Is media ownership transparent? In law YES In practice NO IN LAW According to amendments to the Media Law (2011) and the Electronic Media Law (2012), it is possible to finds out who owns print, broadcast and online media in Croatia through information reported to: the relevant media authorities; directly to the public; or to corporate /trade registers. Through the various laws media must disclose enough information for their real owners to be identified right back to the individual, not just to a company. This includes information on the all shareholdings over 1%, disclosure of beneficial owners and those with

Is media ownership transparent? In law YES In practice YES IN LAW According Media Law, as amended in 2011, it is possible to finds out who owns print, online and broadcast media through information reported directly to the public. All media must disclose directly to the public enough information for their real owners to be identified, including information on all shareholdings, beneficial owners back to a real person and those with indirect interests and control. Information reported to the media authority, the Austrian Communications Authority (KommAustria), under the Audiovisual Media Services Act or Private Radio Broadcast Act will also reveal

Global results Transparency of Media Ownership - full data  Country-by-country research Austria Azerbaijan Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Georgia Germany Iceland Italy Latvia Luxembourg Macedonia Morocco Netherlands Norway Romania Spain Switzerland Turkey United Kingdom

Can the public find out who owns the media through free access to the essential information required? It is only possible to find out who owns the broadcast media in the UK. This is via the reporting requirements to the media authority (Ofcom) under the Broadcasting Act 1990 and Communications Act 2003. In common with Norway and Luxembourg, the law does not state what information should be disclosed but leaves it to the discretion of Ofcom to request all the information it deems necessary. In practice this may include information on the size of shareholdings, beneficial owners and those with

Can the public find out who owns the media through free access to the essential information required? It is not possible to find out who owns the media in Turkey through media-specific or corporate laws. Neither print media (under the Press Law) nor broadcast (under the Law on the Establishment of Radio and Television Institutions and Their Broadcasts) or online media (under the Law on the Establishment of Radio and Television Institutions and Their Broadcasts and the Law on the Regulation of Online Broadcasts and the Struggle of Crimes Committed Online) are required to report the essential information required to

Can the public find out who owns the media through free access to the essential information required? It is not possible to ascertain who owns broadcast, print or online media in Switzerland via information reported under media-specific or company law. Swiss law does not go very far in respect of transparency requirements compared to other countries, being based more on the principle of confidentiality or secrecy. The broadcast media are covered by the Law on Radio and Television which contains unclear and vague provisions on disclosure of ownership to the media authority. For example, it is not clear whether beneficial

Can the public find out who owns the media through free access to the essential information required? It is not possible to find out who owns print, online or broadcast media in the Spain through media-specific or company laws. The broadcast media and online media are regulated by the General Statute on Audiovisual Communication. The statute does not requires disclosure of all the basic data required to establish ownership, since the names and contact details of owners is not required and nor is the identity of beneficial owners through brokerage. The link between political powers and the audiovisual media in

Can the public find out who owns the media through free access to the essential information required? Under the strict definition of what constitutes transparency of media ownership, as stated above, it is not possible to find out who owns the print, online or broadcast media in Romania. However, it may be possible identify owners using corporate law if both significant time and money is invested. Only the broadcast media are covered by any media-specific law. The Audiovisual Law no.504 requires disclosure of all the information needed to identify ownership of the media in Romania apart from beneficial ownership. However,

Can the public find out who owns the media through free access to the essential information required? It is possible to finds out who owns print, broadcast and online media in Norway through information reported to the Norwegian Media Authority. Under the 1997 Media Ownership Act, on the request of the Norwegian Media Authority, all media must report sufficient information for their owners to be identified. It should be noted that, in common with Luxembourg and the UK, the Norwegian law does not specify exactly what information should be reported but relies on the media authority to request from the