Lithuania: good image, sad reality

Lithuania proudly occupies a leading position in the international press freedom ranking, but its media are going through tough times financially. National daily newspapers are a thing of the past and websites are also fighting for survival, especially since the Covid crisis.

Kiosk in Lithuania (Flickr, Andreas Lehner (CC BY 2.0))

Censorship was abolished in Lithuania even before the country declared its independence in 1990, which meant that the media played a key role in the struggle to become a sovereign state. The Lithuanian people yearned for a free press, and during the 1990s the media were highly influential. But this enthusiasm has long since waned: the Lithuanians’ trust in the media, which stood at more than 65 percent at the turn of the millennium – higher than their trust than the Church, the president and all other Lithuanian institutions – had dropped to a historic low of just 26.3 percent by September 2023.

Many newspapers have seen their circulation dip by around two-thirds in the last two decades. The global economic crisis of 2008 and the tough political decisions that accompanied it (including a VAT hike for print media from 5 to 21 percent) made the financial situation for publishing houses even more difficult. Some outlets disappeared immediately, while others struggled on and survived for a while. In 2019, the oldest Lithuanian daily newspaper Lietuvos žinios ceased publication after more than a century. Even before that there hadn’t been any genuine dailies offering national coverage for a long time, because they had all long since given up their Monday editions. In 2020, Lietuvos rytas, once Lithuania’s biggest and most influential daily newspaper, reduced its publication of print editions to just three times a week, and the country’s only business daily, Verslo žinios, was forced to become a once-weekly publication in the wake of the Covid crisis.

Online media also struggled during the Covid-19 pandemic as the advertising market shrunk and they had to turn to the state for support. A lot of content was put behind paywalls, and advertorials – paid content that is presented as editorial content – became a growing source of income.

Reporters Without Borders reported on the systematic underfunding of the media industry during the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly in the area of local journalism, in 2022. At the same time, fierce competition and a limited market make it difficult for newcomers to the sector to gain a foothold.

Foreign media groups such as the Estonian Postimees Grupp (15min, BNS) and Ekspress Grupp (Delfi, ELTA, Lrytas) as well as the Swedish Bonnier Business Press (Verslo žinios) are now heavily invested in the Lithuanian market. Lithuanian-owned media are often suspected of being influenced by business and politics. Small local media outlets, the owners of which are often active in politics or have close ties to political circles, are seen as particularly suspect.

Despite some attempts by the government to influence media coverage, the overall situation as regards freedom of information is relatively good. However, Reporters Without Borders has criticised shortcomings and delays in terms of journalists gaining access to official documents.

According to the Eurobarometer Media & News Survey 2022, 70 percent of Lithuanians watch television to stay up to date on current affairs, while 54 percent use news websites and 44 percent use social media for news. Considering the generally low level of trust in the media, trust in public broadcaster LRT is relatively high at 56 percent.

Fears of propaganda have intensified since the annexation of Crimea and the war in Ukraine. Russian and Belarusian radio and television programmes have been banned and news websites have voluntarily restricted the comment function under their articles as a measure against hate speech, violence and misinformation in connection with the war.

Generally speaking, Lithuania is doing well in terms of press freedom, but the financial situation of its media is worrying and sometimes calls into question the independence and quality of reporting.

World Press Freedom Index (Reporters Without Borders):
Rank 7 (2023)

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Media from Lithuania at euro|topics

Politika (Website)

ELTA (Website)

Visits: 500.000 – 1.000.000

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Media from Lithuania at euro|topics

Alfa (Website)

Balsas (Website)

Bernardinai (Website)

Delfi (Website)

Kauno diena (Daily newspaper)

Vakaro žinios (Daily newspaper)

Lietuvos žinios (Daily newspaper)

Lietuvos rytas (Weekly newspaper)

LRT (Website)

Lrytas (Website)

Mūsų Respublika (Weekly newspaper)

Valstybė (Magazine)

Veidas (Magazine)

Verslo žinios (Weekly newspaper)

Diena (Website)

15min (Website)

TV3.lt (Website)

BNS (Website)

IQ (Magazine)

Politika (Website)

ELTA (Website)