Since 1991 Estonia has changed from being a former Soviet republic to a member of the European Union and the European Monetary Union, making a rapid transformation in several fields, including the mass media, which is a vibrant and competitive sector. For many years Estonia has been among the top ten in Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) Press Freedom Index. In 2017 it was ranked 12th out of 180 countries by RSF while Freedom House assigned Estonia’s press freedom a score of 16/100 (with 1 corresponding to the most free status). A cross-media landscape that embraces traditional media (press, radio and television) as well as the Internet and digital media characterises the contemporary media system in Estonia.
Historical background
The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic (ESSR) became the first republic within the Soviet sphere of influence to declare state sovereignty from Moscow in 1988. The ESSR was renamed as the Republic of Estonia on May 8, 1990, while the independence of the country was re-established in 1991, when it was also recognized by the Soviet Union. The free and independent journalism that flourished in the 1920s and 1930s has been increasingly repressed after the Soviet occupation. Between 1945 and 1988 newspapers and other media channels operated as propaganda instrument for the communist party. Since 1988 media have played an important role in the national liberation process, while after the independence Estonia witnessed a rapid development of media business, with a proliferation of media actors. This was followed in the 1990s by an increase in competition between corporations until they merged into bigger companies which were often bought by foreign investors. The same tendency continued in the 2000s, which is why several media in Estonia were owned by foreign companies until recently.
Media landscape
Between 1991 and 1994 the Estonian media was characterized by a highly diversified landscape. These were the years of emancipation from both state and political forces for the Estonian mass media, while adapting to market conditions. After mid-1990s the media landscape extended and kept on preserving its diversified nature, although the importance of print media decreased in favour of television and, later, of digital media. Commercial television and radio stations started to proliferate, with an increase of competition in the advertising market. In the same years six national newspapers merged into four, while the inflow of foreign, mainly Nordic, capitals has become more important. Two companies - the Norvegian Shibsted and the Swedish Bonnier - became the principal owners of the four merged newspapers. The control of large sectors of Estonian media market by foreign companies allowed the media to be free from the influence of local oligarchs that, on the other hand, have been very influential in Latvian and Lithuanian media. Today a small group of local private companies owns most newspapers, though some small publications receive aid from regional or municipal governments. Estonia's most popular medium is television, while print media's popularity has been reducing in favour of online media outlets. Television channels and media portals are both in Estonian and in Russian, because of the Russian ethnic minority of the country which accounts for around 320.000 people over a total population of 1.318.000. Still, findings show that Estonia has two radically different information fields: one for Estonian speaking audiences and one for Russian speakers.