Europe

Croatia profile - Media

  • 13 March 2017
Newspaper reader Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption Croatian media generally enjoy a high decree independence

Croatia's media enjoy a high degree of independence. Croatian Radio-TV, HRT, is the state-owned public broadcaster and is financed by advertising and a licence fee.

Public TV is still the main source of news and information, but HRT is losing audience share and privately-owned Nova TV is now the top station.

National commercial networks and dozens of private local TV stations compete for viewers. The cable and satellite market is well developed.

There are three national public radio networks, four national commercial channels, regional public radios and more than 130 local and regional radios.

In the newspaper sector, there are six national and four regional dailies. Austrian and German concerns have large stakes in the print media. One German and one Austrian company partially or fully fund over 90% of the print media. The tabloid, 24sata, is the best-selling newspaper, but most newspapers operate at a loss.

Reporters face political pressure and intimidation, says US-based Freedom House. Reporters without Borders says key figures at HRT are "appointed by parliament. This gives the ruling party political control over broadcast content." Journalists covering organised crime and corruption are also at risk.

The Croatian Journalists' Association has been campaigning for several years for defamation to be removed from the criminal code. Scores of journalists have been put on trial or convicted in recent years.

Close to 2.8 million Croatians are online (Internetlivestats.com, 2014). There are around 1.6 million Facebook users. The telecom sector is the most developed in the region.

The press

Television

Radio

News agencies/internet

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