian-language media owners and Russian-language media content (Šulmane, 2006; Rožukalne, 2014).

The data of the media selected in the study allow us to recognise the recent political influence of media owners on the editorial independence and political parallelism in the Latvian media system (Rožukalne, 2012), insufficient financing of public service media (PSM) and political influence on PSMs editorial independence (Beitika, 2016), clientelism in the relationships with information sources (Baerug, 2005; Balčytiene, 2015), problems in journalism ethics (Dimants, 2018) and the complicated media digitalisation processes (Juzefovičs, 2011).

As it was mentioned before, media owners in Latvia have been studied in a fragmented manner. The discussion about the role of media owners in the unknown owner has caused particularly scandalous cases of change of media owners, for example, when in 2008 the largest and most influential daily newspaper Diena was sold to unknown owners, who later turned out to be connected to Latvian oligarchs, whose goal, becoming the owners of the media organisation, was to weaken the influence of critical media on society (Rožukalne, 2013; Dimants, 2022).

Although media owners have been mentioned in various publications, most of the research focused on the content of the media, the quality of the journalism, analysis of editorial independence or media role in democracy, leaving the research of the owners on the periphery of study. Evaluation of the aims and quality of Latvian media owners’ activities in a historical context, lead to a conclusion that the dominance of commercial interests and the weak media literacy of media owners prevented the establishment of serious political press and the development of quality journalism in Latvia (Dimants, 2022; Rožukalne, 2013).

Current data on the Latvian media structure show that digitally born online news media and audio-visual media are the most influential in Latvia, they attract the largest audience and advertiser investments. The media system is characterised by a high degree of concentration, with the concentration of online media increasing in recent years (CMPF, 2022).

In 2022, 88% of Latvian residents use internet news portals and 84% use social media (NEPLP/Latvijas Fakti, 2022). The use of television (74%) and radio (76%, daily 44%) decreased slightly, following press reading decline – 62% of the population reads newspapers and magazines (21% daily). Video streaming services are used by 37%, audio streaming services by 35%. Most of the population (84%) use media in Latvian (young people aged 16-30 – 91%, representatives of minorities – 58%); 60% of the population use media in Russian (38% – young people; 95% – representatives of minorities), media in English are used by 34% (62% of young people; 22% of minority population), 4% of the population use media in other languages. Among the professional media, the most used are PSMs (Latvian Television – 68%; Latvian Radio – 63%; PSM news site, lsm.lv – 39%) and commercial media news portals (Delfi – 64%, Tvnet – 48%). According to Latvian Facts data (2022), the influence of Russian-language media is decreasing in Latvia: in 2022, 42% (24% of young people, 76% of minorities) of the population were interested in media content in Russian, 54% (75% of young people, 19% of minorities) were not interested. In 2022, major changes occurred in the structure of electronic media in Latvia, as many media controlled by the Russian state (TV channels and websites) were blocked for national security reasons. Before the ban, 46% of the population had used them (26% – young people, 71% – minorities) (NEPLP/Latvijas Fakti, 2022).

In Latvia, the number of newspapers has decreased during the pandemic years, they have reduced the frequency of publication or switched to the digital format only (e.g., nra.lv, former Neatkarīgā (Independent) in EuroMo sample), for example, most local newspapers are published two to three times a week. Thus, there are only three daily newspapers in Latvia that are published five times a week – Latvian-language papers Latvijas Avīze, the Russian-language daily paper Segodnya and the regional newspaper Kurzemes Vārds (Word of Kurzeme).

EurOMo sample

For the EurOMo project, ownership, and control of 14 media organisations and media groups who oversees a total of 36 media outlets were selected and analysed. These media organisations represent all public opinion shaping media segments (print, broadcast, online), and characterise the diversity of media owners.

Who owns what?

The EurOMo Latvian sample (see Table 1) includes PSMs (Latvian Radio and Latvian Television), which are the most influential media organisations in Latvia, they create the largest amount of original content and reach almost all Latvian residents (SEPLP, 2022, November 28) for example, Latvian Radio with six channels is the leader in the radio market. Secondly, the audio visual and internet media segment is characterised by the influence of international owners (All Media Latvia, DELFI, Tvnet Group), while news and analytical content is also offered by media created by national media owners (TV Latvia, RE Media). Thirdly, individual, small companies of national media owners operate in the press segment. Among them, three Russian-language newspapers (MK Latvija owned by Izdevniecības nams “Print Media”, Latviyskije Vesti owned by Press Distribution Serviss and Segodnya owned by Mass Media Group) that are more consumed by Russian-speaking audience. Latvian-speaking readers prefer reading of daily newspaper Latvijas Avīze (owned by Latvijas Mediji) and weekly magazine Ir (owned by JSC Cits Medijs). The owners of one of the media selected for the study show the influence of Russian owners on the Latvian media environment (MK Latvija, owned by  Izdevniecības nams “Print Media”), two newspapers in Latvian language (digital newspaper nra.lv, owned by Asko R and Diena, owned by Dienas mediji) characterises the indirect impact of politically and economically influential persons on the media.

Table 1: Latvian sample of media outlets

Outlet

Market

Media group

Main owners*

LTV1

TV

Latvijas Televīzija

Sabiedrisko elektronisko plašsaziņas līdzekļu padome (Public service media council) (100%)

LTV7

TV

Reply.lv

Video channels

LSM.lv

Web version of print or broadcasting media

LR1

Radio

Latvijas Radio

Sabiedrisko elektronisko plašsaziņas līdzekļu padome (Public service media council) (100%)

LR2

Radio

LR3

Radio

LR4

Radio

TV3

TV

All Media Latvia

UAB Bite Lietuva (100%)

TV3+

TV

StarFM

Radio

TV3Play

Video channels

Tv3.lv

Web version of print or broadcasting media

  

TV24

TV

Tv Latvija

Klāvs Kalniņš (50%)

Rūdolfs Ēķis (50%)

XTV.lv

Video channels

la.lv

Web version of print or broadcasting media

IR

Magazine

Cits medijs

JSC, ownership reveal is not mandatory

Ir.lv

Web version of print or broadcasting media

Ir Nauda

Magazine

Domuzīmes

Magazine

Latvijas Avīze

Newspaper

Latvijas Mediji

Olafs Berķis (100%)

nra.lv

Web-only

Mediju Nams

Owner Ilze Bērziņa (100%)

True beneficiary person – Anastasija Udalova through ownership of LLC Asko R

Diena

Newspaper

Izdevniecība Dienas Mediji

Edgars Kots (100%)

diena.lv

Web version of print or broadcasting media

Sestdiena

Magazine

Kdi

Newspaper

MK Latvija

Newspaper

Izdevniecības nams “Print Media”

Oļegs Solodovs (50%)

Alexey Plyasunov (50%)

mklat.lv

Web version of print or broadcasting media

*Focusing on beneficial owners (natural persons) when possible, to identify. Otherwise, we indicate relevant companies.

Main ownership patterns

As it was mentioned earlier, online news portals are the second most often used media daily in Latvia after social media sites. Our selection for this study includes all-together 12 online news outlets. Seven of them (incl. Delfi, tvnet.lv, LSM.lv, la.lv, nra.lv, apollo.lv, tv3.lv) are among the most popular websites in Latvia in 2022 (Gemius Latvia, 2023). Only four of these brands – Delfi, tvnet.lv, apollo.lv, and nra.lv, are web-only news sites. The rest are web versions of print or broadcasting media.

Three of these titles are owned by foreign companies – Delfi is owned by Estonian AS Ekspress Grupp, but tvnet.lv and Apollo.lv belongs to another Estonian media company Postimees Grupp AS. Nra.lv so far is the only web-only news site included in this study whose ownership is based in Latvia. For web versions of print or broadcasting media, only tv3.lv which is part of the All Media Latvia media group, is owned by the foreign telecommunication company UAB Bite Lietuva (Lithuania). All the rest are part of the nationally owned media companies, including Latvia’s PSM’s news portal LSM.lv.

In audio-visual media segment in Latvia PSMs play an important role. In 2022, LTV1 was the most watched TV channel in Latvia (TNS Latvia, 2023a). Together with LTV7, another Latvijas Televīzija channel, public service television had 16,1% of the total TV viewership time (LTV1 – 12,3%, LTV7 – 3,8%). The second most watched television station in 2022 in Latvia was a commercial TV station owned by previously mentioned Lithuanian telecommunication company Bite (also a part of this study) – TV3 with 10,7% of the total TV viewing time. For the EurOMo study also two nationally owned TV companies (TV24 and Re:TV) were included in the scope.

Among the radio stations in Latvia, two of four public service broadcaster’s channels – LR1 and LR2 – are among the top three stations with the highest total listening time. LR2 which is mainly music station, but has also news segments, was the most listened radio station with 19% of total radio listening time in 2022 (TNS Latvia, 2023b), but in the third place was LR1 with 8,5% of the total listening time. Other radio stations for this study were not picked as their format is rather music distribution, not the news creation.

Compared to the internet, print media segment, especially newspaper audience numbers in Latvia are constantly decreasing (Krūtaine, 2021), but still for this study were picked five leading print media outlets. Latvijas Avīze is a leading Latvian-language conservative daily newspaper in Latvia, followed by Diena. Both are owned by a single owner, though years ago, they have been part of a discourse that they represent certain political parties and oligarchs (Rožukalne, 2013). Latvian newspaper segment in EurOMo study includes also three Russian-language newspapers – MK Latvija, Latvijskije Vestji, Segodnya. All of these are owned by one to two natural persons, mainly with Latvian citizenship (only 50% of MK Latvija is owned by a natural person representing Russian Federation citizenship).

Regarding magazines, there are only one current socio-politics news-related magazine in Latvia – weekly magazine Ir, which was created in 2010 by a group of people who left newspaper Diena after ownership change. It is operated as a joint stock company and is not officially required to indicate owners and their shares. They have a section on their website where they have published their code of ethics, a list of people who have shares (unfortunately, this information is not accompanied with an information of last updates, therefore, it’s difficult to evaluate reliability of information provided). According to Ir statement, none of the participants have a right to own more than 25% of the shares in the company (ir.lv, 2023).

Availability of media ownership information

Until 2021, the structure of Latvian media owners was relatively opaque, as information about media owners was available for a fee, and media companies only rarely published it on their websites. On the other hand, information about the owners of licensed audio-visual media was available on the website of the National Electronic Media Council. Historical data on media ownership and financial data are still behind the paywall. The Media pluralism project (MPM2016 – MPM2022) states that this circumstance creates a risk of political influence and editorial independence.

Many media in Latvia have chosen limited liability companies as their form of ownership, which, according to the regulation, must disclose their owners and true beneficiaries. However, some of the media are owned by joint-stock companies to whom this regulation does not apply as mandatory (which will probably change in 2023).

EurOMo research shows that media themselves on their websites very sparingly reflect media owners, higher management, and other relevant information about operations of media organisation (e.g., editorial staff, number of employees, how the choice of editors-in-chief is made and whether newsroom has a right to participate in this process, etc.).

In Latvia, data of state support provided to media organisations is also incomplete. There is an information on PSMs budgets, and a data on financial aid provided to media companies through Media Support Fund. Regarding indirect support measures, there are a reduced VAT rate for print media and state support for the subscribed press delivery. Though an information on other in-direct state support forms is lacking, for example, on amounts of media revenue from advertising by public institutions and authorities as ‘state advertising’ is not defined in Latvia’s regulation.

Main risks

Even though the media ownership and ownership relations in Latvia can be described as rather transparent (not counting joint stock companies’ aspect), it is observable that almost none of the media companies would willingly reveal information on their ownership on their websites. Mostly that information is available through official government’s databases and a historical ownership data is behind the paywall.

Distribution

Role of linear vs. non-linear distribution

It is important to mention that no company involved in the distribution has relevant shareholdings in media outlets of the Latvian sample for this study.

For example, print media reach all country and the entire population with no signs of discrimination. Print media subscription services in Latvia are provided by Latvijas Pasts (Latvian Post) (abone.lv), but also publishers themselves, e.g., ekiosks.lv (Diena), manizurnali.lv (Santa), zurnali.lv (Rīgas Viļņi) etc. are taking part in selling subscriptions for their titles. Most of these publishers uses Latvijas Pasts as distributor, but there are also other companies that provide such services.

Press is also distributed through retail chains. One of the key partners in retail for publishers is also Latvijas Pasts, through there are many other important stakeholders on the run, e.g., Narvesen, retail chains like Rimi, Maxima, Lats, Mego, Top!, Elvi etc.

Regarding radio, the National Council of Electronic Media has provided licences and has registered 3 non-commercial, 38 commercial radio programs as well as six public service broadcaster’s Latvijas Radio programs. On January 27, 2022, the National Council of Electronic Media, after discussions with the industry, adopted decision no. 58/1 58/1 2: “Not to support the introduction of digital sound terrestrial broadcasting in the DAB+ standard in Latvia in the period from 2023 to 2027”, which is the main decision binding on the industry. However, the technical infrastructure maintainers in connection with the development of radio broadcasting maintain a discussion about the implementation of DAB+. The introduction of DAB+ broadcasting would include a set of various measures, including the creation of a technical infrastructure for broadcasting, gradual replacement of residents’ FM radio sets with DAB+ receivers, etc. With the introduction of DAB+, the problem of missing FM frequencies was solved, as well as the quality of radio sound and other services was improved[1].

The National Council of Electronic Media has provided licences to 16 commercial TV programmes. There are also 25 officially registered video-on-demand providers (NEPLP, 2023a) and there are 23 registered TV program distributors (NEPLP, 2023b). Overall, it is considered that in Latvia for TV broadcasting, there is a high infrastructure diversity (DTT, CATV, IPTV, DTH) in a situation of competition (multiple operators of different owners).

Regarding internet access, Latvia stands in a rather good position. According to Eurostat information (Eurostat, 2021), Latvia ranks fifth among EU member states regarding access to high-speed internet. The data shows that Latvian households have 90.7% high speed internet coverage overall and 75.2% coverage in low population density (rural districts with fewer than 100 people per km2).

But overall, Latvia ranks 17th out of 27 EU Member States in the 2022 edition of the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI). Latvia’s DESI score grew at a slower pace than most of the other EU countries over the last few years. Hence, despite its efforts, Latvia has not been able to catch up with the other Member States yet[2].

Relevant non-linear (digital) distributors

Due the fact that Latvia has a rather small media market and a small language market, a non-linear environment in Latvia is relatively poorly accounted for. There are no such thing as Digital News Report regarding Latvian media market. Based on the audience survey (NEPLP/Latvijas Fakti, 2022), it can be assumed that non-linear distributors (social media, aggregators etc.) play an important role in news consumption in Latvia.

It’s worth to mention that second most used website in Latvia in 2022 was inbox.lv, which mainly works as e-mail service provider, but it offers also a news feed using largest news sites’ content (Gemius Latvia, 2023), and other digital services.

Legal framework

The regulation of Latvian media owners is determined by the universal legal acts regulating business and media activities. The conditions for establishing media and the obligation to inform the Register of Enterprises of the Republic of Latvia about the true beneficiaries are included in the Commercial Law (Latvijas Vēstnesis, 158/160, 04.05.2000.), aspects of media competition are determined by the Competition Law (Latvijas Vēstnesis, 151, 23.10.2001). The obligation to provide information about media owners and real beneficiaries is also included in the Law on the Press and Other Mass Media (Article 10.2, since 2011) (Latvijas Republikas augstākās Padomes un Valdības ziņotājs, 6/6, 14.02.1991). In practice, when registering a media company, data on media owners and beneficial owners must be provided to the Company Registry. Electronic media must also provide this information to the National Electronic Mass Media Council (NEMMC), which publishes data on owners of licensed media on its website.

In Latvia, the regulation of media ownership is determined by the Commercial Law (Latvijas Vēstnesis, 158/160, 04.05.2000.), the norms of which apply to any type of business, therefore, there are no restrictions on establishing or purchasing a media company, thus, regulation barriers of entering in media market are rather low. The concentration of the press is determined by the general regulation that the market share of one player may not exceed 40%, for audio visual media it may not exceed 35%, as determined by the Law on Electronic Mass Media and Competition Law.

Laws concerning transparency in media ownership and control

The Latvian media regulation does not include any restrictions on founding media (Law on the press and other mass media, Article 7), therefore, historically, in Latvia media companies have been founded by politically influential persons, political parties, municipalities, and advertising agencies. There is no law that regulates any relations between media owners and ruling parties, partisan groups, or politicians. In practice, mentioned issues appears in a form of sporadic cases, but there are no regular violations of this principle.

The Electronic Mass Media Law (Latvijas Vēstnesis, 118, 28.07.2010) defines the operation of electronic media by defining the territory covered by the media content, it also includes the definition of transborder, regional and local media. The operation of PSMs is determined by the Law on Public Electronic Mass Media and Administration Thereof (Latvijas Vēstnesis, 232, 01.01.2020), which also defines their structure and funding. According to the law, PSMs’ shareholder is the Public Electronic Mass Media Council.

However, after long discussions on the need to restrict local media competition violation (Rožukalne, 2018), restrictions have been accepted that refer to the right of local municipalities to establish media organisations (free gazettes) and to use taxpayer funds for their operation. The Law on Municipalities (Latvijas Vēstnesis, 215, 04.11.2022) was only changed in 2020, denying the possibility for municipalities to be media founders.

The regulation of the media market does not provide thresholds for the limitation of horizontal or cross-media concentration. The concentration situation can be evaluated only in case of the merger of media companies, when the Competition Council accesses whether the market share of electronic media does not exceed 35%, and the market share of other media does not exceed 40%, as stipulated by the Competition Law (Latvijas Vēstnesis, 151, 23.10.2001).

Correspondence to normative expectations

After the regulatory changes in 2021, the data of media companies of all segments (press, electronic, and digital media) on current media owners are available free of charge in the database of the LR Companies Register. In fact, it is not common in the Latvian media environment to publish information about the owners on the company’s website, only some media inform their audience about it (weekly magazine Ir, Delfi, Tvnet). At the same time, the Latvia’s enterprises’ ownership (including media owners) regulation does not oblige the owners of joint stock companies provide information on their owners.

All in all, since 2020 the transparency of Latvian media owners has improved, and regulation is in line with normative requirements. However, it must be admitted that it is declarative because there is a lack of regulatory instruments, if the defined rules are violated, and ownership transparency issue is almost not relevant in the discourse of public socio-political discussions.

Main risks

The main risks are related to the fact that no information is available about the activities of media owners and beneficial owners (natural persons) in other business segments and the increasing concentration of media. Although media companies formally declare activities in the field of media as their main activity, by studying the activities of their owners (legal and natural persons), it can be concluded that media outlets create a small part of their business. Such practices may affect the level of editorial independence.

Latvian media regulation does not provide any possibility to protect editorial independence in the case of an ownership change or transformation of editorial line, making the regulation of editorial independence (Article 16, Law on Press and Other Mass Media) declarative (Latvijas Republikas augstākās Padomes un Valdības ziņotājs, 6/6, 14.02.1991), as no measures to protect editorial independence in cases of its violation are defined. The regulation and real practice do not envisage media employees having an influence on the selection process of the editor-in-chief, only PSMs’ employees’ representatives (trade unions) may take part in the selection process of editors-in-chief.

The transparency of Latvian media owners is affected by the fact that there is no available data on owners of joint stock companies.

The Latvian media market is already highly concentrated, the earlier analysis showed that regulation does not affect the level of concentration, it is determined by market factors. The interests of national media owners are also not protected; thus, the number and influence of national media owners have decreased in recent years.

Discussion and conclusions

The research data shows significant processes of change in the media landscape. First, they indicate a transformation in the structure of the Latvia’s media environment (Krūtaine, Spriņģe, Donauskaite, & Himma-Kadakas, 2018), which is partly influenced by the change in the media consumption habits of the audience, and the decreasing of the media income sources. Secondly, international media corporations are gaining more and more influence in the Latvian media market both in terms of audience attracted and revenues. Third, the recent ownership changes of the few national media companies are raising doubts about the independence of the new owners from politically and economically influential persons (nra.lv, newspaper Diena, TV Latvija, Re Media). Some of the national owners (especially at the local level) are gradually reducing their activities, for example by stopping or decreasing the publication of printed media formats.

Investments in the creation of innovative products and technology development for media companies are available mainly through direct state support offered by the Media Support Fund funds from external donors (SIF, n.d.; BCME, 2023).

The data analysis show that the media business can be defined as “small” even in the scale of Latvia. The number of employees in part of sampled companies (mostly press publishers) does not exceed 10 people (some outlets’ employees’ data are not available). The largest media organisations by the number of employees are PSMs (more than 700 employees work in Latvian Television and Latvian Radio), the number of employees in the largest international commercial media scores from 90 to 150 people.

The scale of “small business” in the media field is also confirmed by the analysis of financial data of media companies. Only a part of the outlets included in the sample have an annual turnover (2021) exceeding 4-5 million euros (they are international media market players), the average turnover of most media companies is around 1 million euro. These data show the risks of a decrease in media pluralism and media structure diversity and identify the problem that media viability is increasingly dependent on direct state support, which is available via projects funded by Media Support Fund (from 2017). These processes confirm the problem caused by the fact that there is no regulation in Latvia that would limit the influence of global platforms on the media market, as at least 50% of the Latvian advertising market is made up of advertisers’ investments in global platforms (LRA, 2021).

Latvian media regulation is outdated, because the definition of a mass media company does not reflect the complexity of modern media environment. Such gaps in the regulation enable hybrid media (Gerli, Mazzoni, & Mincigrucci, 2018) to operate in the media market, for instance, there are many politicised hybrid journalism or hybrid media cases, e.g., the internet TV channel of political party Harmony[3] is recently registered in the Register of Enterprises of the Republic of Latvia.

To conclude, it is worth to mention that Market Plurality situation of Latvia’s media evaluated by EU MPM (CMPF, 2022) analysis corresponds to a medium risk situation. At the same time, the media market concentration indicators show high risk scores, especially regarding news media concentration, commercial & owner influence over editorial content, and the online platforms concentration and competition enforcement. Political Independence domain’s data for MPM records a medium risk score due to improvements in the transparency of media owners and the independence of the PSM. It can be concluded that different levels of independence remain in various media segments and no regulation has been established that determines any relations between media owners and ruling parties, partisan groups, or politicians.

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Gerli, M., Mazzoni, M., & Mincigrucci, R. (2018). Constraints and limitations of investigative journalism in Hungary, Italy, Latvia and Romania. European Journal of Communication, 33(1), 22-36. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0267323117750672

Ir.lv. (2023). Par IR [About IR]. https://ir.lv/par-ir-lv/

Jastramskis, D., Rožukalne, A., Jõesaar, A. (2017). Media Concentration in the Baltic States (2000–2014). INFORMACIJOS MOKSLAI, 77, 26-48. View of Media Concentration in the Baltic States (2000–2014) | Information & Media (vu.lt)

Juzefovičs, J. (2011). Mapping Digital Media: Latvia. Country report. Open Society Foundations. https://providus.lv/article_files/2225/original/mapping-digital-media-latvia-20111205.pdf?1348754921

Kehre, A. (Red). (2005). Mediju īpašnieku struktūra un tās ietekme uz mediju neatkarību un plurālismu [Media ownership influence on media independence and pluralism]. Latvijas Mediju darbinieku mācību centrs [Latvian Centre for Education of Media Professionals].

Krūtaine, A. (2021). Padziļināta izpēte par Latvijas mediju tirgus tendencēm [In-depth study of Latvian media market trends]. https://mediacentre.sseriga.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Padzil%CC%A7ina%CC%84ta-izpe%CC%84te-par-Latvijas-mediju-tirgus-tendence%CC%84m.pdf

Krūtaine, A., Spriņģe, I., Donauskaite, D., & Himma-Kadakas, M. (2018). Baltic Media Health Check 2017–2018: how media organisations across the Baltics are embracing the digital age. Centre for Media Studies at SSE Riga, Baltic Center for Investigative Journalism Re:Baltica, https://www.sseriga.edu › sites › files › inline-files

LRA. (2021). Reklāmas tirgus dinamika [Development of advertising market]. LV_reklamas_tirgus_dinamika_2013_2021(1).pdf (lra.lv)

Mediadelcom. (2023). D-2.1. Case Study 1.

Studies on national media research capability as a contextual domain of the sources of ROs. https://www.mediadelcom.eu/publications/d21-case-study-1/lva/

Murinska S. (2015). Latgales prese kultūrsociālajā telpā. Promocijas darbs. [Latgalian press in the social – cultural space. Doctoral dissertation]. University of Latvia.

Nagla, I., & Kehre, A. (2004). Latvia. In B. Petkovic (Red.), Media ownership and its impact on media independence and pluralism (pp. 249-266). Ljubljana Peace Institute, https://docslib.org/doc/396316/media-ownership-and-its-impact-on-media-independence-and-pluralism

NEPLP/Latvijas Fakti. (2022). Pētījums par Latvijas iedzīvotāju mediju lietošanas paradumiem [Study on media usage habits of Latvian population]. https://www.neplp.lv/lv/petijumi

NEPLP. (2023a). Pakalpojumu pēc pieprasījuma reģistrs [Register of on demand service providers]. https://www.neplp.lv/lv/audiovizualu-pakalpojumu-pec-pieprasijuma-registrs-0

NEPLP. (2023b). Programmu izplatīšanas pakalpojumu sniedzēju reģistrs [Register of program’s distribution service providers]. https://kabeloperatori.neplpadome.lv/lv/sakums/kabeluoperatori/registrs.html

Official Statistics Portal. (2023, June 1). 2022. gadā Latvijā pieaudzis iedzīvotāju skaits imigrācijas dēļ [In 2022, the population of Latvia has increased due to immigration]. https://stat.gov.lv/lv/statistikas-temas/iedzivotaji/iedzivotaju-skaits/preses-relizes/12338-iedzivotaju-skaita-izmainas

Rožukalne, A. (2014). Krievijas mediji Latvijā : īpašnieki, regulācija, ietekme [Russia’s media in Latvia: owners, regulation, impact]. In A. Kudors. (Red.), Krievijas publiskā diplomātija Latvijā: mediji un nevalstiskais sektors [Russian public diplomacy in Latvia: media and the non-governmental sector] (76.-99.lpp.). Austrumeiropas politikas pētījumu centrs, LU Akadēmiskais apgāds.
http://appc.lv › wp-content › uploads › 2014/09

Rožukalne, A. (2012). Media Ownership Trends in Latvia: Political parallelism and concentration. Media Transformations, 6, 92. – 107. https://www.vdu.lt/cris/collections/8f3e6502-c7ab-4895-8613-e4f8ed3ff606

Rožukalne, A. (2013). Kam pieder Latvijas mediji? [Who owns media in Latvia]. Zinātne.

Rožukalne, A. (2018). Undermining Media Pluralism: Impact of Free Municipal Gazettes on Media Market. In S.Kruks (Ed.), Pluralism Anxiety: Acting Socially in Latvia. Riga Stradins University. 

SEPLP. (2022, November 28). Veikts neatkarīgs sabiedrisko mediju piedāvātā priekšvēlēšanu satura izvērtējums [An independent evaluation of the pre-election content offered by the public media was carried out]. https://www.seplp.lv/lv/jaunums/veikts-neatkarigs-sabiedrisko-mediju-piedavata-prieksvelesanu-satura-izvertejums

SIF. (n.d.). Mediju atbalsta fonds [ Media Support Fund]. Mediju atbalsta fonds | Sabiedrības integrācijas fonds (sif.gov.lv)

Šulmane, I. (2006). The Russian Language Media in Latvia. In N. Muižnieks (Ed.). Latvian-Russian Relations: Domestic and International Dimensions (pp. 64-73). LU Akadēmiskais Apgāds. https://www.szf.lu.lv/fileadmin/user_upload/szf_faili/Petnieciba/sppi/lat_un_starp/latvian-russian_relations_final%281%29.pdf

Šulmane, I. (2007). The Latvian Media Landscape. In G. Terzis, (Ed.), European Media Governance. Intellect Books.

Šulmane, I., & Kruks, S. (2007). Plašsaziņas līdzekļi demokrātiskā sabiedrībā. Cik demokrātiska ir Latvija: Demokrātijas monitorings 2005-2007 [Media in a Democratic Society. How Democratic is Latvia: Democracy Monitoring 2005-2007] (70. – 76. lpp. ). Zinātne.

Tjarve, R. (2018). Mediju īpašnieki Latvijā: situācijas pārskats, analīze un iespējamie riski [Media Owners in Latvia: Overview of the Situation, Analysis and Possible Risks]. In V. Zelče (Red.), Latvijas mediju vides daudzveidība [Diversity of Latvian Media Environment] (76. – 92.lpp.). LU Akadēmiskais apgāds. https://www.szf.lu.lv/fileadmin/user_upload/szf_faili/Petnieciba/Latvijas-mediju-vides-daudzveidiba-small.pdf

TNS Latvia. (2023a). Konsolidētās TV skatītākais kanāls 2022. Gadā – LTV1 [The most watched channel of consolidated TV in 2022 – LTV1]. https://www.kantar.lv/konsolidetas-tv-skatitakais-kanals-2022-gada-ltv1/

TNS Latvia. (2023b). 2022.gada rudenī un 2023.gada ziemā radio ik dienu klausījušies vidēji 63,8% jeb 971 tūkstotis Latvijas iedzīvotāju [In the fall of 2022 and the winter of 2023, an average of 63.8% or 971 thousand Latvian residents listened to the radio every day]. https://www.kantar.lv/2022-gada-rudeni-un-2023-gada-ziema-radio-ik-dienu-klausijusies-videji-638-jeb-971-tukstotis-latvijas-iedzivotaju/

Uzule, L. (2018). Reģionālie mediji [Regional Media]. In V. Zelče (Red.), Latvijas mediju vides daudzveidība [Diversity of Latvian Media Environment] (158. – 188.lpp.). LU Akadēmiskais apgāds. https://www.szf.lu.lv/fileadmin/user_upload/szf_faili/Petnieciba/Latvijas-mediju-vides-daudzveidiba-small.pdf

Zelče, V. (2018a). The Diversity of the Media Environment in Latvia. Summary. In V. Zelče (Red.), Latvijas mediju vides daudzveidība [Diversity of Latvian Media Environment] (529. – 536.lpp.). LU Akadēmiskais apgāds. https://www.szf.lu.lv/fileadmin/user_upload/szf_faili/Petnieciba/Latvijas-mediju-vides-daudzveidiba-small.pdf

Zelče, V. Ločmele, K., & Procevska, O. (2010). Media Landscape – Latvia. European Journalism Centre.

Zelče, V.(2018b). Mediju daudzveidības strukturālais konteksts [The Structural Context of Media Diversity]. In V. Zelče (Red.), Latvijas mediju vides daudzveidība [Diversity of Latvian Media Environment] (3. – 60.lpp.). LU Akadēmiskais apgāds. https://www.szf.lu.lv/fileadmin/user_upload/szf_faili/Petnieciba/Latvijas-mediju-vides-daudzveidiba-small.pdf

Legal acts

Latvijas Republikas augstākās Padomes un Valdības ziņotājs, 6/6, 14.02.1991. Par presi un citiem masu informācijas līdzekļiem [On Press and the Other Mass Media]. Par presi un citiem masu informācijas līdzekļiem (likumi.lv)

Latvijas Vēstnesis, 158/160, 04.05.2000. Komerclikums [Commercial Law]. Komerclikums (likumi.lv)

Latvijas Vēstnesis, 118, 28.07.2010. Elektronisko plašsaziņas līdzekļu likums [Electronic Mass Media Law]. Elektronisko plašsaziņas līdzekļu likums (likumi.lv)

Latvijas Vēstnesis, 232, 01.01.2020. Sabiedrisko elektronisko plašsaziņas līdzekļu un to pārvaldības likums [Law on Public Electronic Mass Media and Administration Thereof]. https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/319096-law-on-public-electronic-mass-media-and-administration-thereof

Latvijas Vēstnesis, 151, 23.10.2001. Konkurences likums [Competition Law]. https://likumi.lv/ta/id/54890-konkurences-likums

Latvijas Vēstnesis, 215, 04.11.2022. Pašvaldību likums [Local municipalities law]. https://likumi.lv/ta/id/336956-pasvaldibu-likums

Country report published in September 2023

Methodology