{ "title": "Ladder: funding and ownership pressure, in Europe", "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/funding_and_ownership_pressure?continent=europe", "filters": { "continent": "europe" }, "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.", "tactic": { "slug": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "name": "Funding and ownership pressure", "definition": "A government uses money, or its power over owners, instead of acting against reporters directly. Examples are cutting the funds of public broadcasters, forcing the sale of an outlet, steering state advertising away from some publications, and using licence reviews or merger approvals to press an outlet's owners.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/funding_and_ownership_pressure" }, "focal_case": "US", "count": 11, "stages": [ { "stage": "pressure", "name": "Pressure", "definition": "Using state power short of prosecution to change coverage: regulatory threats, licence reviews, funding cuts, lawsuits by officials, official \"fake news\" or \"foreign agent\" labels, advertising pressure, tax audits.", "rungs": [ { "slug": "1926-uk-general-strike-newsprint-requisition", "title": "United Kingdom: Government requisitions newsprint and restricts rival newspapers during the 1926 General Strike", "occurred_on": "1926-05-01", "occurred_on_precision": "month", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "GB", "country_name": "United Kingdom", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 18, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "stanley-baldwin", "leader_name": "Stanley Baldwin", "what_was_done": "During the general strike called by the Trades Union Congress in May 1926, the British government requisitioned the country's available newsprint for its own newspaper, the British Gazette, and placed a provisional embargo on paper supplies to the Trades Union Congress's British Worker and many oth…", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "1926-05-10", "outcome_note": "As of the exchanges recorded in Parliament on May 10, 1926, the newsprint embargo on rival newspapers remained in place while the government's own paper continued publishing with requisitioned supplies.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1926-uk-general-strike-newsprint-requisition" }, { "slug": "2010-hungary-media-law-content-authority", "title": "Hungary's parliament gives a government-appointed media council power to fine outlets for unbalanced coverage", "occurred_on": "2010-12-21", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "HU", "country_name": "Hungary", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 74, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "viktor-orban", "leader_name": "Viktor Orban", "what_was_done": "Hungary's parliament, controlled by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party, passed a media law creating a government-appointed National Media and Infocommunications Authority empowered to fine any outlet, print, broadcast or online, for coverage it deemed unbalanced or offensive to public moral…", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2011-01-01", "outcome_note": "The law took effect January 1, 2011, and, after European Union criticism, Hungary amended some provisions in 2011 but kept the media authority's core licensing and fining powers.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2010-hungary-media-law-content-authority" }, { "slug": "2015-poland-public-media-law-firings", "title": "Poland's new government gains power to replace public broadcaster leadership, and journalists are dismissed", "occurred_on": "2015-12-31", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "PL", "country_name": "Poland", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 27, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 27th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "beata-szydlo", "leader_name": "Beata Szydlo", "what_was_done": "Weeks after winning power, Poland's Law and Justice (PiS) party passed a law letting the treasury minister directly appoint and dismiss the heads of public radio and television, and dozens of journalists at the public broadcaster were subsequently dismissed or resigned.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2019-12-31", "outcome_note": "The appointment power and pattern of dismissals continued through the remainder of the PiS government's term; ownership of the public broadcasters changed only after a later change of government.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2015-poland-public-media-law-firings" }, { "slug": "2020-hungary-index-hu-editor-fired", "title": "Hungary: editor fired and staff resign at Index.hu", "occurred_on": "2020-07-24", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "HU", "country_name": "Hungary", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 74, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "viktor-orban", "leader_name": "Viktor Orban", "what_was_done": "Index.hu, Hungary's most-read independent news site, fired editor-in-chief Szabolcs Dull weeks after he warned that a change in ownership threatened its independence.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2020-07-24", "outcome_note": "Dull's dismissal stood and the outlet continued under its changed ownership; the sources reviewed do not report a reversal.", "ladder_note": "An editor was fired and most of a ninety-person newsroom resigned after a government-linked businessman gained influence over the outlet's ownership; United States funding pressure has not removed an editor through an ownership change.", "sources_count": 3, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-hungary-index-hu-editor-fired" }, { "slug": "2023-hungary-sovereignty-protection-act", "title": "Hungary: National Sovereignty Protection Act and Sovereignty Protection Office, December 2023", "occurred_on": "2023-12-20", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "HU", "country_name": "Hungary", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 74, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "viktor-orban", "leader_name": "Viktor Orban", "what_was_done": "On December 20, 2023, the president of Hungary, Katalin Novák, promulgated the National Sovereignty Protection Act, passed by the National Assembly, Hungary's parliament, during the government of the prime minister, Viktor Orbán.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2026-06-30", "outcome_note": "The National Assembly abolished the Sovereignty Protection Office on 2026-06-30, according to CPJ (s055).", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 3, "tactic_primary": "disinformation_labeling", "tactics": [ "disinformation_labeling", "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-hungary-sovereignty-protection-act" }, { "slug": "2024-slovakia-dissolves-rtvs-creates-stvr", "title": "Slovakia's parliament dissolves public broadcaster RTVS, replaces it with STVR", "occurred_on": "2024-06-20", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "SK", "country_name": "Slovakia", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 37, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 37th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "robert-fico", "leader_name": "Robert Fico", "what_was_done": "Slovakia's parliament, controlled by Prime Minister Robert Fico's coalition, dissolved public broadcaster RTVS and replaced it with a new entity, STVR, whose director is now chosen through a process giving parliament and the culture ministry more direct control, prompting protests and criticism fro…", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2024-07-01", "outcome_note": "STVR replaced RTVS as planned; the ousted director-general kept only his separate parliamentary mandate.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-slovakia-dissolves-rtvs-creates-stvr" }, { "slug": "2026-russia-new-law-targets-exiled-journalists-assets", "title": "Russia: asset freezes on exiled \"foreign agents\", Aug 2026", "occurred_on": "2026-08-04", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "RU", "country_name": "Russia", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 172, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin", "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin", "what_was_done": "On August 4, 2026, the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, signed a law, adopted unanimously by the Russian parliament on July 24, 2026, that allows the authorities to freeze bank accounts, block property and vehicle sales and deny consular services such as passport renewal to Russians in exile wh…", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2026-08-04", "outcome_note": "Signed and in force on 2026-08-04, according to RSF (s062).", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 3, "tactic_primary": "disinformation_labeling", "tactics": [ "disinformation_labeling", "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-russia-new-law-targets-exiled-journalists-assets" } ] }, { "stage": "punish", "name": "Punish", "definition": "Legal or physical action against individual journalists or sources: subpoenas and record seizures, prosecutions, arrests, detention, expulsions, visa denials, assault where a government actor is involved.", "rungs": [ { "slug": "1998-serbia-public-information-act-fines", "title": "Serbia's Public Information Act lets courts fine independent newspapers into financial danger", "occurred_on": "1998-10-20", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "punish", "focal_case": false, "country": "RS", "country_name": "Serbia", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 104, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 104th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "slobodan-milosevic", "leader_name": "Slobodan Milosevic", "what_was_done": "Serbia's parliament passed a Public Information Act allowing courts to levy same-day fines against newspapers for vaguely defined offenses against the state's interests, and independent papers were fined far more often and more heavily than pro-government ones.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2000-10-01", "outcome_note": "The law was suspended after Milosevic lost power in October 2000 elections and a change of government in Serbia.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "insult_and_defamation_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1998-serbia-public-information-act-fines" } ] }, { "stage": "silence", "name": "Silence", "definition": "Removing outlets or channels from the public sphere: closures, licence withdrawals, forced sales, blocking and shutdowns, prior restraint, nationalisation.", "rungs": [ { "slug": "2001-russia-gazprom-takeover-ntv", "title": "State-controlled Gazprom takes formal control of Russia's independent NTV television network", "occurred_on": "2001-04-14", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": false, "country": "RU", "country_name": "Russia", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 172, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin", "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin", "what_was_done": "Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled gas company, used debts owed by NTV's parent company to take control of the country's last major independent television network at a shareholders' meeting, replacing its owner and top editors with its own appointees.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2001-04-14", "outcome_note": "The takeover was not reversed; most of NTV's original staff resigned in the following weeks rather than work under the new management.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2001-russia-gazprom-takeover-ntv" }, { "slug": "2018-hungary-kesma-media-merger", "title": "Hungary: formation of the KESMA pro-government media foundation", "occurred_on": "2018-11-29", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": false, "country": "HU", "country_name": "Hungary", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 74, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "viktor-orban", "leader_name": "Viktor Orban", "what_was_done": "Owners aligned with Hungary's governing party donated 476 outlets into one non-profit foundation, KESMA.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2018-11-29", "outcome_note": "The merger was completed and the exemption was not reported as reversed in the sources reviewed.", "ladder_note": "Owners surrendered 476 outlets into one government-aligned foundation, exempted by decree from antitrust review; United States funding pressure has cut money and licenses but has not required owners to give up outlets.", "sources_count": 3, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-hungary-kesma-media-merger" }, { "slug": "2021-poland-orlen-buys-polska-press", "title": "Poland: state oil company Orlen buys the Polska Press newspaper group", "occurred_on": "2021-04-01", "occurred_on_precision": "month", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": false, "country": "PL", "country_name": "Poland", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 27, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 27th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "mateusz-morawiecki", "leader_name": "Mateusz Morawiecki", "what_was_done": "Poland's state-controlled oil company PKN Orlen completed the purchase of Polska Press, a group of 20 regional newspapers reaching millions of readers, from its German owner, over objections from Poland's human rights commissioner.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2021-04-01", "outcome_note": "The acquisition closed and was not reported as reversed in the sources reviewed.", "ladder_note": "A state-controlled company bought a group of 20 regional papers reaching 17 million readers; United States funding pressure has cut money and reviewed licenses but has not transferred an outlet's ownership to the state.", "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-poland-orlen-buys-polska-press" } ] } ], "downloads": { "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/funding_and_ownership_pressure?continent=europe&format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/funding_and_ownership_pressure.json?continent=europe", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/funding_and_ownership_pressure.md?continent=europe" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }