A Global Affair: European Media in New York
by Michael Grohowski, Dan Butterworth, Kristin Sztyk, and Jennifer Dorenbosch
Trying to get an idea of the presence of European based media in the New Jersey/New
York area was more difficult than our group anticipated. Various forms of print
media, Bertelsmann, Financial Times, Agence France Presse, and a broadcasting
company, BBC World Service, were researched and interviewed. Although no specific
European entertainment company was interviewed, the presence of European media
in the United States and vice versa was interesting. For example, the amount
of European films coming into the United States compared with the amount of
American films that are exported to Europe is hardly comparable. Media in the
United States equals massive amounts of money to be made, in the U.S. and abroad.
There is a strong debate within the European Union on limiting the American
films that are shown. Europeans fear that, because of the global media companies,
especially American entertainment industry, the ability of Europeans to have
a media system that reflects their cultural diversity and still promotes healthy
democratic societies, is severely diminished. Also, in the United States European
entertainment is Americanized and cannot be recognized as European. For example,
popular television shows such as “Trading Spaces” and “American
Idol” are American versions of the European shows “Changing Rooms” and “Idol.”
The difficulty in trying to gain an understanding of the presence of European
media in the New Jersey/New York area is due to the fact that the media,
television, newspapers, and radio do not consider themselves as ““European,”” but
as global companies, not limited to any borders. The Financial Times’ headquarters
are in the United Kingdom, but the company is strongly considered international.
Similar to that is Agence France Presse, a news outlet that does investigative
reporting all over the world, not just concentrated in Europe. Also, European
media companies may be large conglomerates and own various media sources
which may not be considered European but are owned by a European company,
such as Bertelsmann owning the American magazines YM and Parents. Bertelsmann
is a massive company carrying many different aspects of media, from magazines
to book publishing companies. The focus on companies interviewed was print
media, due to lack of European broadcasting companies in the area. The American
broadcasting market is powerful and monopolized by a select few owners. Therefore,
it is difficult for the European companies to grab a solid place in the market.
The world’s most popular news radio broadcaster, the BBC World Service,
for instance, is forced to sell its program content to local radio stations
in the U.S., rather than broadcast its full program on its own rado stations
like it does in most other national markets. Most of the European news agents
carry American news to Europe, and do not bring a strong European-based news
production to the United States. This is apparent in interviews of various
employees within these companies.
Agence France Presse
747 Third Avenue
Floor 31
NY 10017
212-755-1750
The Agence France Presse was founded in 1835 by Charles-Louis Havass, the father
of global journalism. AFP is considered the oldest news establishment in
the world and now has 110 bureaus and 50 correspondents in 165 nations throughout
the world. Today, the agency continues to expand its operations worldwide.
It reaches thousands of subscribers (radios, TVs, newspapers, companies)
from its main headquarters in Paris and regional centers. Even with this
expansion, the mission of the company has remained firm: to guarantee a top
quality international service tailored for the specific needs of clients
in each region.
It is difficult to specifically determine the readership of AFP. Since it is
a news outlet, it sells its stories to various periodicals throughout the world,
accounting for the difficulty in determining readership. However, AFP produces
400,000-600,000 words in text, 700 photos, and 50 news graphics per day. Despite
this world presence, AFP does not feel that it is in competition with companies
in the United States. Its primary mission within the country is to report on
current events and provide stories to Europe, Africa, and Asia. Besides within
the United States, AFP competes regionally with news sources in individual
countries.
AFP does not pay and special attention to the NYC/Northern NJ area except for
the fact that it has a UN bureau located in New York City. However, those living
in cities or rural areas both have access to AFP articles through the internet
and depending on which papers pick up its stories. However, AFP focuses on
its global clientele more than specific regions, especially in the United States.
Due to lack of reader-base in the United States, AFP does not consider itself
influential in shaping American opinions or promoting European culture within
the U.S. The information that is printed here strives to be unbiased news.
For all of these reasons, it is not surprising that AFP considers itself extremely
French. However, this is changing due to the control that the EU has in that
it creates guidelines for businesses, international trade, and even journalistic
integrity guidelines. This is forcing the company see itself as both French
and European.
AFP rarely uses other outlets as sources of information. In addition, it has
investigative staff stationed all over the United States, specifically in New
York City, Washington D.C., Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and
at the United Nations.
World Service
BBC New York
P.O. Box 237188
Asonia Station
New York, NY 10023-9998
U.S. operator for BBC: 800.353.NEWS
With 150 million weekly listeners, the British Broadcasting Corporation’s
(BBC) World Service is the most listened to international radio broadcaster.1
The World Service, which is the radio broadcast service of BBC World News,
has its origins in the BBC’s Empire Service, which in 1932, began short
wave radio transmissions of BBC services to the white Commonwealth. The Empire
Service’s key element of editorial independence - free of government
and commercial influence - to broadcast free and untainted information to the
international community has survived, and remains the World Service’s
mantra.2
The World Service is an optimal position to shape opinion in the New York metro
area, the U.S., and world at large. It is broadcast in 43 languages, and reaches
every region of the world via short-wave and medium-wave / AM band broadcasts
through transmitters operated by VT Merlin Communications, and in North America,
the Pacific, and 129 capital cities via FM broadcasts.3 In the U.S., listeners
can access the BBC World Service through FM rebroadcasters, digital satellite,
and the internet. In the New York metro market, the World Service can be heard
on three local radio stations, WNYC-AM 820, WNYC-FM 93.9, and WNYE-91.5 FM.
Like many other stations in the U.S. affiliated with NPR, these stations rebroadcast
World Service news programs in the early morning and from 9 to 10 a.m. every
day of the week. Although the U.S. accounts for only 3.9 million of the World
Service’s 150 million worldwide listeners, broadcasts are available to
anyone owning a traditional radio.4
The World Service is accessible and free to virtually everyone in the New York
metro area.5 Because of this, the issue is not, like with Agence France Presse,
whether or not it is accessible to consumers, but whether or not the BBC is
successfully selling its news programs in the U.S. market. While no information
is available regarding the World Service’s specific operations in the
New York metro area, we can infer that as the largest media market in the U.S.,6
the New York metro area commands a great deal of the World Service’s
attention when focusing on the U.S. market. As is the case worldwide, the BBC
targets consumers in the New York market who are well-educated, including government
officials, intellectuals, artists, students, and diplomats.7 WYNC, the New
York public radio station that carries World Service programs on both AM and
FM, reports that the majority of its listeners earn at least $100, 000 a year,
have obtained a college degree, and travel internationally.8 In fact, the BBC
measures part of its success in the Northeast U.S. on the fact that nearly
one quarter of cosmopolitans, defined as someone in the top 10% income, top
10% education, or in a key profession, in Boston, New York, and Washington
listen to some World Service output each week.9
While the BBC appears to be successful at reaching opinion leaders and metro
elites in the U.S., it has yet to establish a firm grip on the American broadcast
news market, like it does in other large national markets, such as India. This
is interesting given the fact that the BBC views the U.S.as the most important
media market, sees itself as shaping opinion in the U.S., and maintains its
largest offices outside the U.K. in the U.S. Mr. Josh Weinberg from BBC America,
however, notes that the U.S. is also the most expensive and competitive market
in the world, and the BBC is forced to compete with companies in all corners
and mediums, and not just radio. Mr. Weinberg noted the success of BBC news
reaching every household in the New York, and feels that although it does not
offer news around the clock like other broadcasters, it is influential at shaping
opinion in the U.S. He attributes this to BBC’s comprehensive global
approach to news, increasing permanent bases in Africa, Asia, and Europe, while
many U.S. broadcasters are limiting their permanent bases in Europe to London,
and completely removing themselves on a permanent basis in areas which arguably
deserve the greatest attention, such as Afghanistan.10 U.S. listeners come
to the BBC not because of its presence in the U.S., but
because the BBC makes available to them news from every corner of the globe
on a regular basis.
Due to the fact that the BBC maintains its largest offices outside the U.K.
in the U.S., we suspected the BBC staff in the U.S. might view their domestic
operations as more American than British. Mr. Weinberg notes that although
U.S staff might use the status they have achieved as a result of their regular
presence in the U.S., they do not see the BBC’s operations in America
as American or fulfilling an American agenda. Instead, staff members see the
BBC in America as a part of the BBC’s larger commitment to broadcast
objective and balanced news.
The BBC may not be American, but in terms of competition, the BBC feels its
biggest competitor in the U.S. market is an American firm, National Public
Radio (NPR). This is interesting considering that the only way many Americans
receive BBC news is through stations affiliated with NPR, its chief competitor.
While the BBC does not view itself as American, it relies on its American competition,
NPR, to market its programs in local U.S. markets. In addition, the BBC co-produces
a program with the Boston NPR affiliate, “The World,” and in this
respect, is not its competitor, but its partner.11 For this reason, we hesitate
from calling the BBC an American operation, but note the similarities such
partnerships with companies of other nationalities has with globalization,
mergers, and consolidation of commercial media.
Bertelsmann AG
1540 Broadway #24
New York, NY 10036
(212)782-1000
Gruner + Jahr
375 Lexington Ave.
New York, NY 10017
(212)499-1621
Bertelsmann is a major German media conglomerate, marketing both print and
broadcast media globally. The company’s major holdings throughout the
world include all aspects of media, including television, radio, music, book
publishing, newspapers, and magazines. In 2002, Bertelmann’s revenues
equaled €18.3 billion, 27.5% of which came from the US market.12 The
two facets of Bertelsmann that make up this market are Random House Publishers
and Grüner + Jahr USA. While the corporation focuses on both print and
broadcast media in Europe, they only maintain print media holdings in the
US. Gerald Menke, from Bertelsmann’s Public Relations department, stated
that the broadcast market in the US was very developed and therefore the
corporation has not attempted to expand their broadcasts to the US.13
A major presence of Bertelsmann in the New York/New Jersey area is that of
Grüner + Jahr USA. While Menke, an American, referred to the company as “global,” Petra
Spiegel, a German, of the European Magazine Division of Grüner + Jahr
USA stated that the company was “European.”14 The company specializes
in magazine publications, and their American titles include: YM, Family Circle,
Parents, Inc., and Fast Company. While most of the company’s work takes
place in Europe, there is more competition in the US. Only 28.9% of the company’s
revenue comes from the US, while 37.1% comes from Germany, and 33.4% from the
rest of Europe. But considering the differences in size between the US and
European markets, the statistical data shows that Grüner + Jahr USA does
not have the toe-hold in the American market as it does in Germany or Europe.
Because the company does not specialize in any one area of subject matter,
the readership throughout the US is quite general. The company’s website
states: “G+J USA’s magazines are a top resource for business
and women’s topics.”15 However, all of Grüner + Jahr’s
US publications are released nationwide, and the company does not specifically
focus on the NYC/NNJ area. In reviewing the list of publication and broadcast
holdings, one can see that Grüner + Jahr USA, and Bertelsmann in general,
does not focus on any particular regional audience.16
When asked if Grüner + Jahr’s magazines maintain any sort of European
perspective, Ms. Spiegel stated that such a perspective was different for each
publications. Most of the American magazines published by the company hold
no European flavor, as their reporters, contributors, and staff are in most
cases American.
Because Bertelsmann is such a large conglomerate, and Grüner + Jahr USA
such an intregal part of the corporation’s American holdings, it was
difficult to make contact with employees who could answer our interview questions.
For example, we were consistently referred to Sue Geramain, the Grüner
+ Jahr Vice President in charge of the US Division. The corporation is so large
that most of the employees only have knowledge pertaining to their specialized
fields.
Financial Times
1330 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10019
Telephone: (212) 641-6500
The Financial Times headquarters is based in the United Kingdom and prints
in cities around the world, including New York. It is an important new source
for worldwide business and political news. I spoke with Kelly, the assistant
to the editor, Lionel Barber, and gathered interesting information on the
European-based newspaper. It was extremely difficult to find someone who
would answer the questions, being bounced from the circulation department
to the editorial department for a few days was extremely frustrating. Finally
Kelly was willing to answer a few questions, although she was not completely
comfortable with her knowledge of the newspaper to answer the questions.
She stated the Public Relations person would be better to speak to but she
was out of town for two weeks. The interview was short and she was rather
broad in her answers. The interview was not fruitless, important characteristics
of the newspaper were discussed, such as circulation, goals of the Financial
Times, reporting staff, and history of the newspaper.
The first question asked was: Is there any special attention focused on the
New York area? Kelly stated that since the paper is printed in New York, the
first city in the United States that the Financial Times was published in,
and it is a “cultural, political, and business center New York is important
to the Times, but news is reported as it happens and there is not a specific
agenda to report news in New York.” The next question asked what areas
are reached in the New Jersey/ New York sphere and Kelly responded that through
the website and the newspaper delivery there is almost no one who could not
receive the Financial Times if they wanted it. The newspaper delivers anywhere
it is demanded.
When asked if the Financial Times saw itself as influential in shaping the
opinions of the United States, Kelly was reluctant to answer and stated that
the Financial Times is “an authority on reporting business and international
news as accurately as possible” and its goal is to report “analytical
news” and she hopes it gives a clear representation of what is happening
in the world so Americans can form “accurately informed opinions.” When
asked if the newspaper has goals of promoting European perspective or focuses
on reporting objective news Kelly was clear in stating the Financial Times
has a goal of informing “objectively, analytically, and accurately the
business news of the world.”
Kelly was extremely clear in stating that the Financial Times sees itself as
an international newspaper, although it is based in the United Kingdom. It
represents business news from all over the world.
When asked if the newspaper uses any news outlets, Kelly stated she could not
answer that and stated they have their own investigative reporting staffs all
over the world. However, Kelly did give information about who manages the newspaper
and where. The current editor of the Financial Times is Andrew Gowers and he
is based in the United Kingdom and the United States editor is Lionel Barber,
based in New York, the man she is an assistant for.
Kelly was informative, but not in dealing with specifics. The interview was
interesting but perhaps speaking with the Public Relations representative would
have been a bit more informative.
Conclusion
Along with this project came many problems specific to international media.
Globalization and big business have made it possible for European media companies
to expand their markets and cross national boundaries. However, the presence
of these enormous multinational companies like Bertelsmann, and The Financial
Times does not make them readily accessible to the public. In most cases, employees
of such companies, or even public relations departments, do not have the capabilities
or knowledge with which to answer accurately about influence in a specific
regional area. These companies are not so much concerned with just New York
City or Northern New Jersey, but rather look to the national market instead
of the regional. Most of the people interviewed worked in a specialized field,
understanding only their piece of the puzzle. In order to contact someone who
understood the larger workings of the companies we researched, we often found
ourselves hunting for department heads or vice presidents.
Another problem specific to media is that technology has often removed any
corporate based in any given regional area. In most cases, the European media
companies represented in the New York City area have their US headquarters
there, but these headquarters do not act as regional promoters or distributors.
Broadcast media, both television and radio, are now often transmitted by live
satellite feed communication, and do no broadcasting in the US. Because of
satellite technology, any office or headquarter presence in the US has become
obsolete. In the case of the BBC, radio programs are distributed to the U.S.
consumer via local American radio stations, eliminating the need for a local
radio presence. The product is still present in the NYC/NNJ area, but corporate
presence is not.
However, there is a definitive presence of European media in the US and in
the New York City and Northern New Jersey area, but often it is not recognized.
Bertelsmann, a German multinational corporation, publishes magazines that
give no hint of their European owners. Agence France Presse, a French news
distributor, is present here, but does not at all affect the American media.
It is interesting to note that trends in American media, such as consolidation
and globalization, are also present in Western Europe. This similarity reflects
that media is becoming less an agent of news, and becoming more concerned
with profits and markets. To these multinational conglomerations, the United
States, including New York and New Jersey, are just a new source of revenue.
Appendix
Interview Details:
Agence France Presse
747 Third Avenue
Floor 31
NY 10017
212-755-175
13, Place de la Bourse
75002 Paris
Telephone: (33 1) 4041 4646
Fax: (33 1) 4041 4632
Interviewee: An employee in the public relations department and an editor
in the newsroom.
The interview was conducting over the phone. I had plans to go to NYC to conduct
face to face ones but it proved impossible due to the fact that four other
companies were going to be researched and this one, the only one that would
answer questions, was found relatively late.
Bertelsmann AG
1540 Broadway #24
New York, NY 10036
(212)782-1000
Grüüner + Jahr
375 Lexington Ave.
New York, NY 10017
(212)499-1621
(212)499-1628
Interviewee: Menke, Gerald. Bertelsmann PR Dept. Telephone interview.
19 Nov 2003.
Spiegel, Petra. Grüüner + Jahr USA European Magazine Advertising
Division. Telephone interview. 19 Nov 2003.
Financial Times
1330 Ave. of AmericasNew York, NY 10019
212-641-6500
Financial Times
One Southwark Bridge
London SE1 9HL
44-207-873-3000
Interviewee: Kelly, Assistant to the New York Editor Lionel Barber. Phone interview
on 11/20/2003.
New York office:
World Service
BBC New York
P.O. Box 237188
Asonia Station
New York, NY 10023-9998
800.353.NEWS
London office:
BBC World Service
Bush House
The Strand
London, England WC2B 4PH
+44 (0) 20.7240.3456
Interviewee: Phone and email correspondence with Mr. Josh Weinberg.
Currently: PR Consultant to the BBC, NewsPRos
Formerly: PR Manager for BBC News and BBC America
Non-Interview Sources:
Agence France Presse website: http://www.afp.com/english/home
Bertelsmann AG. ““Facts & Figures.”” www.bertelsmann.com. 13 Nov 2003.
Columbia Journalism Review. ““Who Owns What.”” www.cjr.org/owners. 13 Nov 2003.
Arbitron Inc. National Radio Services. http://www.arbitron.com/national_radio/home.
htm. 24 Nov 2003.
BBC Press Office. BBC World Service Has Global Audience of 150 Million Listeners. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2002/04_april/16/worldservice_audiences.shtml. 20 Nov 2003.
BBC Press Office. ‘Challenge for the BBC is to Aid Global Healing Process Through Trusted Information,’ Says BBC Chairman in BBC World Services Annual Review 2002/2003. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2003/07_july/15/world_service_review.shtml 20 Nov 2003.
BBC World Service. Annual Review 2002/2003. Notes to the Financial Statements. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/us/annual_review/2002/fin_notes14b.shtml .
BBC World Service. Radio Schedules. http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/worldservice/psims/ScheduleSDT.cgi?Sx=New+York&Pg=Fp&GC.x=18&GC.y=11. 20 Nov 2003.
Gebbels, Tim. “The BBC World Service,” Contemporary Review 267 (1995): 139-141.
Hedges, Chris. “BBC’s World Service: A Cultural Lifeline to Educated People,” New York Times, 30 May 1995, sec. C, p. 16.
WNYC Underwriting. Audience Profile. http://www.wnyc.org/underwrite/radio_
audience.html. 24 Nov 2003.
Common Questions
1. What is your readership / listenership / viewership?
2. How much competition do you have in U.S. / New York? Who do you compete
with?
Vs. European companies?
Vs. American companies?
Vs. Global?
3. Do you focus any special attention on the NYC/NJ area?
4. What areas do you reach within this area? Cities? Rural? Global reach?
5. Do you see yourself as influential in shaping opinions in the US?
6. Do you see your company as European? Specific European nationality? American? Western? Global?
7. Do you have goals of promoting European culture/perspective?
8. Do you use any outlets as sources of information? Are they local? European?
9. Do you have investigative and reporting staff here?