MPM 2014 divides the risks for media pluralism into three categories, encompassing respectively legal, economic and socio-political aspects. The implementation of the MPM 2014 for Estonia shows a medium risk for media pluralism, with the highest concern related to the economic dimension.
Concerning legal regulation, the report notes limited regulatory safeguards for journalistic profession, and it notes how the protection of journalistic sources is weakly implemented. A remarkable case under this aspect is the Delfi case, in which the Supreme Court of Estonia ruled that online media are responsible also of comments posted online by the users.
Concerning the economic dimension of media pluralism, four indicators in Estonia assess a high risk as the media market has an oligopolistic character – owing to a small market and weak regulation which tends to favour media ownership concentration.
Considering the socio-political dimension, a problematic element is found in the scarce independence of the public media service (PSM), considering mechanisms of its financing. Since 2002, the law prohibits advertising on PSM and therefore its only source of financing would be allocations from the state budget.
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