The Internet Media Association (IŽA), which unites the news portals attracting the largest readerships, submitted a claim to the public broadcaster and the LRT Council for not ensuring equal opportunities in the coverage of the Eurovision national selection and discriminatory working conditions for media representatives during this event. In order to prevent such situations, it is requested to ensure equal rights for all media representatives to work during the Eurovision final event in Malmö, Sweden, and in future Eurovision events, both during the national selections and during the final events.
According to IŽA chairman Lina Bušinskaitė, the information provided by the members of the association shows that the journalists of news portals and the public broadcaster were given different conditions to inform the public about the national Eurovision final.
"Members of the association claim that the workplace of portal photographers and cameramen was at the back of the arena, farthest from the stage, while photographers and cameramen of the public broadcaster could work anywhere. Only representatives of the public broadcaster were allowed to take pictures and film behind the scenes, while representatives of other editorial offices could not do so. It was also not allowed to film even the coverage of the concert during the live broadcast, although the audience in the arena could do it, and the representative of the public broadcaster was given the right of priority to interview the winner of the national Eurovision," says L. Bušinskaitė.
Dainius Radzevičius, the chairman of the Lithuanian Journalists' Union (LŽS), draws attention to the fact that ensuring the right of journalists to collect information important to society is a key principle of democratic and free media activity.
"The media itself should be its guarantor and shaper of good practice. Especially social. Even more important is the solidarity and cooperation of the media in ensuring the equal rights of all journalists to gather information and to compete in the content, its quality and diversity. Therefore, LŽS supports and supports all initiatives that help ensure equal working conditions for all journalists, when the aim is to inform the public on important issues of public life", says D. Radzevičius.
IŽA lawyer, lawyer Andrzej Čaikovski points out that the public broadcaster is the only media outlet in the country that belongs to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the Eurovision international song contest, therefore LRT organizes the Eurovision national selection in Lithuania and broadcasts the final stage of Eurovision.
"From a legal point of view, this means that the public broadcaster occupies a dominant position. Article 7 of the Law on Competition of Lithuania states that it is prohibited to abuse a dominant position in the relevant market by performing various actions that limit or may limit competition, unreasonably restrict the opportunities of other economic entities to operate in the market or violate the interests of consumers", emphasizes A. Čaikovski.
Undoubtedly, IŽA members recognize that the public broadcaster performs a very important mission, but this does not mean that it has the right to create unequal conditions for representatives of other media, distorting fair competition.
