To summarize the data that have been analyzed so far, it can be said that regional newspapers do not always cover the most important issues related to the EU. The total results of the EU topics in all regional newspapers are presented in Figure 3.2.11.
Figure 3.2.11 The EU topics in all newspapers
Total number of articles- 92
As the figure illustrates, the most popular topic related to the EU in the period 06 2001-01 2002 was ‘The European Union and Lithuania’ (24%) followed by ‘The EU expansion’ (21%) which is quite reasonable. All the rest issues were covered at more or less the same rate, except the citizens’ attitude towards the EU, which gets only 8% of all articles. Despite the fact that the results are quite reasonable, there were not many articles covering the introduction of euro in the member states of the EU, though this was the most important EU event at that time. On the other hand, the results presented in the last figure reflect general situation in the ten regional newspapers in Lithuania, while the data received after carrying analyses in each of the countys range to a rather great extent.
3.3. The tone of the EU articles in Lithuanian regional newspapers
Another issue taken into consideration while analyzing the presentation of the EU in regional newspapers in Lithuania was the tone of the articles towards the EU. The aim of this part of the analysis was to find out what attitude tend regional newspapers to create while writing about the EU. Do they write in a positive, negative or neutral tonr? The results answering to this question are presented in the following figures each illustrating the situation in different newspapers. It must be also added that from the point of view of the tone articles can be grouped into several groups. The first group comprises newspapers in which most of the articles about the EU were of neutral tone followed by positive and then negative articles. This group includes newspapers ‘Kauno diena’, ‘Klaipėda’, ‘Penktadienio žemaitis’, ‘Tauragiškių balsas’, ‘Utenis’ and ‘Šiaulių kraštas’. The results of the analyses of the newspapers are presented in the next six figures.
Figure 3.3.1 Tone of articles in ‘Kauno diena’ Figure 3.3.2 Tone of articles in
Total number of articles-21 ‘Klaipėda’
Total number of articles- 10
As these figures show, the most of the articles about the EU are written in a neutral tone. There are only 20% of positive articles in both dailies. The newspaper ‘Kauno diena’ seems to be especially intelligent towards the EU as there were only 5% of negative articles. On the whole, both newspapers seem to be paying much attention to one of the most important journalistic requirements- objectivity when discussing the EU issues. The rest newspapers of this group wrote about the EU in a similar way. The next two figures present the results of ‘Utenis’ and ‘Penktadienio žemaitis’.
Figure 3.3.3 Tone of EU articles in ‘Utenis’ Figure 3.3.4. Tone of EU articles in
‘Penktadienio žemaitis’
Total number of articles- 13 Total number of articles-12
As these figures show, there are already less than 70% of neutral EU articles in these newspapers, though the percentage of them still is the highest, as ‘Utenis’ published 69% and ‘Penktadienio žemaitis’- 66% of this kind of information about the EU. On the other hand, these newspapers seem to be providing more positive information than the previous two, subsequently 23% and 28%. The number of negative article in the cases of both newspapers still does not reach 10%.
The last two newspapers belonging to this very group are ‘Tauragiškių balsas’ and ‘Šiaulių kraštas’.
The results of these two newspapers are shown in the two figures below.
Figure 3.3.5 Tone of EU articles in Figure 3.3.6 Tone of the EU articles in
‘Tauragiškiųbalsas’ ‘Šiaulių kraštas’
Total number of articles- 9 Total number of articles-9
In the case of these two newspapers the percentage of negative articles rises, reaching in both of them 11%. Though the results of positive articles rather differs. ‘Tauragiškių balsas’ seems to be more positive about the EU (33%), while ‘Šiaulių kraštas’ published three times less of this kind of articles (11%). Subsequently, the first newspaper seems to be more likely to express its own opinion as there are only 56% of neutral articles, while the second one tends not to express its own thoughts (78% of neutral articles).
Another group of the EU articles according to the tone of them comprises two newspapers: ‘Suvalkietis’ and ‘Panevėžio rytas’. The results of the analyses of these newspapers are as follow:
Figure 3.3.7. Tone of the EU articles in Figure 3.3.8. Tone of the EU articles in
‘Suvalkietis’ ‘Panevėžio rytas’
Total number of articles-4 Total number of articles-2
The above figures illustrate that in these newspapers only negative or neutral articles dominate. In the case of ‘Suvalkietis’ there are even 25% negative articles, which is almost twice as many compared to the results of newspapers analyzed above. What concerns the second newspaper of this group, it is difficult to make any decisions. It has been mentioned above that there were found only two articles dealing with the EU issue during the whole period, thus one of them is negative and the other one- neutral.
The rest two newspapers do not fit into any of the groups stated above. These are ‘Alytaus naujienos’ and ‘Gimtoji žemė’. The data presenting the situation in them are as follow:
Figure 3.3.9 Tone of the EU articles in Figure 3.3.10 Tone of the EU articles in
‘Alytaus naujienos’ ‘Gimtoji žemė’
Total number of articles-5 Total number of articles-5
The newspapers presented in Figures 3.3.9 and 3.3.10 might be called exceptions. In the case of ‘Alytaus naujienos’ there is a high percentage of positive articles (60%), which is more than half of all EU articles. This newspaper published no negative information during the period and comparatively little neutral articles (40%). ‘Gimtoji žemė’, on the contrary, provided its readers only with neutral information, making no comments on its own.
To conclude on the results of this issue, it can be summarized that in most of the regional newspapers neutral articles about the EU dominate, followed by positive and only then the negative ones, which rather corresponds to the requirements of journalism.
3.4. The type of the EU articles in Lithuanian regional newspapers
The third issue that was taken into consideration analyzing the articles dealing with the EU in Lithuanian regional press was the type of the article itself. The aim was to find out whether the information provided was precise or not. The articles were grouped into such types: newswire reports, interviews, feature and analytical articles. Some of the articles did not fit into any category, thus they were classified as ‘others’. The results of each newspaper are presented in the following figures. It must be added that the newspapers are again grouped into several categories according to the number of a particular type of articles. In the first group are newspapers which published the biggest number of newswire reports about the EU. This group contains the newspapers ‘Gimtoji žemė’, ‘Kauno diena’, ‘Klaipėda’, ‘Penktadienio žemaitis’, ‘Šiaulių kraštas’ and ‘Tauragiškių balsas’.
The data illustrating the results are given in the figures below. The first one illustrates the newspaper ‘Gimtoji žemė’ as it might be regarded as an exception.
Figure 3.4.1 Types of the EU articles in ‘Gimtoji žemė’
Total number of articles- 5
As the figure illustrates, all the articles that were published in ‘Gimtoji žemė’ were short newswire reports giving simple and providing no detail information about the events. This case is, actually, the only one among all ten regional newspapers. The following figures illustrate a little bit different situations. The first two figures represent the results of ‘Kauno diena’ and ‘Klaipėda’.
Figure 3.4.2. Types of the EU articles in ‘Kauno Figure 3.4.3 Types of articles in ‘Klaipėda’
diena’ Total number of articles- 10
Total number of articles- 21
The figures show that both newspapers also prefer newswire reports when writing about the EU. But there are also broader articles. For example, ‘Kauno diena’ published some feature (20%) and analytical articles (10%), as well. There were also several feature articles in ‘Klaipėda’, as well asinterviews and other types of giving the information. Similar situations appear in the newspapers ‘Penktadienio žemaitis’, ‘Šiaulių kraštas’ and ‘Tauragiškių balsas’. The results of these newspapers are as follow:
Figure 3.4.4. Types of the EU articles Figure 3.4.5 Types of the EU articles in ‘Šiaulių
‘Penktadienio žemaitis’ kraštas’
Total number of articles- 12 Total number of articles-11
As the figures illustrate these newspapers also prefer newswire reports. But they also wrote quite a number of feature articles providing their readers with more precise information. Besides, ‘Penktadienio žemaitis’ wrote some interviews, as well, giving an opportunity for the audience to better understand the situation existing in the EU. The already mentioned newspaper ‘Tauragiškių balsas’ (Figure 3.4.6) might be considered as a middle variant between this category and the category that includes newspapers who published the biggest number of feature articles.
Figure 3.4.6 Types of the EU articles in ‘Tauragiškių balsas’
Total number of articles- 9
As it is shown in the above figure, the newspaper published approximately the same number of newswire reports and feature articles, subsequently 45% and 44%. Besides, there were 11% of analytical articles, which proves that though the total number of articles is not very big, the newspaper tried to give as much information concerning the EU as it could.
The second category which was described several sentences above comprises three newspapers:
‘Alytaus naujienos’, ‘Suvalkietis’ and ‘Utenis’. All these newspaper wrote the biggest number of feature articles and several other articles. These are the results that came out after carrying the analysis of the three newspapers.
Figure 3.4.7. Types of the EU articles in ‘Alytaus naujienos’
Total number of articles- 5
As one can see in the figure, the newspaper published not only feature articles, of which there were 60%, but also newswire reports and an analytical article, as well. The reason might be also as in the case of the newspaper ‘Tauragiškių balsas’. Here the total number of the EU articles is even smaller but the journalist tried to write more extensive articles in order to include as much information as possible. Similar situations are within the rest of the newspapers of this group. They are presented in figures 3.4.8 and 3.4.9.
Figure 3.4.8 Types of the EU articles in Figure 3.4.9. Types of the EU articles in
‘Suvalkietis’ ‘Utenis’
Total number of articles-4 Total number of articles- 13
Though the total number of the articles in each newspaper differs, the types are rather similar. Of course, the most of the information is provided in feature articles, i.e. in ‘Suvalkietis’- 50%, in ‘Utenis’- even 56%. Both newspapers provided a certain amount of the EU news in short newswire reports, which is rather reasonable and expected in any kind of newspapers. The difference between the two is one article in ‘Suvalkietis’ that cannot be classified under any of the type, meanwhile ‘Utenis’ presents several interviews (8%), as well.
There is one more newspaper left witch could not fit into any of the two categories discussed. No wonder, it is ‘Panevėžio rytas’. The types of articles used in this newspaper are as follow:
Figure 3.4.10. Types of the EU articles in ‘Panevėžio rytas’
Total number of articles- 2
Figure 3.4.10 clearly shows that this newspaper wrote one analytical article and one interview. It is difficult to tell what the reasons for such choice were as the number of the articles is really minimum.
However, general results of all the newspapers are rather evident (Figure 3.4.11).
Figure 3.4.11. Types of the EU articles in all newspaper
This figure proves what was rather evident while analyzing separate newspapers. There were written newswire reports more than any other types of articles (totally 55%) followed by quite a number of feature articles (31%). Other types of articles to present any EU issue were not as much popular, analytical articles receiving 6%, interviews- 5% and all others- 3%. To conclude, the results are rather reasonable and expected as they are common for newspapers in general.
3.5 Number of EU articles presented on the first pages of the Lithuanian regional newspapers
The last issue that was analyzed in the EU articles published in Lithuanian regional newspapers was the number of articles presented on the first pages of them. The purpose of this analysis was to find out whether regional newspapers think of the EU issues as important ones or not. Following the results, one can say they do not, as there was only a small percent of articles presented on the first pages (Figure 3.5.1).
Figure 3.5.1. Number of articles presented on the first pages
of all newspapers
As this figure illustrates, there were only 6% of all EU articles presented on the first pages, which proves that this issue is not really accepted as a very important one. 94% of all articles were presented on other pages as if not wanting to focus readers’ attention on the questions of the EU. The conclusion from this might be done that throughout all the six months analyzed Lithuanian regional newspapers found issues that were regarded to be more important for the readers.
4.CONCLUSIONS
To sum up, in today’s Lithuanian newspaper market the situation is such that not all people are able to receive the most important information about the events in Lithuania and outside its borders. This especially can be applied to people living in smaller towns or villages. Of course, there are big national newspapers that are trying to cover all the events of great importance but they are rather expensive compared to the income of these citizens. Thus, they are forced to buy smaller regional newspapers which are not able to present all the necessary information.
However, the hypothesis that was stated in the introduction of the paper can be proved partly.
Talking about the most popular topics discussed in the articles, it must be admitted that most of the analyzed newspapers tried to introduce people with the two most important facts of the period concerning the EU: the confirmation of the EU budget which allowed ten candidate states (Lithuania as well) to be invited to join the EU and the introduction of euro. On the other hand, rarely these were considered to be more important that other EU issues, such as the relationship of Lithuania with the EU or agricultural questions concerning the EU. This theme, in fact, seemed to be an important issue in regional newspapers, as well. However, some newspapers (‘Panevėžio rytas’, ‘Suvalkietis’, ‘Gimtoji žemė’, ‘Tauragiškių balsas’) provided no information at all about one or even both important EU decisions, which means that people in these counties were not introduced with the real situation in Europe at that time.
In general, the topic that received the most of attention and space was the one related to the European Union and Lithuania, which is quite reasonable as Lithuanian people are interested in all the things related to Lithuania joining the EU. In fact, it was quite expected that the attitudes of citizens towards this international organization got the least of attention in regional newspapers, as it provides only very general information with no specific facts introduced.
The second issue related to the EU articles in Lithuanian regional newspapers that was discussed in the paper deals with the tone of the articles. The results, in this case, were rather reasonable as most of the newspapers wrote mostly neutral articles as if letting people themselves to decide whether the things that are happening in the EU were positive or negative. Of course, there were some newspapers who wrote rather many negative or positive articles.
The length and preciseness of the articles were also taken into consideration. The results showed that most of the EU articles in regional newspapers were simple newswire messages. Though some of the newspapers, such as ‘Utenis’, ‘Suvalkietis’ and ‘Alytaus naujienos’ published more feature articles. Analytical articles and interviews were not so common in the analyzed newspapers. This might be because journalists working for those newspapers do not really have the ability to write about such important topics as the EU. On the other hand, they may not have enough finance or time to write longer and deeper articles, as they require more of these than newswire messages do.
The last issue that was analyzed was the importance of the articles reflected through positioning them in certain places of the newspaper. To be more exact, the research investigated how many articles were presented on the first pages of all ten regional newspapers. In this case, the results were rather shocking, as only 6%of all 98 articles analyzed were presented on the first pages. All others were not understood as having great importance or informative value.
To conclude, the analyses of ten regional newspapers showed that quite a lot of them do provide relevant information about the events of the EU. On the other hand, the amount of the information is rather small (the leader being ‘Panevėžio rytas’), with exceptions of some newspapers, such as ‘Kauno diena’, ‘Penktadienio žemaitis’ and ‘Utenis’ that published more than ten articles about the EU during the period 06 2001-01 2002. The reasons for that are rather unpredictable. However, such situation in Lithuanian regional newspapers might be caused by their low income, by the unprofessional work of the journalists or their own low interest in the things related to the EU, or the fact that people in smaller towns and villages are not interested in this kind of information themselves. Nevertheless, these problems demand for other investigations.
REFERENCES
- Balcytiene, Aukse (2002). Lithuanian Media-a Question of Change. Vilhalem, Peeter. Baltic Media in Transition. Tartu: Tartu University Press
- Baltic Media Book’ 2001
- Virmantas Velikonis (2000). Kaimas ir žiniasklaida. Ūkininko patarėjas, nr. 46.
- SIC Gallup Media Book’ 2002
- “Trumpa ES istorija: svarbiausios datos”